B hop talks about how he would fight the great mw

[nip102]

AllHipHop.com: Let’s review how you’d matchup with some of the great middleweights of the past. How do you think you’d do let’s say in the 50’s and 60’s against a guy like d**k Tiger?

Hopkins: I’d fight the same way I do now, but I’d win some and lose some. The history of the division is so vicious that I know I’d have problems. But I definitely would have brought my pound of flesh to the table.

AllHipHop.com: How about Marvin Hagler?

Hopkins: Me and Hagler would have ended up in ICU.

AllHipHop.com: So you’d prefer to go to war instead of trying to outbox him?

Hopkins: I’d of boxed him at first but eventually I would’ve turned into a war. You can box someone until it gets to point where you have to fight him. Tommy Hearns tried to box him and you see what happened to him. Sometimes you got to stay in there, buckle down, and swing for the fences. I’d have to pull this one out by boxing and fighting in certain spots. It would be a bloodbath.



AllHipHop.com: Next would be Sugar Ray Robinson.

Hopkins: Hell of a fight. Fight that I easily could lose, man. And it would be very hard to win.





AllHipHop.com: Let’s go way back. You mentioned earlier wanting to be the 3rd middleweight in history to win a heavyweight belt. Bob Fitzsimmons was the first to do it in 1896. In looking at that footage do you feel those guys couldn’t compete today because of advances in training and fighters being bigger?

Hopkins: No, I think the fighters of yesteryear are way better than the fighters today. There are some exceptional fighters like me, Mayweather, Jones, and Pacquiao. Shane [Mosley], Oscar [De La Hoya], and Sugar Ray Leonard are some others. But we’re dealing with a sport where there are thousands of fighters. Those guys went 15 rounds, they didn’t have the vitamins, advanced training methods; they were way tougher men than boxers today, no respect. I say that all the time.

AllHipHop.com: One last great middleweight I want to throw you way is Carlos Monzon.



Hopkins: I’d love Carlos Monzon, a tall, straight up fighter. I’d have broken him down to the body and knocked him out. I see myself getting Carlos Monzon based on breaking him down with my vicious body attack, and taking him out of there with my speed and accuracy. [It would be] the left hook to the liver like I hit Oscar with.

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no way would he break monzon down

[Jaws]

Hearns did not try to box Hagler.

[enquirer]

Bernard was crying like a baby and cheating for a rest against joe C.
Hopkins is just getting cheap publicity for himself....

[bodhi]

He made some good arguments there, especially about the old-timers.

[itrymariti]

Looks like the "Hopkins admitted he would lose to Monzon" myth is going down...

Interesting stuff.

[TheGreatA]

Looks like the "Hopkins admitted he would lose to Monzon" myth is going down...

Interesting stuff.

It's not myth because he said it previously.

“Sugar Ray Robinson at 147 pounds was close to perfect,” Hopkins posits. “But at middleweight, he was beatable. I would have fought Ray Robinson in close and not given him room to do his thing. He’d make me pay a physical price. But at middleweight, I think I’d wear him down and win. Me and Marvin Hagler[Only registered and activated users can see links] ([Only registered and activated users can see links]***********.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7718521&highlight=hopkins+monzon#) would have been a war. We’d both be in the hospital afterward with straws in our mouth. We’d destroy each other. I wouldn’t run from Marvin. My game-plan would be, rough him up, box, rough him up, box. You wouldn’t use judges for that fight. You’d go by the doctors’ reports. Whichever one of us is damaged less gets the win. Carlos Monzon? I could lose that fight. Monzon was tall, rangy, did everything right. I see myself losing that fight more than winning it. I ain’t saying I’m number one, but I’m one of the best middleweights of all time. My legacy is what it is. If you want to be great, then beat Bernard Hopkins.”

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As is usual, people change their mind over time though and don't always keep the same opinion.

I can't see Hopkins breaking down Monzon to the body, Monzon seemed to withstand Briscoe's body assault very well.

