Quote Originally Posted by Taeth
Quote Originally Posted by SeanE
Quote Originally Posted by cockey cockney
Jones is not going to win this fight sorry guys. OK so Jones looked good(ish) against Badi, but B-HOP totally shut out the same bloke that beat Jones twice. Prime for Prime Jones wins all day long, but not now B-HOP's style has been less eroded with age.
Yeah. That's what I was trying to say. Nuff said. CC
SeanE your very knowledgable so I am asking can't you see the problems Hopkins could have with his low punch count that he has had over the past few years against a guy who thrives even moreso than Bernard himself in fighting a paced fight?
Good question. CC. This is my thinking. Hopkins "lost" the Taylor fights, largely bacause Taylor outworked him - the low punch count to which you refer. Taylor is punch output machine, young, and very long. Hopkins picked his spots, but he needed to pick more spots, right? I think most people agree on that, wheither or not you think he won or lost.

Against Tarver, Hopkins let his hands go more. He think he realized his mistake in not throwing enough. We can't know this for sure, but I think he was so convinced that he lost the first Taylor fight on bad judging that he didn't learn his lesson. He repeated his mistake and expected the new judges to correct error from the previous fight. I haven't watch the Tarver fight in a while, but I watched it twice, and I don't remember thinking once that Hopkins needed to let his hands go more. I don't remember him having low punch output in that fight.

So that brings us back to Hopkins v. Jones. You think that Jones is still too quick to get hit by Hopkins. I disagree. I don't think Tarver got lucky in the second fight. Jones has slowed down. A prime Roy Jones doesn't eat that punch. Wow, did I just give Jones credit? Sure. I'll take it one step further. A prime Jones slips that punch, then pummles an off-balance Tarver with a flashy 5 punch combo. Then he smiles at Tarver, slips a jab and smacks him with a double left hook.

This is why I think Jones's style is a problem for him. His old ways of defending and creating offense don't work as well know that they he has lost a step. I think Hopkins counters Jones all night, and more importantly, I don't Jones has the reach or volumn to get threw Hopkins defense. The handspeed isn't enough, and he's lost too much footspeed. I also think that Roy has and will always have, the memory of the 2 KO's in his head and that is why he was tenative in Tarver III. Jones is not the same mentally or physically.

So, no I'm not concerned about B-Hops punch output. Hopkins will throw enough to win, IMHO, but I see your point. If Hopkins lets himself get outworked, that could be a Jones edge. I just don't see Jones throwing enough more than B-Hop to make it an issue like it was against Taylor.