abd assuming they both got to it in decent shape who ya got Hopkins or Toney ?
Classic old school, rough house fighters both matching counters and cheap shots.
I guess you have to pick Hopkins but Toney when right is very good.
I'll take Toney. I dont particularly like the guy, but he is more aggressive than Bernard, hard to hit, and can easily match experience. Interesting matchup but I think Toney by decision.
Toney, It's almost impossible to hurt him and he knows all Bernard's ghetto tricks...
Big, fat Toney (cruiserweight and above) seems to be
better than little, fat Toney (below cruiserweight)
even though Toney fought for most of his career
below cruiserweight and has lots of good wins there.
However, as his career went on, his performances
became wildly inconsistent at those lower weights
because he had to cut so much to get there.
RIGHT NOW, if they had to fight at a catch-weight,
I'm guessing it'd be at light-heavy (a weight class
Toney hasn't seen in almost ten years), and at that
weight I'd definitely take Hopkins, even though
Hopkins has fought every fight except for his first
one inside of a 165 pounds. I'm guessing Toney would
come in slow and sluggish at this weight this late in
his career, and a faster and much better conditioned
Hopkins would maul him badly from the mid rounds
until the end of the fight. I don't know if Hopkins
could get the stoppage or not (James is still capable
of slick defense even when he's tired, his chin is
definitely capable of taking Bernard's best shots,
AND he has a good deal of heart), but I do think
Hopkins would win a pretty lopsided decision.
A time machine match where both guys are in their
primes is a lot harder to call. I am sure of one
thing, though: if this type of match were possible,
it'd have to be fought with 15 rounds, since both
guys are such old school throwbacks. Total toss up
in this situation, IMO.
All things being equal, if you matched these guys up I say Toney wins.
The press conferences alone would be worth the PPV price.
this reminds me of ..
60/40 will get your ass kicked
60/40 will get your ass kicked
haha
Toney, as I imagine he'd be too slick to get caught with too many of Bernard's counterpunches