[Son of Gaul]

Hearns did not try to box Hagler.

That's the first thing I thought when I read it.

[itrymariti]

It's not myth because he said it previously.

“Sugar Ray Robinson at 147 pounds was close to perfect,” Hopkins posits. “But at middleweight, he was beatable. I would have fought Ray Robinson in close and not given him room to do his thing. He’d make me pay a physical price. But at middleweight, I think I’d wear him down and win. Me and Marvin Hagler[Only registered and activated users can see links] ([Only registered and activated users can see links]***********.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7718521&highlight=hopkins+monzon#) would have been a war. We’d both be in the hospital afterward with straws in our mouth. We’d destroy each other. I wouldn’t run from Marvin. My game-plan would be, rough him up, box, rough him up, box. You wouldn’t use judges for that fight. You’d go by the doctors’ reports. Whichever one of us is damaged less gets the win. Carlos Monzon? I could lose that fight. Monzon was tall, rangy, did everything right. I see myself losing that fight more than winning it. I ain’t saying I’m number one, but I’m one of the best middleweights of all time. My legacy is what it is. If you want to be great, then beat Bernard Hopkins.”

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As is usual, people change their mind over time though and don't always keep the same opinion.

I can't see Hopkins breaking down Monzon to the body, Monzon seemed to withstand Briscoe's body assault very well.

I'm not saying he didn't say it; it came up recently in this thread:

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But it certainly undermines that - people were basically using that as a basis to pick Monzon over Hopkins (!) with little other support. He was obviously in two minds.

[lora]

MOst fighters just say what they want the journos to hear.

Duran would change who was his toughest opponent in nearly interview depending on the nationality of the interviewer.

[TheGreatA]

I'm not saying he didn't say it; it came up recently in this thread:

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But it certainly undermines that - people were basically using that as a basis to pick Monzon over Hopkins (!) with little other support. He was obviously in two minds.

I agree I wouldn't base my pick strictly on a fighter saying that he could or could not win. I can't see Hopkins breaking down Monzon to the body but Hopkins is actually taller than Monzon, so I disagree with both of his picks.

[dpw417]

Haha nice to see this posted. I was the one who did this interview, and Hopkins surprised me at how dismissive he was of Monzon's chances against him. Overall it was a good interview but we were pressed for time. Hip-Hop fans in the classic forum???:think
Hopkins fans in here too...buddy. Good interview.
Peace.

[bodhi]

Hearns did not try to box Hagler.

Watch the fight again. He did. After he broke his right hand in the first he tried to box Hagler but wasn´t able to, Hagler kept it a war and knocked him out. True story.

[Clinton]

Hearns did not try to box Hagler.
In the 2nd round he did.He just couldn't keep MMH off of him.

[teeto]

In the 2nd round he did.He just couldn't keep MMH off of him.
But apparently he tried to box because he broke his right hand in the first stanza, Emmanuel Steward said this on a vid i have called 'the 12 greatest rounds of boxing', apparently Hearns didn't want to discredit Hagler and kept it quiet. He says you can see it's true because as the bout progressed Hearns was clubbing the right instead of shooting it down the pipe.

Not making an excuse for Tommy here, i think Hagler would win anyway. Just throwing that in there.

My laptops about to die of no battery, goodnight.

[natonic]

Hopkins would box Hagler. A war? I honestly can't think of Hopkins being in a war. The first Echols fight is the closest I can think of. If boxing Hagler failed, he'd try to frustrate him with the righthand, headbutt, clutch combination. I'd go with Hagler but could see Hopkins possibly getting in Hagler's head and squeeking it out.
Hopkins stating he'd break Monzon down to the body (like he did against Oscar) is laughable.

[reznick]

Great post.

Hopkins is the. Some love him, many hate him, I think he's one of the greatest of these times. Hopkins would have been a problem in any era. Like he said, he may have not been the best, but he would be a problem. Very respectable of him for his opinions of the old timers.