Bernard Hopkins tribute thread

[stiflers mum]

October 19 Hopkins takes on Pavilik. Wether you like him or not the guy has enormous balls at 43 to be taking on a 26 yr old power house like KP. The guy always plays the bad guy but I for one would love to see him KO Pavlik. I think Billy Dibb is also on this card fighting for a WBO title but Im not sure.
GO THE EXECUTIONER :happy:happy:happy
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[ipswich express]

Absolute legend and one of the greatest Middleweights of all time

[Kegsy]

B-Hop is a legend without question.

Good to see Dib on the undercard tho i feel he will get beaten badly.
At least Dib is having a go to see if he has what it takes.

[the beaver]

B-Hop is a legend without question.

Good to see Dib on the undercard tho i feel he will get beaten badly.
At least Dib is having a go to see if he has what it takes.


This is true about dib, he does cop a lot of shhit here but he is testing himself. It's not his fault he gets close or even doubtful decisions.

P.S Hopkins will produce a big fight i can smell it.

[Hmmm]

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[Rise Above]

Great fighter, still taking on the best at 43.

[CarltonBlues]

He was one of my faves but he needs to give it away. He would have smoked guys like Taylor and Calzaghe when he was at his best and could fight for a full 12 rounds. I think Pavlik might retire him.

[LeonMcS]

No offence to Hopkins fans but I hope the Ghost blasts him into retirement.

[JOSEY WALES]

He was one of my faves but he needs to give it away. He would have smoked guys like Taylor and Calzaghe when he was at his best and could fight for a full 12 rounds. I think Pavlik might retire him. Well we will never know really if he would have "smoked " Calzaghe in their primes as Hopkins shit out of done deal to fight Calzaghe in the states in 2001 :deal

[CarltonBlues]

Well we will never know really if he would have "smoked " Calzaghe in their primes as Hopkins shit out of done deal to fight Calzaghe in the states in 2001 :deal

Well that's what Calzaghe's camp claim about every big fight that didn't get made, I know who I believe.;)

[JOSEY WALES]

Well that's what Calzaghe's camp claim about every big fight that didn't get made, I know who I believe.;) Well at the end of the day i belive the Head of Showtime Jay Larkin who was actually there when ****** said Yes , Joe Said Yes , Don King said yes and Bernard said yes they had a deal to fight in the states and Hopkins purse was agreed on $3.5 million all went home happy that the fight was a done deal only for Hopkins to double his demands the very next day , Please tell me what more could Calzaghe and ****** could have done to secure the fight ? Hopkins priced his way out of the fight .:deal

[Francis75]

Well at the end of the day i belive the Head of Showtime Jay Larkin who was actually there when ****** said Yes , Joe Said Yes , Don King said yes and Bernard said yes they had a deal to fight in the states and Hopkins purse was agreed on $3.5 million all went home happy that the fight was a done deal only for Hopkins to double his demands the very next day , Please tell me what more could Calzaghe and ****** could have done to secure the fight ? Hopkins priced his way out of the fight .:deal

So did every other elite fighter duck Joe aswell until 2006 ?

[ipswich express]

It's common knowledge Hopkins priced himself out with Calzaghe. Get on with it...

[BIG FELLA]

Well we will never know really if he would have "smoked " Calzaghe in their primes as Hopkins shit out of done deal to fight Calzaghe in the states in 2001 :deal

Whether he priced himself out or not, In his prime ld have destroyed Calzaghe. He nearly beat him at 42 for christ's sake.

[JOSEY WALES]

So did every other elite fighter duck Joe aswell until 2006 ? What other ELITE fighters @ S/Middle are you talking about ? The only fighter that has a legit claim to Calzaghe ducking him is Glenn Johnson (and thats debatable ), Name me another ?

[JOSEY WALES]

Whether he priced himself out or not, In his prime ld have destroyed Calzaghe. He nearly beat him at 42 for christ's sake. Nearly beat Calzaghe lol . Big Fella Calzaghe fought Hopkins where and when Hopkins commanded , ie infront of American Judges , American ref and in America , if there was any way possible the judges could have given it to Hopkins then they would have , besides a 36 year old version of Calzaghe was / is nowhere near the version he was @ 28 years old , Joe could pop along back in the day and Hopkins was a Middle weight , There is a reason Bernard Hopkins shot through from middle to L/Heavy without picking up titles @ S/middle and the reason is Joe Calzaghe .

[Wrangler]

B-Hop is a legend without question.

Good to see Dib on the undercard tho i feel he will get beaten badly.
At least Dib is having a go to see if he has what it takes.

I agree with you kegsy. It's good to see Billy having a go. At least he is willing to back up what he says. I hope for his sake, he puts in a great performance, win or lose, I admire the bloke for having the conviction to take up the offer of this fight rather than just talk himself up ala many other boxers. Here's hoping for another title to come Australia's way. Good luck to ya Billy Dib!

