Quote Originally Posted by Fenster View Post
Hopkins did have an amateur career, 100 fights as a junior before he went to prison, won trophies and what not. When trying to sell an unknown fighter, the badass prison stuff makes for a much better tale though, especially for TV.

Notions like "prime" are used in a very hypocritical way in boxing. Guys like Hopkins show prime should never be based on age, however, ten years later when he lost he was called "old."

Very inconsistent cherry picking.
Every article I've read has stated that Hop didn't have anywhere close to 100 amateur fights. If I remember correctly, he had a little experience earlier in life, but walked away from the sport and didn't take up boxing again until in prison. I remember reading somewhere that the bulk of his amateur experience was from his time in prison.

As for Hop's "prime", I feel like Hop is a great example to highlight a fighter's journey through prime years. He was an aggressive, volume fighter vs Roy and Segundo Mercado, a complete boxer-puncher with great defense and superhuman stamina vs Tito, and a wily old boxing genius with diminished stamina vs Taylor and everyone after. I feel the more hypocritical "prime" argument centers around Roy, who went from being "the greatest fighter ever" to glass Joe after one punch and everyone said he got old overnight.