* I grasped the concept of "distance" and "timing" tonight like i have never done before by watching this fight. No matter how great you are, you can't land if you don't have the proper distance and Hopkins controlled distance and Pavlik knew this. That's why he couldn't get off. Second, "timing". Wow, Hopkins is the master of timing his punches. * Hopkins now surpasses RJJ as the greatest fighter of this era. * People are going to use the 170 lbs weight excuse for Pavlik. That is ridiculous as people weren't even discussing this topic before the fight. All people were talking about was when Hopkins would get KOed. * Hopkins is the definition of the "Sweet Science". His MASTERY of this sport is unparallelled. * I still don't give Calzaghe that much credit for his "win" over Hopkins. What Calzaghe presented over Pavlik was significantly greater foot speed and hand speed. That made it harder for Hopkins to anticipate Calzaghe's movements and that made him tire out a lot more quicker. But that's more a credit to Calzaghe's natural talents versus his actual talents as a boxer. * Hopkins' kryptonite is still guys with great hand speed. Taylor, Calzaghe, and Roy Jones all had/have that. That's what offsets incredible skill to some extent. But give Hopkins a predictable guy, and he eats them up. Pavlik was obviously a predictable guy as was Tarver, Winky, and Tito. * I think the 170 catchweight helped Hopkins out noticeably. He looked like the same guy who fought Winky at the catchweight. He dictated the action. He chose when to initiate the offense or move on his feet. * WOW. What a performance!
Hopkins just school Pavlik..plain and simple. I knew it would happen soon enough. Many people were making a legend out of KP way to early in his career.
It's not just handspeed you need to beat Hopkins. You need- (a) The stamina to stay in the fight at all times. (b) The footwork to get into position. (c) The handspeed to get off first. (d) The skill to actually catch him with punches. (e) The strength to prevent him spinning and mauling you. VERY few boxers around Hopkins's weight now or in history have all of those skills. Only Calzaghe and Jones have really decisively beaten Hopkins, and in both of those fights Hopkins was hardly getting beaten up. Like him, don't like him (I don't particularly), if you're fair you have to admire him.
Hopkins shut down Kelly completely. From the first round on, I think Kelly knew he was outclassed. B-Hop put the fear in him.
I also blame Billy Dib, I think a one James Mu****ing Toney is slightly above B-Hop in terms of boxing skill but BHOP is still a master technician
Did you guys see Hopkins almost break down when he was staring down the press row media after the fight as if even he couldn't believe what he had just done? That was cool.
No. It was not a close fight. It could not have gone either way with anything like impartial judging. You are wrong.
Umm, the Calzaghe fight was a close one. Unless if you are a complete Calzaghe nuthugger. A few close rounds decides the fight either way depending on how you scored them.
The Hop/calzaghe fight was close. Yes i scored ot for calzaghe butt eh fight was close FFS. The RJJ fight was not close, it was one sided. that is the only time since Bhop was a real pro that he has lost convincingly.
Compubox numbers: Pavlik threw 463 total punches (38 per round) while Hopkins threw 530 total punches (44 per round). Hopkins out threw Pavlik in 9 rounds and outlanded him in 10. Who would've EVER predicted this? :admin
I agree with everything you said except: Calzaghe is better then he is given credit for by his critics. The guy fought a tough fight against Hopkins and did everything he could to win, he even got knocked down in the 1st, but that didnt discourage him from coming forward. I had BHOP winning that fight by a point, but i wasnt that disappointed by the decision since it was a very close fight. Calzaghe should be given credit where its due.
He did everything but hurt hopkins which is the whole point of boxing right.:bbb American fight fans and fans outside of euro wont be able the except a fighter to be considered a great until he can hurt one of the greats. Its about being a fighter not a long distance runner who can slap but not harm his opponent. He has to do some punishing if he wants to be respected. *THATS THE TRUTH*!!!!!!!!:deal