Adonis Stevenson vs. Bernard Hopkins

Bernard has been the one pursuing this for three years.

 

He kinda blew it with Kovalev so unless they stay the course with the very tenuous agreement to meet next year provided neither loses, Stevenson may well end up painting himself into a corner where his only chances for a comparable or bigger payday will be subjecting himself to a stylistically unfavorable match-up like a Ward or B-Hop. (though of the pair, B-Hop in his fifties may be a better risk for reward proposition than prime Ward)

 

No he wouldn't. Are you kidding? Bernard can do whatever the hell strikes his fancy. You really think Oscar would evict him from GBP at this point, with Bernard the last remaining big-name "face" of the promotion (with Barrera and Mosley having parted ways) and having been a partner for a decade?

 

Could be, though Hopkins never feared any punchers before. Even against Pavlik, dropping a bit in weight for the first time in a while, his legs were already older and stiffer than in his MW prime and he still waltzed in with utmost confidence even knowing he couldn't move like he used to, and showed Pavlik no respect and even kept his customary spoiling tactics like holding to a minimum.

Tarver, Pascal, Cloud, Dawson - all moderate to big punchers Hopkins faced in his "old man years", and he never batted an eyelash.

Granted the Krusher is a whole different league of power than all of them.

 

Very close poll. 16-15-1 Adonis. :think