Is B-Hop realistically done?

[Kev]

I don't really like the term 'done' for Bernard, to me that's a descriptor you attach to a former great who simply has nothing left, Morales, Tyson and Gatti, although clearly Gatti was never a true great.

BHop hasn't deteriorated to that level yet and would still be a tough fight for anyone from 160-175 but his days of winning the big fights seem to be over.

There comes a point where, if all you can do is come up with a gameplan of spoiling, holding, tying up your opponenent in order to lose by a narrow decision then the fans won't be too excited about seeing it.

BHop has become irrelevent to current boxing in terms of challenging for titles etc. He's no longer the future of any division but rather a past star who should move on and make way for the youngsters coming through.

He could probably give Dawson or Pavlik a hell of a fight, in terms of competitiveness but neither fight would be particularly exciting. He'll just try to spoil, stop their offensive arsenal and keep the fight close on the scorecards, probably to lose another close decision.

It's possible he could even beat them with the judges help, but honestly do we really care? I want to see guys like Pavlik and Dawson develop into genuine champions and take on the best of the new era.

Taking on an ageing ring genius like BHop as he attempts to take away all of the action in a fight from them and subject them to the tedium of a 12 round equivilant of rock, paper, scissors with Hopkins constantly negating everything they do but not doing anything exciting himself is just not something I want to see any more.

Bernard is/was a modern great, he's had an extraordinary career, but I hope for boxing's sake he decides to call it a day now. Unlike the likes of Morales and Tyson he'll probably never embarrass himself in the ring, but also very unlike those former greats he'll bore the hell out of the audience in order to keep the fight close.

Very good post mate!

But im not sure why you think that his days of winning the big fights are over?

He recently beat winky and tarver, they are big fights arent they?

Sure he just lost to calzaghe, but it was a close fight, he almost spoiled calzaghe, that is something that people didnt really expect someone of calzaghe's flair to be spoiled like that.

I think calzaghe would beat pavlik or dawson by a greater margin than he did against hopkins. Therefore against those 2 fighters i can see nard beating them tbh. Well, i see him beatening dawson for sure, afterall dawsons performance against johnson was very controversial, 80% of showtime viewers thought johnson beat him, the crowd thought johnson won and were booing dawson all night, along with around 75% of this forum saying they thought johnson won, yet dawson took it 116,112 for all 3 judges Taking how close johnson was to beating dawson, i cant see how dawson can beat bhop. The only way calzaghe was able to beat bhop was to adapt, but dawson is too inexperienced to be able to cope with wily nard, he will be put off hs game and made to look terrible. Couple that with dawsons sub par chin and i think dawson would get floored in the match aswell...if its nard verses chad then nard wins imo.

Pavlik is another story though, although i can see nard managing to spoil pavlik aswell, particularly as the guy is just gonna clinch and counter all night long until he can get right in close for an exchange with kelly in the middle of the ring right at the end of the round (like he tried with joe). Kelly isnt too good at the brawls and i can see hopkins coming out favourite in this aswell.

Of course it would be chad and pavlik pushing the fight against bhop, that goes without saying. But if the guy has made calzaghe look bad against him, calzaghe having shone completely against lacy and looked very good against kessler, i can only see him making dawson look bad and being a bit of a mess for pavlik aswell.

I think he can still fight on if he wants, he wont move back to middleweight so fighting kelly is out of the question, but maybe he either wants RJJ or dawson in a final match?

I thought it would be a tarver vs dawson matchup, but maybe nard wants dawson instead (hes already battered tarver).

I cant see RJJ vs bhop happening though.

So either he should retire, or get rid of dawsons 0, because frankly i dont think dawson deserves the hype hes had. It took a 40 year old johnson to make dawson look poor, where dawson seemed to win v controversially, so i just think that a light heavyweight hopkins, in the form he currently is, will be too much for dawson.

He doesnt need the money so he should just retire already though i think.

I agree that he could beat Dawson and Pavlik, certainly I think both fights would be close, I just don't think he will win. True he beat Tarver and Winky but Tarver is almost as old as he is and had to lose over 50 lbs to make that fight after bulking up for Rocky. Anyone who saw that fight knows that Tarver was just a shell in that fight, even Manfredo would beaten him that night.

Winky is a top level fighter but his legs have gone and he was giving up far too much weight. Winky isn't a top level performer any more imo, I can't see him beating the likes of Pavlikor Abraham at middleweight or any of the top guys at 168.

So we are left with B Hops performances against prime fighters, Taylor and Calzaghe (Calzaghe is still pretty much near his peak imo) and on all 3 occaisions BHop came up short. I know every fight has been close and all have been disputed but nonetheless he's lost 3 times out of 3.

He hasn't knocked a fighter out in years and his activitiy levels are low so he would struggle get wins over Pavlik and Dawson imo. He'd certainly be the underdog and more than likely he'd lose respectable decisions again.

But, and here's the crux of it for me, supposing he did manage to win? Who really wants to see that?

Pavlik and Dawson are clearly the future of their respective divisions, one an exciting come forward brawler, the other a slick boxer puncher. They are both young, both exciting to watch and both have some great potential matchups with the best of their divisions.

Who really cares or wants to see if Hopkins can spoil and snooze his way to a hotly disputed and controversial points win? He's practically a grandad so a win for him doesn't improve the boxing situation in any division in any way. All it does is take away the zero from one of Americas top up and coming fighters and spoil the potential big fights that could be coming up in 2008/9

I respect what Bernard has done in the game and the fact that he's maintained his conditioning levels into his 40's is remarkable, but I don't want him to see him fighting the likes of Pavlik or Dawson and potentially devaluing a rising talent of the sport.

I know I'll be in a minority here but if he wants to carry on fighting I'd be happiest to see him fight Roy Jones again. It's a rematch between the two most dominant fighters of their era's and as they are both no longer a part of the current boxing future a fight between them doesn't interfere with any future dream matchups involving the younger talent.

It would be a great showcase fight and a nice way for both fighters to sign off their careers. That would be my favourite fight for both of them by far.

Let Joe have his swansong against one of the top young guns like Pavlik or Dawson for a chance to truly cement his legacy, and also give us the most exciting possible matchup.

Bhop and Jones can then build their retirement funds with a gentle exhibition over 12 closely competitive but relatively harmless and uneventful rounds.