Kelly Pavlik Can Handle Hopkins, But Can Jack Loew?

Can a trainer of Jack Loew's experience and expertise level handle the task of devising a succesful gameplan against the old master Bernard Hopkins, or will Loew be the weak link in the chain? It was only recently that Hopkins defeated the 1-2, straight throwing, high class, high volume punching Winky Wright. Hopkins is no easy puzzle to solve. Any chance that Team Pavlik may be in too deep, or is Hopkins simply too old at this point regardless of the circumstances?

 

Personally, I was a big fan of Loew's "double jab" in the first Taylor fight. Definately the key to victory, and one of the clear times we can directly attribute the tactical planning of a trainer to the success of his fighter in a major fight. However, I'm asking about Hopkins, an entirely different animal. I realize that Loew is not a weak link generically speaking.

 

Interesting, it sounds like you see Loew as exactly the opposite. You see him as a strength for Pavlik going into this fight with Hopkins. Input appreciated, Kolya.

 

Also interesting insight. ^ Good food for thought and good points made, RealIzm.

 

It's sort of like thunder said regarding Hopkins' fighting intelligence, above. ^ He's going to be completely opposite from a Taylor or Miranda in terms of the look that he's going to give Pavlik at this point. Ability is a huge factor, I agree with you - as well as youth and agility, speed... But it just might be possible that a crusty old bag of Hopkins sneaky tricks might be more trouble for someone like Pavlik, than Taylor's explosiveness, talent, and straight ahead fight plan, when it comes down to it.

If Team Pavlik can't come up with a solid answer for Hopkins' potshot and hold methods it could be a long night. Hopkins is one of the best defensive fighters the sport has seen in the last chunk of years. It won't be easy to score on him, even an old worn out version of him. Pavlik on the other hand is far from elusive defensively, though he's excellent at parrying and blocking.

It's fairly easy to see Hopkins having a relatively easy time scoring, and Hopkins making it pretty damn difficult for Pavlik to do the same. Taylor has very good offensive ability, but defensively he's no where near Hopkins' skill level. That's going to be a key factor IMO. Pavlik had trouble finding Taylor whenever Taylor wasn't standing still, dead in front of him, essentially. He's going to have big trouble finding Hopkins based on the tapes, especially if he's only got 10 rounds to do it.

 

Most fights - no.

This fight - maybe.