[Francis75]

What other ELITE fighters @ S/Middle are you talking about ? The only fighter that has a legit claim to Calzaghe ducking him is Glenn Johnson (and thats debatable ), Name me another ?

Is there a rule that a fighter has to stay in a shitty division and defend a trinket? Why didn't Joe call out and try and get fights with the elite guys who were half a stone north or south of his division. Your right, Joe f#cked around Glen Johnson on several occasions. Until Joe stepped up in 2006, he was living off Sven Ottke's leftovers.
Don't get me wrong, I think Calzaghe has been a top class fighter over the years but his resume, for someone of his talents, is poor. You are obviously a big Joe Calzaghe fan. Surely you are not pleased in any way over his "superfight" with Roy Jones.

[BIG FELLA]

Nearly beat Calzaghe lol . Big Fella Calzaghe fought Hopkins where and when Hopkins commanded , ie infront of American Judges , American ref and in America , if there was any way possible the judges could have given it to Hopkins then they would have , besides a 36 year old version of Calzaghe was / is nowhere near the version he was @ 28 years old , Joe could pop along back in the day and Hopkins was a Middle weight , There is a reason Bernard Hopkins shot through from middle to L/Heavy without picking up titles @ S/middle and the reason is Joe Calzaghe .

How many points did you have him winning by. I had Calzaghe by 2 rounds close fight. You are looking at Calzaghe through rose coloured glasses. Do you remember the Read fight? In his prime my arse he was around 28 when that fight happened.

Why did Joe not fight Ottke ? Didnt want to go to Germany even though Ottke had the legitimate title, Instead Joe defended his WBO bullshit against guys like Pudwill etc.
Joe wasted his best years and is only now really pushing for an American name as he knows that there all washed up.

If Calzaghe wanted to prove himself he would be fight Pavlik not RJJ.

[JOSEY WALES]

Is there a rule that a fighter has to stay in a shitty division and defend a trinket? Why didn't Joe call out and try and get fights with the elite guys who were half a stone north or south of his division. Your right, Joe f#cked around Glen Johnson on several occasions. Until Joe stepped up in 2006, he was living off Sven Ottke's leftovers.
Don't get me wrong, I think Calzaghe has been a top class fighter over the years but his resume, for someone of his talents, is poor. You are obviously a big Joe Calzaghe fan. Surely you are not pleased in any way over his "superfight" with Roy Jones. There is no rule either that says you have to bounce around weights to prove you are a decent fighter , Calzaghe Unified the S/Middleweight championship of the world and should have retired straight after kessler . obviously im not happy Calzaghe is fighting Roy Jones Junior but if its a prelude to a showdown with Pavlik ( As i suspect it is ) then he will be forgiven in my eyes , win lose or draw he must fight Pavlik now if he is to remain in the sport as a fighter .

[JOSEY WALES]

How many points did you have him winning by. I had Calzaghe by 2 rounds close fight. You are looking at Calzaghe through rose coloured glasses. Do you remember the Read fight? In his prime my arse he was around 28 when that fight happened.

Why did Joe not fight Ottke ? Didnt want to go to Germany even though Ottke had the legitimate title, Instead Joe defended his WBO bullshit against guys like Pudwill etc.
Joe wasted his best years and is only now really pushing for an American name as he knows that there all washed up.

If Calzaghe wanted to prove himself he would be fight Pavlik not RJJ. I had him winning by 3 rounds actually and it was Hopkins with his negetive tactics that made it a shit fight but before we hang Calzaghe lets see how Kelly fairs aginst such a fighter aye ? as for the Robbie Reid fight yes it was close but Joe clearly won as he would v Ottke if he could have ever gotten the feather fisted fucker in a ring , as for Tocker Pudwill ? well i admire his guts for getting in there with Calzaghe on a weeks notice after Thomas Tate shit his pants and refused to leave the states for their proposed bout . On YA Tucker :good

[Francis75]

There is no rule either that says you have to bounce around weights to prove you are a decent fighter , Calzaghe Unified the S/Middleweight championship of the world and should have retired straight after kessler . obviously im not happy Calzaghe is fighting Roy Jones Junior but if its a prelude to a showdown with Pavlik ( As i suspect it is ) then he will be forgiven in my eyes , win lose or draw he must fight Pavlik now if he is to remain in the sport as a fighter .

I agree with you that Calzaghe MUST fight Pavlik next at 168 or catchweight of about 170/172 if he stays active in boxing. If he fights Pavlik, win or lose, i will give him credit for stepping up to the challenge. If he does something stupid and has a final fight in Cardiff against someone like Clinton Woods for a retirement fund then he will be a joke.

