Hopkins didn't flip on Bunce he was confiding in him. Bunce was there to calm him from the strop he was throwing. Lots of people got that wrong and it obviously made for good TV.

The point about the American heavyweights is.. they're currently crap compared with the past, when America had a conveyor belt of great/good/quality heavyweights. His point is.. it's depressing Tony Thompson is the best America has to offer.