BoxRec

I haven't watched the fight yet but by most accounts it was pretty one sided - where now for B-Hop? I can't see him retiring without a title.....

To 168... try to goad Froch into a fight and cash out in England, guns blazing. I think he could guile and counterpunch his way through Froch's sloppy, slow punches, unless he is completely spent which I wouldn't doubt based on last night's fight.

JCS wrote:To 168... try to goad Froch into a fight and cash out in England, guns blazing. I think he could guile and counterpunch his way through Froch's sloppy, slow punches, unless he is completely spent which I wouldn't doubt based on last night's fight.

Good post - it's very hard to look good against Hopkins if he doesn't want you to......IMO he edged the Calzaghe fight

i only saw round 12 and hop took a severe beating, showed great heart to stay in there. froch isnt a bad idea, but nor would be retirement.

fanman wrote:i only saw round 12 and hop took a severe beating, showed great heart to stay in there. froch isnt a bad idea, but nor would be retirement.

Round 12 was not indicative of the fight itself.. I think B-Hop knew he was going to lose, opened up to try and bait Kovalev.. and when he realized he couldn't pull the trigger, turned into a quasi-Mayorga to proved he could take the punches.

Retirement. Enjoy Life. While he's got some brain cells left.

The allure that comes with winning a major world title at 50 is too much for him to ignore...

Who's the weakest champion at 168-175?

Stevenson, Ward, Froch, Abraham etc.

Just because he lost to Kovalev it doesn't mean he can't still take on the best.

Horse wrote:Stevenson, Ward, Froch, Abraham etc.

Just because he lost to Kovalev it doesn't mean he can't still take on the best.

He arguably lost every single round. I'd agree if it was close, but it wasn't.

JCS wrote:He arguably lost every single round. I'd agree if it was close, but it wasn't.

He can still beat Abraham at least.

He is still a very good opponent for any world level fighter that he hasn't already fought at 175 lbs or 168 lbs.

I would like him to retire because I think he's finished, but I thought that after the Dawson fight.

It wouldn't surprise me if he popped up in another weight class & annexed a title in jaw dropping style in one last hurrah.

MachoTime wrote:Retirement. Enjoy Life. While he's got some brain cells left.

Well said. I really hope Hop walks off into the sunset as one of the greatest fighters of all time, millions to spend, and his faculties in tact. He acquitted himself well last night but he took a 12 rd beating. There are some very alluring fights out there with the likes of Stevenson and Froch but he has absolutely nothing to prove. Thanks for the HOF career, now please retire.

Unlike the Wirght fight when Hopkins looked bad because Winky is a difficult fight ...
Unlike the Calzaghe fight when Hopkins looked bad solely due to activity ...
Unlike the Dawson fight when Hopkins looked bad because because it was a bad athletic matchup ...

Hopkins got beaten up by Kovalev. This is not the type of fight a 49 year old easily recovers from. Hopkins was getting hit flush for the last 30 seconds of the fight. The referee could have stopped it if he wanted to.

Maybe ... maybe ... Hopkins VS Froch. However, Hopkins looked too weak to compete with Sergei.

After watching that 12th round last night it's clear Hopkins does not have it anymore..Actually after watching all 12 rounds. The 12th round was painful to watch.

BAD INTENTIONS wrote:Unlike the Wirght fight when Hopkins looked bad because Winky is a difficult fight ...
Unlike the Calzaghe fight when Hopkins looked bad solely due to activity ...
Unlike the Dawson fight when Hopkins looked bad because because it was a bad athletic matchup ...

Hopkins got beaten up by Kovalev. This is not the type of fight a 49 year old easily recovers from. Hopkins was getting hit flush for the last 30 seconds of the fight. The referee could have stopped it if he wanted to.

Maybe ... maybe ... Hopkins VS Froch. However, Hopkins looked too weak to compete with Sergei.

I'll add that (whether we believe it or not) that Bernard's shoulder allegedly wasn't completely healed for preparation of Dawson II.

MachoTime wrote:After watching that 12th round last night it's clear Hopkins does not have it anymore..Actually after watching all 12 rounds. The 12th round was painful to watch.

It's not clear at all. Kovalev might destroy Stevenson in two rounds if he ever gets to fight him.

Losing clearly to Kovalev on points doesn't mean a fighter isn't world class or is past it.

I agree with Horse, there's no need to write Hopkins off; Kovalev may dust everyone for the next few years and prove to be a formidable champ. Holmes got wrecked by Tyson after a great career and went on to have some pretty good nights yet; Hopkins is his own man and he's surprised me a few times, I'd not bet against him coming up strong again.

He should have a retirement party with Roy Jones Jr. Both need a fight to retire already and make some money. Nobody is going to give BHop another title shot, including Stevenson and Froch, so there is no point for him to chase another title.

Certainly it's speculation whether or not Hopkin's is done. I'd play the percentages based on age alone. After watching last night I'd bet Hopkins is done. Hopkins body looked old. Did not really see the definition..Well that may have been the case before but at least last night to me it was more noticeable..Lack of definition..My opinion...

klitoris wrote:He should have a retirement party with Roy Jones Jr. Both need a fight to retire already and make some money. Nobody is going to give BHop another title shot, including Stevenson and Froch, so there is no point for him to chase another title.

Hopkins is a legend. He was a unified WBA & IBF world champion yesterday. Why can't he get another world title shot?

He should not fight Jones Jr again.

Horse wrote:

klitoris wrote:He should have a retirement party with Roy Jones Jr. Both need a fight to retire already and make some money. Nobody is going to give BHop another title shot, including Stevenson and Froch, so there is no point for him to chase another title.

Hopkins is a legend. He was a unified WBA & IBF world champion yesterday. Why can't he get another world title shot?

He should not fight Jones Jr again.

Who is he going to fight then? Stevenson is going to probably fight Pascal. Abraham or Dirrell at 168? Froch wants a PPV or retire. Moving to Cruiserweight could be an option but who would fight him? Drozd, Lebedev?
This is the perfect moment to retire, BHop doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore.

klitoris wrote:Who is he going to fight then? Stevenson is going to probably fight Pascal. Abraham or Dirrell at 168? Froch wants a PPV or retire. Moving to Cruiserweight could be an option but who would fight him? Drozd, Lebedev?
This is the perfect moment to retire, BHop doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore.

He can fight any of them.

Horse wrote:

klitoris wrote:Who is he going to fight then? Stevenson is going to probably fight Pascal. Abraham or Dirrell at 168? Froch wants a PPV or retire. Moving to Cruiserweight could be an option but who would fight him? Drozd, Lebedev?
This is the perfect moment to retire, BHop doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore.

He can fight any of them.

With his guile? His chin..sure. . By the looks of it that's all Hopkins has left.

Retire.

After this non performance, the paydays will reduce drastically.

And he's getting easier and easier to hit.

crow wrote:Retire.

After this non performance, the paydays will reduce drastically.

And he's getting easier and easier to hit.

If he was easy to hit then Kovalev would have knocked him spark out early on. He wasn't easy to hit.