Lets say hopkins wins:

It would be his best win by far since Glencoffe Johnson.
It would weigh much and pop him up a good few places in the ATG list.

 

P4P of the last 20 years, I'd probably have him fourth or fifth.

I think he will win, personally. It kills me to say it but I don't believe Pavlik has a skillset or style that will give Hopkins issues in the same way that Taylor and Calzaghe were able too.

People tend to forget, wasn't so long ago that Hopkins out-crafted Winky Wright and then against a guy who has comparable power to Pavlik, out muscled him.

 

His fighting style could get him the W.

 

And you have the nerve to come in that thread and question my prediction.
Hopkins' only good win is Glen Johnson?, what about his win over Tarver which no one gave him a chance in?, Winky Wright, Trinidad, DLH, Joppy, Johnson, prime Echols and many more?

All those are nothing in your eyes or are you just an honest hater?, if those guys were nothing special then care to mention who were special and available during his time?, the man fought them all didn't he?, if not then please mention them.

 

I agree. If hopkins has not slipped further he could outsmart pav and spoil this fight to hell.
A lot of people have pavlik steaming on through b-hop I wouldnt be so sure.
It will be interesting to see how kelly reacts to all the clinching and work on the inside and b-hop slowing the fight down and being on his bike for a lot of it.

 

I'd say best win since DLH or Trinidad.

 

He moves one place, from 8 to 7 in my personal list. Passes Whitaker and stays behind SRR, Armstrong, Greb, Ali, Leonard, Duran and just ahead of Pepp, Ezaard Charles and Sam Langford.

 

I don't think he has slipped, his game approach for the last 5 years has been similar, he just ran into a guy who is notorious for making other fighters tired and ultimately couldn't keep up the workrate or hits landed to keep in the fight.

We're forgetting the advantages Calzaghe had over Pavlik.

Speed, timing, accuracy, chin, footwork.

Without those, Joe wouldn't have had anywhere near the chance to land as many shots on Bernard and ultimately this is where I see Pavlik running into trouble.

Joe was able to adjust his gameplan and nullify Bernard's right hand as he came in, Pavlik, I don't know if he can.

One things for sure, with Bernard's chin and defensive skill, he's not getting KO'ed in this fight.

 

They were pretty good wins, don't get me wrong.

Winky Wright was brought up to 170, basically a 154lbs'er.
Trinidad was a welterweight as was DLH.
Joppy was a good win, Echols was aswell.

Actually, I think Joppy and Echols were both more impressive than DLH/Tito fights :yep

How is Joppy or Echols even compared to a prime, young gun like Pavlik who basically cleaned up the MW division already except Abraham?
They don't.. and DLH/Tito had no business in the first place @ 160lbs.

Glencoffe Johnson win is the baddes performance Hopkins ever put on, and whoa.. was it something special he brought that night.. that version would put Pavlik down and out.

 

His performance that night was definitely spectacular even though he looked way bigger than Johnson and hardly looked tired as he was yelling "BRING BACK 15 ROUNDS" after the fight.

Still though the rest of the wins are extremely underrated. No one gave him a chance against Trinidad and whoever picked Hopkins was laughed at as they were yet again laughed at whenever anyone picked him over Tarver as well. The Winky fight was a close one too but still this is an old Hopkins we're talking about and it's only logical, yet admirable, for him to look horrible and boring. I don't consider a young Hopkins boring at all to be honest, maybe that's why people dislike him and discredit his wins, simply because they could be boring and ugly.

Again I think his wins over Trinidad and DLH are still great, especially the Echols fight where he was picked up and dropped, got a serious injury and was given the green light to quit and get a free W but refused and proceeded to KO his opponent, that's legendary stuff right there even if his opponent isn't highly regarded. I personally take those wins as extremely good wins and could definitely boost him in ATG lists, a win over Pavlik would only give him some more boost and hopefully(if the Tarver fight failed to do so then there is a good chance this won't either, especially when Tarver was a huge favorite and extremely highly regarded at the time) silence doubters.

 

Great post!!!

:good

I would also add in that Bernard uses angles and movement to nullify his opponents output...never really allowing them to set and get into a rhythm offensively. Kelly has never seen a fighter even REMOTELY like that.

Calzaghe is fantastic at getting his shots off from awkward angles and while not being set....this is why he was still able to keep a high workrate vs Bernard (something NOONE ever had previously). Kelly is at his best when he is set and throwing with power (unless he has his opponent hurt, then he fires from all cylanders...but with what I am outlining, I dont see him hurting Bernard)...vs a Hopkins, that isnt going to happen enough to allow Pavlik to throw anywhere near the high rate or high rate of power he is use to.

Dont be suprised if Pavlik gets outworked over 12...

 

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if Pavlik gets KD'ed a couple of times.

His chin is shaky and Bernard has showed improved power at this weight.

I like Pavlik for his heart, unbelieveable power and ability to out-athletic anyone he has been in there with. But you've got to out think Hopkins to beat him, that's where I feel he's going to struggle.

 

He has the style advantage over Pavlik and Pavlik is jumping 2 weight divisions. For a guy that relies alot on his power that is a big disadvantage. Id have him top 40 ATG.