Where now for B-Hop?

[ikorolev]

I saw Oscar mentioned a fight with Chavez Jr at 168-170. That is an interesting option.

There is a huge line of people wanting to fight Chavez: Froch, Golovkin, Ward. I am pretty sure that most of other top SMWs would love to fight him too. Will Hopkins be able to squeeze in ?

[JCS]

I saw Oscar mentioned a fight with Chavez Jr at 168-170. That is an interesting option.

There is a huge line of people wanting to fight Chavez: Froch, Golovkin, Ward. I am pretty sure that most of other top SMWs would love to fight him too. Will Hopkins be able to squeeze in ?

I think he realized that if he fights on, it should be at 168. He's no longer got A+ punch resistance and defense.. still top notch, but not enough anymore considering he's 50... so Froch or Chavez make interesting fights. Neither one is that fast, both can be exploited and neither will hold a size advantage.. unless you count Chavez's water weight.

[jujigatame]

I kind of doubt he moves down to 168. An average fighter of his size could make the weight with no trouble but cutting significant weight is gonna be really tough on a 50 year old body.

[SamWise72]

i just watched the 12th round (that's all I've seen), and I saw him take one solid head punch, and two solid body punches in that whole round. The head punch was a right that knocked him 3 feet sideways, but he rolled or slipped everything else but jabs. He was being dominated, no question, but he didn't take bad punishment. I don't want to see him go on for long, but I'd like to see him go out on a win, ideally for a title. I don't think there's any way that Abraham could beat him, and I think that would be an ideal show closer.

[ikorolev]

i just watched the 12th round (that's all I've seen), and I saw him take one solid head punch, and two solid body punches in that whole round. The head punch was a right that knocked him 3 feet sideways, but he rolled or slipped everything else but jabs. He was being dominated, no question, but he didn't take bad punishment. I don't want to see him go on for long, but I'd like to see him go out on a win, ideally for a title. I don't think there's any way that Abraham could beat him, and I think that would be an ideal show closer.

Maybe you need new glasses. Bernard took way more than 3 punches just in the last 35 seconds without throwing anything back.

[SamWise72]

Not clean, hard shots. I watched it again, and the only really hurtful head shots he took were 9 seconds from the end, when a big right sends him sideways, and then 4 seconds later, where his head is just out of shot, but it looks like Kovalev landed another one flush. I agree that if the fight had a minute more to run, he might have been out, but if you watch what Bernard is doing with his head throughout the rest of the round, not much is landing with force. Landing, yes, but not with anything like full force. The shot that lands at 9 seconds to go shows you what happens when Kovalev lands properly on him, and he doesn't do that at any other point in the round.

[baron_otto]

Admittedly he was well beaten at the weekend but against someone not quite as good Hopkins could still compete in his next fight. Its a big assumption that he could make 168lbs but if he can Abraham would be a very good choice of opponent and a fight h should win fairly comfortably.

That would let Hopkins retire as a reigning world champion

[Horse]

Yeah, he still has a chance to beat Stevenson but he'd take some shots doing so, and the reward for taking any more punishment isn't enough - people would just say Stevenson was a bum.

Only idiots would say that.

[Blodhemn]

Yeah, he still has a chance to beat Stevenson but he'd take some shots doing so, and the reward for taking any more punishment isn't enough - people would just say Stevenson was a bum.

Only idiots would say that.

Plenty of them here.

[Horse]

Plenty of them here.

Stevenson is clearly one of the best light heavyweights. There can be no argument against that.

If Hopkins beat him it would be a very good win.

[Noxy]

To be fair to Bernard, he did better against Kovalev than anyone else has recently. As for Kovalev, he fought a great fight, he showed he's more than just a puncher.

[MachoTime]

Plenty of them here.

Stevenson is clearly one of the best light heavyweights. There can be no argument against that.

If Hopkins beat him it would be a very good win.

It would be a great win. It would be a miracle.

[Horse]

It would be a great win. It would be a miracle.

I don't think Stevenson is as good as Kovalev.

Hopkins has a chance.

[Perseus]

Just a few months ago Stevenson was reluctant to sign a fight with Hopkins.
Stevenson knew Hopkins was under pressure from the IBF and delayed signing long enough for Hopkins to move on.
He already had an opportunity to fight Hopkins and ducked it, I don't want him to get the main stream media attention that comes with fighting Hopkins.

[ikorolev]

Just a few months ago Stevenson was reluctant to sign a fight with Hopkins.
Stevenson knew Hopkins was under pressure from the IBF and delayed signing long enough for Hopkins to move on.
He already had an opportunity to fight Hopkins and ducked it, I don't want him to get the main stream media attention that comes with fighting Hopkins.