[JOSEY WALES]

I agree with you that Calzaghe MUST fight Pavlik next at 168 or catchweight of about 170/172 if he stays active in boxing. If he fights Pavlik, win or lose, i will give him credit for stepping up to the challenge. If he does something stupid and has a final fight in Cardiff against someone like Clinton Woods for a retirement fund then he will be a joke. Nah mate i would love to see Clinton Woods fight again but he ain't even remotley on Joe's radar . its gotta be Pavlik next or no one imo . these fights with Hopkins and Jones are a joke just retirement money fights , Calzaghe has done enough to get himself first ballot IBHOF without doubt , and if Brewer , Reid etc were fighting Sven on netural ground he would have been facing them as champs also . did you ever see Ottke v Reid / fuck me the Runcorn Robin got deduted i point for hitting ottke in the face :patsch

[JOSEY WALES]

Bernard Hopkins WAS without doubt the standout MiddleWeight of his generation and deserves all the props he recives, but i wonder if he would have stayed there if Roy had also ? me thinks he would have defo had to stop off @ S/Middle to fight Calzaghe .

[WhataRock]

Nah mate i would love to see Clinton Woods fight again but he ain't even remotley on Joe's radar . its gotta be Pavlik next or no one imo . these fights with Hopkins and Jones are a joke just retirement money fights , Calzaghe has done enough to get himself first ballot IBHOF without doubt , and if Brewer , Reid etc were fighting Sven on netural ground he would have been facing them as champs also . did you ever see Ottke v Reid / fuck me the Runcorn Robin got deduted i point for hitting ottke in the face :patsch

I often get into arguements with people who say Ottke got a lot of gifts. He got a few later in his career, the first Brewer fight was debatable but for the most part he won fair and square in the majority of his defences, even if he only did just enough.

The Reid fight however was one of those gifts...that ref was a fucking wombat, actually he was just a cunt I dont want to insult wombats. I was actually so incensed by the reffing in that fight, that I from time to time look up to see if that idiot is still officiating. Amazingly he reffed about a dozen bouts after that but luckily none of note, mostly 6 & 8 rounders in Europe.
But he is still judging bouts...

[teke]

Bernard is a legend.

2001? even at that date he was out of his prime. The Executioner at 30 was a beast who fought totally different to what he does now.

[JOSEY WALES]

Well if you mean getting dropped Twice on his arse by Mercano and beating lesser blokes like Lipsy etc aged 30 was Hopkins prime then i don't really know what to say mate , I thought everyone and his dog realised the 1999 - 2003 Hopkins who schooled the likes of Vanderpool , Echoles , Daniels , Trinidad etc was at the hight of his powers around that time . Hopkins was a late bloomer and 32-35 was his prime .

[Marcus]

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[stiflers mum]

i think hops retires after this one win, lose or draw. Marcus whats with the butter? Teke did Oscar really shit himself when hops dropped him with that wicked body shot?

[Marcus]

B-Hop = Butter.........get it.

[IrnBruMan]

B-Hop is a legend but I think win or lose it's time to hang them up after Pavlik.

Going out on a win would be an excellent finish to his career, going out on a loss wouldn't be too hard to accept given his age.

[BIG FELLA]

I had him winning by 3 rounds actually and it was Hopkins with his negetive tactics that made it a shit fight but before we hang Calzaghe lets see how Kelly fairs aginst such a fighter aye ? as for the Robbie Reid fight yes it was close but Joe clearly won as he would v Ottke if he could have ever gotten the feather fisted fucker in a ring , as for Tocker Pudwill ? well i admire his guts for getting in there with Calzaghe on a weeks notice after Thomas Tate shit his pants and refused to leave the states for their proposed bout . On YA Tucker :good

Im not going to argue any more mate, I Like both as fighters and think they are 2 of the better fighters for this generation. That being said i still stand by my comments that Hop would have taken Him.

Calzaghe did piss most of his prime up the wall though by fighting some rather ordinary fighters. And a prime Ottke was a really great boxer and regardless of power would have made a good fight with Calzaghe.

[JOSEY WALES]

Im not going to argue any more mate, I Like both as fighters and think they are 2 of the better fighters for this generation. That being said i still stand by my comments that Hop would have taken Him.

Calzaghe did piss most of his prime up the wall though by fighting some rather ordinary fighters. And a prime Ottke was a really great boxer and regardless of power would have made a good fight with Calzaghe. Fair go and i agree to a certain extent , who knows for sure who would have won between Hopkins & Calzaghe back in 01 ? but saying Sven was a GREAT fighter is something i will always have trouble with , :good

[teke]

Well if you mean getting dropped Twice on his arse by Mercano and beating lesser blokes like Lipsy etc aged 30 was Hopkins prime then i don't really know what to say mate , I thought everyone and his dog realised the 1999 - 2003 Hopkins who schooled the likes of Vanderpool , Echoles , Daniels , Trinidad etc was at the hight of his powers around that time . Hopkins was a late bloomer and 32-35 was his prime .I rate the early version of Hopkins much more highly than the 2000 plus version. I have every fight of his in my possession and you can see a dramatic difference in fighting style. Just my opinion...oh and another one...he would have schooled your little princess (actually I dont believe he would have but its good to wind you up :yep) Jones and Toney would have though

[Axe]

Great fighter.

