From Dan Rafael http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/notebook?page=notebook/boxingaugust8 Hopkins is a Pavlik fan? Who knew? Though a lot of folks are saying that Hopkins will "expose" Pavlik, it appears that Hopkins has a much better opinion of Kelly Pavlik then they do. I can only assume that after being beaten twice by decision by Jermaine Taylor and objecting to the decision both times, Hopkins really enjoyed watching Pavlik take his fight with Taylor out of the judges hands and winning by KO. But damn...... Hopkins complimenting his opponent before a fight..... You'd almost think that he had been taken by the pod people.
I think there are several reasons behind this. 1. Hopkins never liked Jermain Taylor and felt he never lost to Jermain Taylor. I'm sure he loved seeing Pavlik KTFO Taylor 2. He can't repeat the "I'm not going to lose to a white boy" crap from last fight. What is he going to say, "I'm not going to lose to a white boy AGAIN"? 3. Finally, I'm sure this is just another Hopkins tactic to get under an opponent's skin. Intimidation for a 43 year old is difficult. So, why not try and get their guard down through kindness.
Yep, Hopkins repeated it over and over again at the press conference. He says he's a fan of Pavlik. He also shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder before the faceoff.
B-hop wont be able to show his face if he gets beat by pavlik. Calzaghe the white boy beat him, now he is fighting possibly one of the whitest boys on the planet in pavlik.
He might actually just be telling the truth. He has nothing to lose in this one. It is crazy that he is getting this shot in the first place.
Compare Pavlik's personality, with Calzaghe Pavlik shows upmost respect for the legend, and doesnt chat **** like Calzaghe was doing. So in return looks like Bernard is appreciates it
Well there really isnt anything bad you can say about Pavlik so maybe Bhop was being genuine in his praise. With that said Bhop will still be looking to upset Pavlik. I look at this fight as a gage on where Pavlik is at with respect to Kessler and Joe Calzaghe. The moment he brutally stops BHop is the moment I feel those other two start looking for other opponents to feast on but if Pavlik looks bad expect him to be Calzaghes next opponent with Kesseler hot on his heels also. Its how these hype jobs operate.
