by the way, i dont think hopkins will win. but he has upset the odds so often it is worth considering. if hopkins does beat pascal, where does the victory rate on his resume? is it better than or worse than his wins over tito tarver pavlik odlh wright
pascal has just come off a victory over p4p ranked dawson, and established himself as the best lhw. IF hopkins somehow wins i see it as a great achievement.
1. Pascal has already been beaten (yes and dont go on to me about how he ahs imporved so much, I know, I even paid to watch some of his recent fights - also I know he fought the wrong fight v Froch). 2. Pascal has never been as highly regarded as the names you mention and has only just got anywhere close to them with his win over Dawson who was very overrated. 3. As much as I love Pascal I can see weaknesses that Hopkins COULD exploit. Though I do think Pascal comes away with a close but clear UD.
Whoever he beats it would be underrated and overlooked, I think I'm used to that with Hopkins now. I barely see enough writers giving him credit and I think it's obvious why. Most of these writers are old out of shape farts who would injure themselves hoisting a beer and are steps away from death so when they see Hopkins, at his age, doing what he does it doesn't appeal to them rather than giving them the hope it should.
1) Tito - ATG win. 2) Tarver - Great, great win. 3) Pavlik / Pascal tie - Why? Because i think while both were supposedly "great" when they fought Hopkins, they went on or will go on to lose against superior fighters. In the case of Pascal, he loses to guys like Bute, Ward, etc. Very good but too flawed to beat the truely "elite".
And just to add, had Dawson fought with any heart, i think he would've KOed Pascal. So in that sense, Pascal is already getting somewhat overrated. But he does deserve a ton of credit but Dawson fought like he didn't care for 90% of the fight. When he did let his hands go, Pascal seemed to be overwhelmed.
yes but pascal is right now the king of his division, young and in his prime. i would rate a victory above all the others bar tito
Hopkins is one of my fave fighters ever at 45 he can choose to fight whoever i think. maybe pascal might be to much for him but there's one thing you should never ever count hopkins out