I love B-Hop (obviously) and I hope I'm wrong, but I fear Pascal wins in style

That should be ok, B-Hop did time when he still was a little white *****.

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Have followed his career since the beginning as I've got a few years on him. You are absolutely correct and honest about the effects of age. His optimal physical prime was passed as the 90s ended. His continued success is a testament to his innate ability, conditioning, and dedication. But, it is also due to the long long downtrend in boxing that has allowed so many old men to hang around deep into middle age (i.e., boxing old age) - the huge dearth or lack of talented young men pursuing the sport has allowed for extended careers for many.

That said, while I don't consider Pascal any better than good - that should be more than enough when combined (most importantly) with being in his physical prime.

Hoping for a BHOP win (

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) but expecting a loss and a final step out the door.

BHOP fought in a relatively weak era and didn't have the kind of opponents to definitively prove his place at the top in history (vis-a-vis some other of the absolute or historical greats). Still, I have no doubt that a physically prime BHOP (beginning of his 30s) from the late 90s (advanced in a time machine to face these younger men on even terms) could have put on the 8 -15 lbs of muscle and easily stopped Pascal (due to being of better quality) [or KO'd Calzaghe (early) at 168/175, or crowded and eventually cowed Dawson at 175, or completely stomped and annihilated guys like Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bute, etc., etc. far under the distance].

BHOP has been running a smoke and mirrors game for a while now. Not even a great talent should be winning in physical combat at 45 years of age against young men in their prime unless those young men are simply not particularly talented.

We will see where Pascal stands. If he loses that will really demonstrate again that - with the exception of RJJ and BHOP - the middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions of the late 90s on through to today was undeniably weak.

The meteoric rise of the favored sports in the US left the upper weight divisions full of bums, no-talents, and unimpressive athletic quality. Everyone knows the heavyweight division is a pathetic talent pool of limited athletes - but, cruiser down to middle hasn't fared much better.

Unless great young athletes return to the sport it will continue to be ignored in the US. Only a compatriot could watch the largely homogeneous general mediocrity that gets billed as professional boxing in so many other countries.

 

Can't disagree with any of this.

And I love this post for the fact that you bring up the long, long downtrend in boxing that has permeated today's weakened talent pool. I gave up arguing this was fact after so many argued and disagreed with me to the point of finding it offensive that I pointed this out.

:thumbsup

 

Hopkins gonna beat the strong and tough Journeyman.

 

A journeyman you have to fight in front of 16,000 fans in his own country...

 

I agree. Hopkins is still around for the glory. If he thought for one second that he was going to lose this fight, or worse, get stopped, theyd have thrown out an injury line to the media and withdrawn from the fight.
Nazeem is as smart a trainer as they come, and he knows B-Hop can(and will) win this fight.

Pascal makes plenty mistakes, is sloppy and his defence is his legs, but Hopkins doesnt throw until he can land, and is content for long periods of doing little, so Pascals going to have to press this, and BHop will counterpunch him all night long.
A clear win, for the NEW, LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, BERNARD "THE EXECUTIONER" HOPKINS.

 

It will be good for Boxing if Bernard loses tonight.

I dont want to see him get hurt , but a clear and decisive loss on points retires a 46 year old great, and then puts a good young champion on the map.

 

Good post with a couple of exceptions IMO.
I dont see how Hopkins has been running a smoke and mirrors game". He battered the unbeaten Pavlik, he beat top 3 p4p er Joe Calzaghe(yes he didnt get the W but he won), beat Winky who no one wanted, beat Tarver who no one wanted and looked very, very good against all of them.
Yes he gassed v Calzaghe, but he fights at a furious pace, but through the 1st 6 rounds was magnificent, handing out a lesson at times.
All that, at his age was nothing short of unbelievable.

Also, part of the problem with the boxers of today is not simply the deviation towards other sports, its indiscipline.
Most kids today come from homes where they want for very little, so dont have the innate desire to better themselves that kids from earlier generations. Kids are softer. Im 29 and had it easier than my father, who had it easier than his, and my son will have it easier than me.
Hopkins came out the pen with nothing but the ability to fight, and despite losing his debut, plugged away his whole career by being more dedicated and practicing his craft more than his peers.
Hopkins may not be the physical force he was, but I dont think his decline is as much as the Jones fight would suggest. I think he underestimated what Jones has left. At 46 I think Hopkins needs the fear factor to produce his best, and he knew he wasnt facing the real Roy in there, it was the shell.
Pascal may be an 8-10 physically to Hopkins now 6-10, but in ring smarts and know how, Bhops a 10-10 and Pascal a 6-10, and so that for me still makes B-Hop a clear favourite to do this.
I really dont see Pascal winning this.

 

It's an overall great post but I do think that you're also overrating Hopkins' prime potential performances and underrating the skills from some guys in the last 15-20 years of the sport at 168lbs or 175lbs.

I completely disagree that he would have made easy work with some of those guys mentioned. Although he's had a loaded tool box for a while, nothing in his game could make him an overwhelming opponent knocking practically all of those guys out...

His physical prime would lead to great matchups but certainly not overwhelming. His full potential as a fighter has always been put on a level that I ain't sure he could continuously sustain against the best of the last 15-20 years.

There's a reason why a closer prime version of Hopkins already backed out of a fight with Calzaghe in 2002, I believe...

Hopkins has been even smarter out of the ring than in the ring to create his legend status..

 

say what?
Hopkins was set on defending his MW crown till he got the most title defences. He was never set on fighting at 168 in 2002. He was looking to fight DLH for the big payday aswell

 

Hopkins cancelled a fight against Calzaghe at the last minute in the early 2000s, sorry for not giving the exact date but it doesn't change the fact. The DLH fight came in 2004...like 2 years after the Calzaghe let down....

That's right he was content to defend his crown against ordinary guys for most of his reign...

Rarely have I seen a so called legend get so little criticism for doing so... I mean Antwun Echols was one of his big wins up to age 36, prior to Trinidad...the former welterweight.

RJJ did sort of the same thing once he had his epic fight with Toney and look how much **** he gets compared to B-Hop when people analyze their careers...

 

Yup has hometown decision written all over it, that's why Hopkins needs to win 8-9 rounds minimum.

 

Both Hopkins and his trainer Richardson are among the smartest people in boxing right now. Believe me one thing, they wouldn't have taken this fight if they don't firmly believe that Hopkins has at least a pretty good chance of winning it (not saying that a Hopkins win is a given).
That's why Hopkins didn't want to face Chad Dawson, who has a different style than Pascal. Pascals style suits Hopkins better.
Besides, Hopkins main assets are his ring intelligence, and that won't diminish with age. Even though he tends to fight physical, his athleticism is not so much of an issue. All of Hopkins opponents since moved up from MW had the edge in athleticism over him, even Roy Jones (with the exception of Winky Wright maybe).
Richardson and Hopkins see weaknesses in Pascals game, and they intend to exploit them.

 

mayweather vs mosley

just because you think you have a chance of winning doesnt mean you actually do. mosley had a punchers chance, hopkins has a spoilers chance. nothing more, the technical superiority will be countered by the athleticism.