If you were Cleverly's promoter...would you put him in with Hopkins?

Well? I know its not remotely likely but hypothetically speaking.

Having seen Hopkins in his last two outings, struggle (relatively) with fighters you'd expect him to dominate and impress against. Losing rounds to both. Getting hit a lot more than we've come to expect from a master defensive fighter. Getting hit by what seemed to be pretty ordinary punches to the back of the head and rolling around on the floor like he'd been harpooned, trying to get a break presumably, numerous times.

On the other hand, of course he still has that ring IQ. He's still strong in the clinches. He still roughs fighters up, hits on the blindside of the ref, all that nonsense (but can't take a bit of rough treatment himself :yep). It's always talked about how fighters aren't the same again after Hopkins treatment and it could be true. He still has a good defence though his reflexes are obviously fading and handspeed is a proven formula for success against him. He can presumably still pick good counters, though we havn't seen that in his last two outings so much due to how the fights panned out.

Cleverly has handspeed to trouble Hopkins. He has a variety of punch which you need, you can't throw the same punches or Hopkins neutralizes you as Pavlik found out. He has great stamina and punch output, that can't be disputed, Calzaghe beat him with high output. So you'd think he has the basis of a style to give this version of Hopkins trouble, though obviously the main concern is his defence which Hopkins could pick apart, and him being a relative novice that might not have the know how to overcome Hopkins tricks.

Is it a risk worth taking? Would Cleverly be getting Hopkins at the perfect time, so that he could win but also get due credit? Do you see Cleverly troubling Hopkins or even winning? Or does he have no chance in your mind?

 

Any reason why?

Based on their last two outings I'd rather face Hopkins than Glen based on Cleverly's strengths. His main strength is handspeed and a good engine. The gameplan would be to expose Hopkins age in the fight, quite a simple one.

Glen still fights 12 hard rounds and never stops coming. He looked pretty decent against Mack compared to Hopkins against Jones and Ornelas.

 

Lacy would be a good fight to hype to clueless people. 'Dangerous puncher, Calzaghe victim...blahblah'. Yeah I could see that.

But at the same time its completely worthless and not remotely a test as we know. Lacy's perceived power is absolutely useless because he can't throw punches and Cleverly would just box circles round him all night.

So yeah, I can see it happening ! :good