BHop as a sacrificial lamb

[Perseus]

Sacrificed to kill the lawsuit?

If HBO had been willing to approve Hopkins weak mandatory opponent OR Stevenson would have been willing to sign a fight with Hopkins there would have been no fight with Kovalev.
Neither of those two things happened leaving a fight with Kovalev as the only way Hopkins could avoid being stripped of one of his precious belts.
Hopkins had always been difficult at the bargaining table but they worked quick with Kovalev so they could get the fight signed before the IBF stripped Hopkins.
Whether Hopkins held that IBF belt or not was completely irrelevant to the lawsuit. The Kovalev claim to lost income was going to be dead the instant they landed a fight with Hopkins and the payday that came with it.

Killing the Kovalev lawsuit was a convenient circumstance of Hopkins taking the fight but it was not THE reason for the fight.
Taking a fight with Kovalev and killing that lawsuit in the process was never Hopkins FIRST choice.
Hopkins tried to make other fights happen but when those fights didn't work out THEN he turned to Kovalev.

[ikorolev]

I think the history repeats itself. First, Hopkins was sacrificed to Kovalev to kill Duva's law suite against GB. Now the older, rustier version of Bernard may be sacrificed to Golovkin to save Canelo from taking the beating:

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/4119 ... t-thickens

LOL to your word "sacrifice", it would be the ultimate backfire that Hopkins toys with GGG and makes him look like an amateur. I wonder how badly you'd feel if Golovkin actually got clowned and lost easily.

Right, he was also supposed to school Kovalev as many lovers of slick defensive boxers predicted

[ikorolev]

Fighting BHop is a no win situation for 3G, especially with his haterbase.

I agree.

Bring on Canelo, not Hopkins.

Of course, they prefer Canelo or Saunders. Hopkins is a backup plan in case those two keep ducking.

[Badhusker]

For one thing, if they do a fight of Bhop vs GGG, it should be at a weight that Bhop is comfortable at. Maybe 170 or so. If GGG wants the fight for the name/scalp recognition, he needs to concede weight, since Bhop has a huge disadvantage of age. By the way, if you can't KO a 50 year old guy, imo you don't ever make the hall. I think GGG has a better chance to KO Hopkins than Kovalev due to better skills and a harder punch.

[gilgamesh]

For one thing, if they do a fight of Bhop vs GGG, it should be at a weight that Bhop is comfortable at. Maybe 170 or so. If GGG wants the fight for the name/scalp recognition, he needs to concede weight, since Bhop has a huge disadvantage of age. By the way, if you can't KO a 50 year old guy, imo you don't ever make the hall. I think GGG has a better chance to KO Hopkins than Kovalev due to better skills and a harder punch.

Some dudes are damn hard to stop man. Especially a guy like Hopkins who is tough as hell, always has been, and an excellent defender even at his advanced age.

But really there's nothing to be gained for GGG by beating Hopkins, so I'd prefer he just doesn't bother. Being the first guy to stop him would be significant, but he'd get no credit for that from most all he'd get is "Yeah but he was an old man" and stuff like that. I'm sure he knows that.

[Lancenix]

I respect the hell out of Hopkins, and if he takes on Kovalev and Golovkin back to back as a man nearing 50 he will put almost all active boxers to shame by showing more balls in back to back fights than most of them do in years even in their primes these days.

If the fight takes place though. Hopkins has no chance. He can still compete definitely, but he's not gonna be able to outbox Golovkin at this stage in his career. I don't know if Golovkin stops the old man, but it doesn't matter. He'll win every round like Kovalev did.

One of the last true North American boxers. Unlike the Mexican chicken and cowards like Stevenson, Wilder, Cotto and others.

[Impractical Poster]

I'm quite sure G would stop Hopkins at this point in their careers. It would be a suicide fight.

Golovkin>Kovalev>Hopkins

[Badhusker]

I respect the hell out of Hopkins, and if he takes on Kovalev and Golovkin back to back as a man nearing 50 he will put almost all active boxers to shame by showing more balls in back to back fights than most of them do in years even in their primes these days.

If the fight takes place though. Hopkins has no chance. He can still compete definitely, but he's not gonna be able to outbox Golovkin at this stage in his career. I don't know if Golovkin stops the old man, but it doesn't matter. He'll win every round like Kovalev did.

One of the last true North American boxers. Unlike the Mexican chicken and cowards like Stevenson, Wilder, Cotto and others.

Seriously, what the fornicate is your problem? It seems you can't make a post without some kind of cut or negative rant that is against the U.S. or any country other than your own. What you do is equally as bad as any kind of racism. Hating a person because of what country they came from to me is the same as hating someone because of their race. Guess what...99% or more of the people in the U.S. came from other countries, including your own. Take off your pointed hat and get over your hate.