[JOSEY WALES]

I rate the early version of Hopkins much more highly than the 2000 plus version. I have every fight of his in my possession and you can see a dramatic difference in fighting style. Just my opinion...oh and another one...he would have schooled your little princess (actually I dont believe he would have but its good to wind you up :yep) Jones and Toney would have though :lol: Toney was sitting on his massive arse under the Golden Arches long before Joe had even won a S/Middle title , Jones would have been your best bet to see Joe beaten . Still could do it if Joe fucks about but its a long long shot . Joe is training like a basard up in the mountains above pissy valley and ain't fucking about , he is growing into a tidy version of a L/Heavy , nothing like the plodding fella frustrated by ol slopkings first time out . Im expecting a tip top L/Heavy come Nov 8th Teke .

[teke]

Gonna be a good fight.

Im pretty sure it goes the distance and there wont be much in it.

[r_9-Ronaldo]

Hopkins would've destroyed calzaghe in his prime no question about it

[JOSEY WALES]

Hopkins would've destroyed calzaghe in his prime no question about it Pity Hopkins himself wasn't as confident as you sound back in 01 aye ?

[stiflers mum]

No offence to Hopkins fans but I hope the Ghost blasts him into retirement.
:lol::lol::lol:

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sorry Leon busting chops today.anti-Pavlik ATM.:thumbsup

[LeonMcS]

Thats fine. The continued postponements are wearing down my fandom of the Ghost as well. I sincerely hope it is a genuine injury/illness and he recovers to full health, but the momentum he had with him up until the Hopkins fight is surely gone now.

And as good as the Hopkins win was, imo it wasn't what boxing needed, no disrespect to 'Nard fans. Theres no question Hopkins is a great fighter and a very clever man in the ring, its just that hes not the most exciting guy to watch.

[perfect jet]

Thats fine. The continued postponements are wearing down my fandom of the Ghost as well. I sincerely hope it is a genuine injury/illness and he recovers to full health, but the momentum he had with him up until the Hopkins fight is surely gone now.

And as good as the Hopkins win was, imo it wasn't what boxing needed, no disrespect to 'Nard fans. Theres no question Hopkins is a great fighter and a very clever man in the ring, its just that hes not the most exciting guy to watch.

It's a genuine injury, no doubt. But it's irresponsible/unprofessional that he sucked piss and failed to take his antibiotics during the course of the infection.

He signed three contracts and pulled out each time - stopping another fighter from making a living (PWill).

No sympathy for Pavlik there. If he is carrying an infection and wont do the right thing to take care of it - don't sign a contract. He's lost me in that respect.

[Kegsy]

It's a genuine injury, no doubt. But it's irrespobsible/unprofessional that he sucked piss and failed to take his antibiotics during the course of the infection.

He signed three contracts and pulled out each time - stopping another fighter from making a living (PWill).

No sympathy for Pavlik there. If he is carrying an infection and wont do the right thing to take care of it - don't sign a contract. He's lost me in that respect.
I agree.
No doubt he was injured but he should have gone about it in the correct way.
I think he was just over eager & perhaps slightly pressured by Top Rank into signing for the fight without properly thinking it through, & also not taking into account any complications.

[perfect jet]

I agree.
No doubt he was injured but he should have gone about it in the correct way.
I think he was just over eager & perhaps slightly pressured by Top Rank into signing for the fight without properly thinking it through, & also not taking into account any complications.

Their is a strong rumor Kegs that Pav has a real problem with the drink. He denies it by saying he has a few beers at his local bar where he plays darts.

[Kegsy]

Their is a strong rumor Kegs that Pav has a real problem with the drink. He denies it by saying he has a few beers at his local bar where he plays darts.
Yeah i heard those rumours too.
Its very unfortunate if so, as Pavlik has so much to offer around Middleweight & Super Middleweight for many years to come.

[Bognashavin]

If you believe the experts everyone I know friends, parents, neighbours, postie, guy at the newsagent etc, everyone has an alcohol problem. Kelly probabbaly had a big night out on the town a while ago stumbled once and bang instant alco reputation.
Also I know how much more I can drink when fit, it's been a while, so that may also contribute to the rumours.
it is time we saw him back inthe ring though. . . .

[stiflers mum]

hes nearly 50
and hes from the hood
you know what Nards called
GHOSTBUSTER
took a 26 yr old hype job
fucked him up real good
you know what Nards called
GHOSTBUSTER
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I AINT AFRAID OF NO GHOST.
:yep:yep:yep