Did the first Hopkins-Dawson fight, do anything to change your opinion.....

[Uncle Rico]

.... on who's gonna' win between the two?

I remember in the run-up to the first fight, quite a few people here in the Brit forum were convinced Hopkins would handle him reasonably well. Just wondering whether you saw anything in those two rounds to make you re-evaluate your opinions?

For the record, I thought (and still do) Dawson was gonna' be really tricky for the old man.

Edit: Couldn't find the first round anywhere, but here's the second for those that wanna' remind themselves of what happened:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNGpDL06OII[/ame]


And if anyone's interested, here's what Atlas had to say:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eolDplhy8Ec[/ame]


He kinda' alludes to the fact that Dawson, being the physically bigger guy, will make it hard for Hopkins to counterpunch if he [Dawson] doesn't foolishly rush in. Which are the sentiments that I had before the first fight took place.

[GazOC]

Me. I thought Dawsons "workrate" (such as it is) would suit Hopkins but on the evidence of the first fight I'd take Dawson to win.

[LHL]

Yeah same as Gaz, thought Dawson would walk into a chess match with B-Hop but after that round I'm not to sure. I think B-Hop and his team see something though as he took the rematch. I'll still be pulling for Hopkins but that 1 round has really made me doubt Hopkins.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by GazOC

Me. I thought Dawsons "workrate" (such as it is) would suit Hopkins but on the evidence of the first fight I'd take Dawson to win.

Is there anything specific you saw, which has made you change your mind?

I've just watched the fight again, and my opinion hasn't swayed either way. Just wondering if any of you guys had anything insightful to take from it. Because I'm struggling.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by LHL

Yeah same as Gaz, thought Dawson would walk into a chess match with B-Hop but after that round I'm not to sure. I think B-Hop and his team see something though as he took the rematch. I'll still be pulling for Hopkins but that 1 round has really made me doubt Hopkins.

Was it because of the way Dawson was pressuring him and pushing him back against the ropes?

I feel it's important to note, however, that Hopkins always takes a few rounds before he gets his swag on.

[Earl-hickey]

Hopkins was down twice in the first couple rounds against Pascal. we all know what happened next.

Add in Dawson never "shows up" two fights in a row and i'll be lumping on Bernard in the rematch

[LHL]

The pace was all really. If he could keep that up for 8 rounds I can't see hopkins managing to punch with him or match his speed and work rate. In my opinion a solid work rate and high pace is the best way to beat this Hopkins. He'll try and slow you down tie you up and what ever but he really needs to dictate the pace for him to win these days. He picks his opponents very carefully so he can do this. Up until the night of the fight I thought he had picked another one but Dawson seemed to want to set a very fast pace by his standards.

It is a bit much though basing it off less than 3 minutes plus I haven't watched the fight since that night so I could be well off here. Like you say though B-Hop does take a while to warm to a fight and Dawson hasn't been known to keep that sort of pace. Seeing that he was willing to set that pace though shows what way his camp was thinking as well.

Again very hard to base a fight on less than 1 round but Dawson showed he can do a few things I didn't expect him to do.

[slip&counter]

I didn't learn much from those couple of rounds or whatever it was either. If someone changed their opinion of who was ganna win based on that, i'd like to hear it too. To me, Chad looked aggressive and he came to fight, but he was also showing slight signs of becoming frustrated. I think he would've missed more and it would've been interesting to see how it might have unfolded. Mentally Hopkins has all the advantages but physically Dawson has the upperhand at this juncture and his technique ain't bad either. But Hopkins' gameplan was to frustrate and take away Dawsons bread and butter punches and cut his output, and then counter punch him and ambushing him with lead right hands from the outside as Dawson is like a deer in headlights when he's pressing the fight, then handcuff him on the inside with clinching. Nobody knows how well that would've worked out as the fight went on and those two opening 'feeling out' rounds certainly didn't tell us. But Chad would've been very susceptible to those tactics.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by Earl-hickey

Hopkins was down twice in the first couple rounds against Pascal. we all know what happened next.

