175 lb 1st Round-Bernard Hopkins vs Willie Pastrano

We do right by our legends round these here parts.

Haha.

 

Pastrano UD. Hopkins doesn't have enough fights at Light Heavy and wouldn't be able to pull any sneaky stuff on Willie.

 

The key to victory for Willie will be his legs, he could glide around that ring like a larger version of Willie Pep who he had a similar style to. Hopkins don`t have the kind of fleetfootedness needed to close the distance between himself and Pastrano or the workrate to overwhelm him, you need to press Willie to get to him and take him out of his comfort zone and Hop ain`t got the ability to do this effectively at this weight and age. Stylistically this fight dont suit Hopkins either, facing a shifty, clever and quick footed southpaw at this stage of his career against a peak Pastrano at the weight doesn`t bode well for Hop.

Pastrano UD Hopkins

 

Pastrano would have done much better than Taylor or Calzaghe in outpointing Hopkins...no way would Hopkins be able to deck Willie, who was never in his career decked by a head shot, and he was far too slick and intelligent a fighter to deviate from his game plan, even if everybody in the arena booed and hissed at him. Pastrano was single minded in his dedication to not getting hit, and he coluld tatoo his name on your face with that left jab. He influenced Ali with that style of his. We're talking, of course the in-shape focused version of Pastrano, as we're ALWAYS featuring the best versions of the fighters in question in these hypothetical dream matches.

 

Willie aint no Tarver or Pavlik.

If Joe and Winky can push Hops that hard then I see Willie taking it that extra step and getting a clear win.

I think this fight is pretty close in a p4p sense let alone at Willie's best weight...where I see a clear advantage for him.

 

Willie by a close UD

 

Pastrano on a wide decision. Willie could make a fighter with Bernard's 'slow it down' style look very pedestrian. Also, it's your tourney so you can pick the distance, however, every one of these fights are potentially a final. Therefore I would schedule them all for 15.

Scartissue

 

pastrano. reason movement enables him to box his way to a ud