GYM have already named Stevenson's next two opponents, so he won't be fighting Hopkins.

Bernard has been telling the media that he'll be fighting in March or April... and his opponent may be Golovkin.

If Stevenson doesn't give 50% of a purse to Pascal, then their fight won't happen. The same way as Hopkins, Pascal will prefer Kovalev.

[MachoTime]

Just a few months ago Stevenson was reluctant to sign a fight with Hopkins.
Stevenson knew Hopkins was under pressure from the IBF and delayed signing long enough for Hopkins to move on.
He already had an opportunity to fight Hopkins and ducked it, I don't want him to get the main stream media attention that comes with fighting Hopkins.

GYM have already named Stevenson's next two opponents, so he won't be fighting Hopkins.

Bernard has been telling the media that he'll be fighting in March or April... and his opponent may be Golovkin.

It wasn't too long ago Hopkins was talking about fighting Mayweather at 160. Why Hopkin's would want to fight GGG. It would be the best GGG fighting the once best weight drained Hopkins..Mind Boggling.

[crow]

Hopkins without his swagger ain't Hopkins anymore; and he emphatically lost that saturday.
It's finished, folks.

[ikorolev]

Just a few months ago Stevenson was reluctant to sign a fight with Hopkins.
Stevenson knew Hopkins was under pressure from the IBF and delayed signing long enough for Hopkins to move on.
He already had an opportunity to fight Hopkins and ducked it, I don't want him to get the main stream media attention that comes with fighting Hopkins.

GYM have already named Stevenson's next two opponents, so he won't be fighting Hopkins.

Bernard has been telling the media that he'll be fighting in March or April... and his opponent may be Golovkin.

It wasn't too long ago Hopkins was talking about fighting Mayweather at 160. Why Hopkin's would want to fight GGG. It would be the best GGG fighting the once best weight drained Hopkins..Mind Boggling.

The fight would be at a weight comfortable for Hopkins, like 170-172. Even though Bernard lost to Kovalev, the fight with him would still be valuable for Golovkin to build his name among casual fans. May time frame seems to be good not interfering with a possible fight against Canelo/Cotto winner. The only conflict could be an alternative fight against Korobov who should get IBO belt in December.

[Horse]

The fight would be at a weight comfortable for Hopkins, like 170-172. Even though Bernard lost to Kovalev, the fight with him would still be valuable for Golovkin to build his name among casual fans. May time frame seems to be good not interfering with a possible fight against Canelo/Cotto winner. The only conflict could be an alternative fight against Korobov who should get IBO belt in December.

Murray vs Hopkins in May will be a very interesting fight.

[ikorolev]

Hopkins said that he will not fight some Joe Schmoe which Murray is.

[lefty]

I saw Oscar mentioned a fight with Chavez Jr at 168-170. That is an interesting option.

There is a huge line of people wanting to fight Chavez: Froch, Golovkin, Ward. I am pretty sure that most of other top SMWs would love to fight him too. Will Hopkins be able to squeeze in ?

I think he realized that if he fights on, it should be at 168. He's no longer got A+ punch resistance and defense.. still top notch, but not enough anymore considering he's 50... so Froch or Chavez make interesting fights. Neither one is that fast, both can be exploited and neither will hold a size advantage.. unless you count Chavez's water weight.

Think he could make 168 at near on 50? I know he's very strict in his diet, etc, but when was the last time he was that low in weight?

[lefty]

The fight would be at a weight comfortable for Hopkins, like 170-172. Even though Bernard lost to Kovalev, the fight with him would still be valuable for Golovkin to build his name among casual fans. May time frame seems to be good not interfering with a possible fight against Canelo/Cotto winner. The only conflict could be an alternative fight against Korobov who should get IBO belt in December.

Murray vs Hopkins in May will be a very interesting fight.

Lol you're just trolling now Horse.

[lefty]

To be fair to Bernard, he did better against Kovalev than anyone else has recently. As for Kovalev, he fought a great fight, he showed he's more than just a puncher.

Did he? By better im guessing you mean he managed to survive the full 12 rounds. Other than that he was completely dominated.

[lefty]

I'd like Hopkins to either retire or compete in one final farewell big payday fight against Jermain Taylor for the alphabet middleweight title. After all, Bernard is a managerial, promotional and a network free agent!

Theres no way he's making 160 at this stage of his career and age. He'd be half dead before he got in the ring.

[victor-romeo]

He should quit. He could probably beat half of the guys in LHW top 10 but most of them are not very good, and so really nothing to gain in glory. Really better to retire with your health and thank God for an incredible run.