Yes, I just rewatched the first 4 rounds of that, too. Just to remind myself how Hopkins, at this stage of his career, deals with stronger fighters taking it to him. I realize it's not the most ideal fight to look at to try and gauge how he'd react to Dawson - who applies a different kind of pressure - but it shows again how he likes to take a few rounds to warm up and bring the fight to a pace he prefers.

It's also worth mentioning that, Kellerman on HBO, felt Hopkins was already making Dawson play at his pace.

[Earl-hickey]

Originally Posted by Uncle Rico

Yes, I just rewatched the first 4 rounds of that, too. Just to remind myself how Hopkins, at this stage of his career, deals with stronger fighters taking it to him. I realize it's not the most ideal fight to look at to try and gauge how he'd react to Dawson - who applies a different kind of pressure - but it shows again how he likes to take a few rounds to warm up and bring the fight to a pace he prefers.

It's also worth mentioning that, Kellerman on HBO, felt Hopkins was already making Dawson play at his pace.

As i was watching it i was not concerned at all, I thought Hopkins is figuring out the angles, Dawson will not be able to keep the pace up and from 4 onwards it'll becomes one way traffic. I really didnt see hopkins getting bashed up or anything, was just business as usual except dawson was working harder than he usually does.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by slip&counter

I didn't learn much from those couple of rounds or whatever it was either. If someone changed their opinion of who was ganna win based on that, i'd like to hear it too. To me, Chad looked aggressive and he came to fight, but he was also showing slight signs of becoming frustrated. I think he would've missed more and it would've been interesting to see how it might have unfolded. Mentally Hopkins has all the advantages but physically Dawson has the upperhand at this juncture and his technique ain't bad either. But Hopkins' gameplan was to frustrate and take away Dawsons bread and butter punches and cut his output, and then counter punch him and ambushing him with lead right hands from the outside as Dawson is like a deer in headlights when he's pressing the fight, then handcuff him on the inside with clinching. Nobody knows how well that would've worked out as the fight went on and those two opening 'feeling out' rounds certainly didn't tell us.

I did see early signs of this, too. The first round saw Hopkins making him miss and initiate clinches where he'd do his usual stuff. There were also moments of ambushing with lead right-hands (just like you've mentioned), that were followed by his head and tying. He surprised him in the second round with it; making him stumble off balance and touch the floor with his glove. Kind of reminded me of the negative way in which he [Chad] reacted whenever Pascal would attack him.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by LHL

The pace was all really. If he could keep that up for 8 rounds I can't see hopkins managing to punch with him or match his speed and work rate. In my opinion a solid work rate and high pace is the best way to beat this Hopkins. He'll try and slow you down tie you up and what ever but he really needs to dictate the pace for him to win these days. He picks his opponents very carefully so he can do this. Up until the night of the fight I thought he had picked another one but Dawson seemed to want to set a very fast pace by his standards.

It is a bit much though basing it off less than 3 minutes plus I haven't watched the fight since that night so I could be well off here. Like you say though B-Hop does take a while to warm to a fight and Dawson hasn't been known to keep that sort of pace. Seeing that he was willing to set that pace though shows what way his camp was thinking as well.

Again very hard to base a fight on less than 1 round but Dawson showed he can do a few things I didn't expect him to do.

My main concern for Chad, as you've just mentioned, is whether he'd actually be able to keep that pace up. Hopkins likes to make people dance to his tune. He's dealt with more aggressive and higher paced guys than Chad, so one would think he'd have no problem in reducing his output to a manageable amount.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by Earl-hickey

As i was watching it i was not concerned at all, I thought Hopkins is figuring out the angles, Dawson will not be able to keep the pace up and from 4 onwards it'll becomes one way traffic. I really didnt see hopkins getting bashed up or anything, was just business as usual except dawson was working harder than he usually does.

Yeah, I didn't see Hopkins being troubled by his shots, either. A good sign for him if he was able to anticipate them so soon.

Still hard to say, though.

[Scotty321]

I fancied Dawson last time but although he done well, I don't think you can put too much into the last fight as Hopkins takes a few rounds to start adapting and turning the fight.

[lefthook82]

I thought Hopkins bitched out of the fight tbh and wouldnt fnayc him in the return. Had backed him to win the 1st match