Quote Originally Posted by Ron Swanson View Post
This psychological stuff is viewed wrong. Yes Hopkins pulled some nice stunts but any way you look at it he was going to box the WW great Tito to bits. Any way you look at it he was going to beat Holmes. You see evidence that the result is actually drawn from the result by someone saying it didn't work against Calzaghe. The difference wasn't the psychological war, it was the opponent.People say he won this fight so that psychological stuff must have worked or he lost so it must not have. When it was never about that.

Psychological war is fought in small details. Make a guy think about your straight right when your gameplan revolves around the left hook. If a guy has stamina issues make him think about that, nothing taxes the body like nerves. Or maybe they fight at a slower pace.

Drawing conclusions from the result is faulty, look at the action. Don't look at the whole, was a detail effected and capitalized on. We fans want to make dramatic all encompassing statements. To make these statements we stretch small factors into deciding factors.
That is a stretch Ron. Again, Hop had everyone, including Tito, looking for a back alley brawl and came out and put on a clinic. You can try and downplay it all you want, but ANYONE who followed the sport at that time was shocked at Hopkins fighting like that. Shocked.

As for looking at the small things, I used the example of Pascal in the rematch. If you don't think it messed with Pascals mind to have Hop constantly discuss Pascals stamina issues, you're crazy. Pascal was mentally exhausted by the 10th round. Again, the most impressive part of Hops mind games is how he uses them on judges n refs with success as well.