I don't think anyone's really picked him to beat Calzaghe, a prime Hopkins, Sugar Ray Leonard or anyone of that ilk, so I don't think that's a good basis to call him overrated. Most people still pick Hagler by death over him. Thing is, those guys are all Hall of Famers. For being 25, Pavlik's already accomplished a hell of a lot. Even if his skills aren't flashy, he is a very solid fundamental fighter. His power, toughness, and grit are definitely of a higher cut. What that boils down to is someone who's a very good fighter now, with the potential to carve out a very nice niche for himself over the next few years. He's not unbeatable, but he's also not a completely finished product yet- which says alot about what he's accomplished already. He's got the right mental makeup to make the most out of what he's got, and that's all you can ask out of any fighter.
Right so tell me when have i ever preached about Taylor being a true elite??? I've never preached that Taylor was an elite fighter ever, so don't make assumptions just because im a Taylor fan. Neither Pavlik or Taylor are true elites fighter, that level of elite are for the Mayweather, Calazaghe, Hopkins etc, type of calibar. Does Pavlk match up to these type of fighters head to head??? I think not :deal , so STFU!
One of those elite fighter you named HOPKINS got beat by the non elite Taylor who in turn got beat by Pavlik.Feed Pavlik the same opponents that made Hopkins great(NON MW's)and comes out exactly the same. He just started his "primetime" career so how in the **** are you to know what the future holds? If Taylor could beat Hopkins twice simply by having a high workrate i see no reason why Pavlik wouldnt at least stand a chance.
On his nuts when he scored a big KO jumped off when he didnt do the same the 2nd time around. Good find.
Im not talking about the future ******** im talking about right now, i know very well that Pavlik can improve, he's got plenty of time. In regard to Hopkins i feel that Hopkins plan was to get Taylor to punch himself out because of his known stamina problems and left it late to execute his plan. We know that Pavlik doesn't have stamina issues and throws 100 punches a round, so do you think any version of Hopkins will wait around to let him punch himself out??? No i dont think so, I'd pick any version of Hopkins to counter his way to a UD against the current Pavlik because he's always coming forward, giving Hopkins more time to counter than what he had against Taylor, who was patient.
Hopkins only throwing his 10 punches per round would lose a UD. He hasnt KO'd a fighter his size in years.His workrate is LOW and he waits around for counter punches that dont come all the while losing rounds. Pavlik punches harder than Taylor,Taylor rung Hopkins bell at one point. This fight wont happen BTW because his total lack of a consistant workrate will cause him to lose against Calzaghe.
Would you honestly think an inteligent fighter like Hopkins would fight a fighter with such a high work rate by only throwing 10 punches a round? I'd expect Hopkins to fight Pavlik the way he has always fought people with high punch outputs, he would cut Pavliks workrate in half by exploiting his slow footwork and counter over the predictable jab, right combinations, but thats only my opinion anyways. Just because he hasn't KO'ed a fighter in years doesn't mean he cant win by decision, he threw 640 punches against Winky, pretty good punch output IMO, but i agree a fight between Hopkins and Pavlik would never happen.
He did it against Taylor and made no adjustments the second time around.He lost simply because he couldnt keep up with a young mans workrate. Good wins against Trinidad,Hoya,Wright but my god look at the size difference between a true bruising MW and small guys trying to move up.
Because Taylor was known to have stamina issues, Hopkins spent most of the fight trying to make him miss thus making him tired. True their is a size difference between the Welters you mentioned and MW, but theirs also a fairly big difference between a LHW and MW, look what Hopkins did to Tarver, who happend to have an identicle punch output to Taylor :deal
Tarver:rofl Old slow weak punch output no steam on his punches coming down from Heavy(for a movie) and VASTLY VASTLY OVERRATED!Good reason why Hopkins has yet to face a youngbull at LHW or any LHW at that. EDIT! Hopkins 6'2 Tarver 6'2. Hopkins reach 75" Tarver reach 72". It was the right move at the right time against the right fighter to win the bogus "Ring" belt.
Wasn't Hopkins the underdog in that fight??? Why is their always a way to discredit Hopkins wins, first saying their against small guys and now old, weak etc. Wasn't Hopkins old to? At the time these guys were considered geuine threats, then after Hopknis blasted them, their considered nothing.