Masterful performance from Hopkins vs Tito.

[IamInuit]

I know some Tito fans claimed he was over his best weight, but going into the fight Tito easily disputed that claim by stopping then WBA champ William Joppy who had defended the title on a number of occasions.

Great way to unify the 3 main belts. Champ vs Champ & one turned in a masterful performance.

Side note- I saw something in that performance no one talks about; To me, there were several times Hop wanted to clinch & Tito stopped it by using his elbow to push off on Hop's collar bone. Hop adjusted to it. Even though he had his back to the ropes, he kept moving, never laying on the ropes.

I also note that the final knockdown was completed by a bit of a push, but hey, the master knew every trick in the book!

It was not his best weight but that cant be used as an excuse. And lets keep it real. Joppy was about as much a world beater as Kieth Holmes. That was one of the weakest eras in middleweight history.
I'm not trying to take away from the performance because Tito just happened to meet up with one of the top 5 middleweights that has ever laced them up regardless of the era he operated in.

His performance inside the ring was equaled only by his performance outside it. He won the fight prior to the bell to start the first round. He took Tito's head w/o throwing a punch. Papa didn't help things much telling him he was winning the fight.

Its staggering really. Tito, Taylor, Tarver, Pavlik, Wright, never the same again.

How many champions (PED users excluded) move up in weight and immediately face and destroy a reigning champion at that new weight? I've given Hopkins his just due. But I will also defend Trinidad's record by pointing out that which may be being overlooked.

I never meant to overlook that and he did it twice and once against what was supposed to be the new Hbo poster child in David Reid. In Joppys case well size only matters if the bigger man has similar/equal skill. Joppy was not in the same league as Tito just like Keith was not with Hop.

That 147/54/60 area as a whole has always been stacked and the middleweight division throughout history have relied on the welters moving up prior to 54 becoming a division. Hearns jumped up and got bombed out against Hagler and I dont count Leonards in your premise cause he slept for 3 years in between coke binges and was retired.

I will ignore all comments concerning the wrap crap because we have all been through that a gazillion times. People tend to confuse side effects with real effects.The re-wrapping of legally wrapped hands was the final straw for Tito and he never mentally recovered and carried his anger and emotions to the ring. Some will suggest that the wraps themselves did something to his power when it was the act of re-wrapping itself that did. Many of the same who make that bogus claim on illegal wraps with then say Bernard schooled him and Tito barely laid a hand on him. Then why and how do they reach the conclusion on the wraps?

This fight was perfectly executed by Bernard and he knew it was coming long before Tito did. Don King made sure of that and he owned all 4 fighters involved in the tourney. I wonder if Haymon will ever do the same? I digress. Any trainer worth their salary will tell you in no uncertain terms that the brain ergo the fighters mentality is the most important skill/tool/muscle at the elite level and w/o it you will be had.