Quote Originally Posted by Hulk View Post
I am pleasantly surprised at the wealth of knowledge on this guy. He was lightning fast and befuddled most guys he fought.

It was surprising seeing Patterson KO him as I never thought of Patterson as a KO puncher, but it makes sense how he got him when greynotsoold and spicoli explained it.

You guys reckon Gatti woulda done the same to him?
I think Gatti would have beat him. Gatti,was fast at that weight, could box pretty good and would have made him fight. Hopson didn't have the power to get him off, the chin to last in the exchanges, or the boxing skill to avoid them. See, Ivan Robinson beat Gatti twice because he could hit Gatti on the way in, get his hands off, change the angle to avoid getting hit back, then keep punching.
Hopson didn't have that skill, never learned it. Never had to, I guess, because he was "fast." Fast hands, fast feet. So he never developed skill. Meldrick Taylor was very much in that same boat, which I take as a black mark on the Duva/Benton way of bringing fighters along. There are so many ways a good fighter can negate speed, and, in and of itself, speed is not as important as timing.
Ever wonder why a real fast guy can beat an opponent to the punch all night long, but never hurt him? A part of it is that he's not 'sitting down' on his punches. Mostly it is because he isn't hitting him at the right time. To maximize the value of his weight turn and your weight turn you have to be in sync, not way out in front.