[PsychoGamerTwo]

Triple G won't be nearly as big in height or weight as guys like Murat or Shumenov (who is obviously bigger and stronger than GGG)

What? Murat & Shumenov may be bigger, but stronger than GGG? Hell no.

[gilgamesh]

Triple G won't be nearly as big in height or weight as guys like Murat or Shumenov (who is obviously bigger and stronger than GGG)

What? Murat & Shumenov may be bigger, but stronger than GGG? Hell no.

Why is my name quoted with that? I didn't say that sh*t.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Two things, Hopkins has been fighting so long that he's gone from the age you naturally gain some weight, early 30's, to an age where you drop some. 168 wouldn't be a problem. Two, he'd get massacred. Not sure who punches harder between kovalev and ggg, but golovkin has the best jab in the sport.

[punchoutsb]

Two things, Hopkins has been fighting so long that he's gone from the age you naturally gain some weight, early 30's, to an age where you drop some. 168 wouldn't be a problem. Two, he'd get massacred. Not sure who punches harder between kovalev and ggg, but golovkin has the best jab in the sport.

Yep. Unless he's supplementing, he'll be naturally losing muscle mass at a much more advanced rate now. If he keeps fighting as long as he has stated he wants to he'll be light enough to fight Canelo at a catchweight for the MW title.

Also, good to see you back saad

[Tanzio]

I would have preferred Abraham or DeGale v 3G or BHop.

[Lancenix]

I respect the hell out of Hopkins, and if he takes on Kovalev and Golovkin back to back as a man nearing 50 he will put almost all active boxers to shame by showing more balls in back to back fights than most of them do in years even in their primes these days.

If the fight takes place though. Hopkins has no chance. He can still compete definitely, but he's not gonna be able to outbox Golovkin at this stage in his career. I don't know if Golovkin stops the old man, but it doesn't matter. He'll win every round like Kovalev did.

One of the last true North American boxers. Unlike the Mexican chicken and cowards like Stevenson, Wilder, Cotto and others.

Seriously, what the eff is your problem? It seems you can't make a post without some kind of cut or negative rant that is against the U.S. or any country other than your own. What you do is equally as bad as any kind of racism. Hating a person because of what country they came from to me is the same as hating someone because of their race. Guess what...99% or more of the people in the U.S. came from other countries, including your own. Take off your pointed hat and get over your hate.

If I were lying that would be one thing but since it is true why are you mad? What I am presenting is a fact and you are annoyed by that. I am not racist against anyone. I call out fighters of all backgrounds. You basically have no point.

[Cyclops]

Unless Hopkins pulls out the most amazing performance of his career and somehow miraculously wins, this is a terrible fight bases on Hopkins being a name and a living ATG. I like GGG and think he could do great things if only he got the fights, and have moaned he's wasting his time at MW for ages now, but winning this won't really prove anything. Bernard is OLD, man. It's not good. Beating him has no meaning. If Bernard is even competitive, Golovlin's stock drops. I don't know how Golovkin gets people to fight him, but this isn't it.

It's not actually signed is it?

[Lancenix]

Unless Hopkins pulls out the most amazing performance of his career and somehow miraculously wins, this is a terrible fight bases on Hopkins being a name and a living ATG. I like GGG and think he could do great things if only he got the fights, and have moaned he's wasting his time at MW for ages now, but winning this won't really prove anything. Bernard is OLD, man. It's not good. Beating him has no meaning. If Bernard is even competitive, Golovlin's stock drops. I don't know how Golovkin gets people to fight him, but this isn't it.

It's not actually signed is it?

Exactly but this muddles the conversation. The only reason that this fight is taking place is because of cowards like Jacobs, Alvarez and Cotto will not fight GGG. If any of these cowards had any balls there would be no talk of this fight at all. HBO should avoid this fight. Maybe Sanders will step up to the plate because too many others will not. Alvarez and DLH are the bitches of boxing. So is Jacobs.

[Tanzio]

One of the last true North American boxers. Unlike the Mexican chicken and cowards like Stevenson, Wilder, Cotto and others.

Seriously, what the eff is your problem? It seems you can't make a post without some kind of cut or negative rant that is against the U.S. or any country other than your own. What you do is equally as bad as any kind of racism. Hating a person because of what country they came from to me is the same as hating someone because of their race. Guess what...99% or more of the people in the U.S. came from other countries, including your own. Take off your pointed hat and get over your hate.

If I were lying that would be one thing but since it is true why are you mad? What I am presenting is a fact and you are annoyed by that. I am not racist against anyone. I call out fighters of all backgrounds. You basically have no point.

You are not lying, you are simply ignorant.