Cleverly will be a much tougher opponent than Cloud

Hopkins can't deal with speed, simple as that! Cleverly has speed, so I see Cleverly shutting Bhop out.

 

He's a tougher fight in terms of style but I still think Hopkins style would cause more problems to Cleverly than vice versa.

Cleverly has the size and speed but not the footwork to outbox Hopkins. It would be a much closer fight though. I see Hopkins winning a close fight.

 

Speed requires accuracy to matter.

 

It's a question of whether Hopkins has faded enough that a Joe Cal light can take a decision.

Depending upon the judges, it is likely. Too many judges score ineffective aggression and in the rounds without meaningful blows landing (there would likely be many) be inclined to give the round to the man throwing more punches.

 

I think volume is the way to win vs B-Hop

i mean look at round 8 where Cloud threw caution to the wind and for the first time in the fight really attacked, he hit the body and landed rights to the head and was not fighting measured

then in round 9 he comes out and doesnt capitalize

Cloud they said averages 70 something punches around and threw 140 in 3 rounds well under his average

guys go in there and fight B-Hops fight and dont do what they have to do, Cloud in the 8th proved he could do it but seemed to not believe in himself or was easily discouraged.

Hopkins would make him miss badly but didnt always make him pay, Cloud should have followed the big missed shots with a second punch

that said i think what hurt cloud is what hurt Pavlik and thats the lack of a left hook

Hopkins circled away from the right all fight in both fights and neither guy had the kind of left hook to corral Hopkins back into the right

Cloud also really doesnt jab, so Hopkins could freely move away from the right all night

i think there are 2 ways to beat the aging Hopkins, 1 is to just go after the old man and make his age a factor, 2 is maybe lay back and counter Hopkins make the old man use his energy to push the fight, Dawson fought a measured fight and beat Hopkins clearly

 

That isn't really a response to the post of mine that you quoted.

The subject at hand was accuracy, not consistency of forcing the pace.

Cleverly throws more punches than Cloud but he isn't more precise by a whole lot, if at all.

The reason Cloud and so many others have failed against Hopkins is because he makes their shots - no matter how powerful, and no matter how many of them bunched together (or how fast) - look woefully inadequate with his subtle but ever-oily defensive movement.

Hopkins' own offense is an afterthought. It really hasn't been much to speak of for years now. He is able to out-box everybody because the few so-so blows he manages to land somewhat cleanly here and there still offset the quantity & quality of the opponents'. That is the core of his genius - he renders your offense so ineffective with his defense that his meager ho-hum offense is enough to outweigh it.


...and no, prime Cleverly isn't on par with past-it Calzaghe. He is still a cheap imitation, and has probably hit the ceiling already so those who've spent years projecting him to someday reach or surpass Calzaghe can give up the ghost already.

He's fast compared to other light heavies, and very busy compared to other light heavies, and has a fair amount of gas in the tank compared to other light heavies - but he isn't going to land much of note on Hopkins. He doesn't have that je ne sais quoi his predecessor as Welsh p4p #1 had, the ability to out-spoil the old spoiler and mug it down to a close nip-and-tuck battle.

 

I've already expressly said that it isn't.

This content is protected

 

The location of this fight will determine the winner IMO, as it should be really close.

If it's the UK, then Cleverly by SD or very close UD, if it's the US then Hopkins SD ou very close UD.

 

:nono Hopkins wide anywhere unless Dave Parris is a judge.

 

Volume alone will never beat Hopkins. We've seen him diffuse countless fighters with superior work rate than himself. If you can't get in a position to land against Hopkins you can't get off which is why fighters like Cloud, Pavlik and Wright all had massively reduced work rate when they face Hopkins.

Calzaghe gave Hopkins problems because he had the foot work and agility to cut the ring off on Hopkins and let his shot's go. Cleverly doesn't have Calzaghe's mobility or footwork, don't expect Cleverly to win by copying Calzaghe's tactics because he wouldn't be able to consistently trap Hopkins like Calzaghe did.

 

:nod Thank you!



Regardless of how you scored their encounters, Jermain Taylor was hardly putting up Paul Williams numbers in there. He threw 453 to Hopkins' 326 and then 391 to Hopkins' 371 - in both cases far below the MW average of 740 (the latter barely half it)

 

Is this fight official?

I think it'll be a fairly close fight, with Nathan possibly getting a nod because of his workrate. I favor Hopkins by points, but it could very easily go the other way. How wide of a win will depend on how frustrated Nathan is in there with by far the best opponent of his career.

Nathan has really only fought bums, let's be honest. His best win is Bellew, who is nothing special.

 

Yes. A completely different story. Cleverly is not much more proven than Cloud was, but from watching him fight I believe he is much better than Cloud is.