Just watched the full 12 rounds and first things first was a very entertaining fight. The only better fight I have seen Hopkins in was the 1st Mercado fight and the Echols fights. Props to both guys for a entertaining and watchable fight. I thought Hopkins won the majority of the later rounds and enough to get rid of the early round knockdowns. Him going down and going down so frequently in recent fights (albeit using it as a excuse) show me that the last 2 years have effected his legs more than anything. His clean punching and aggressive attacks were nice to watch. I would like to have seen him rough Pascal up more inside the clinch as Pascal clearly could not do anything in that position. I feel that he should try and get a rematch and barring that try and take on Cloud. Cloud has gone the distance in his last 3 fights and thats hardly impressive considering who they were (despite Johnson). Hopkins could take advantage of his style, personally I feel he does not have elite skills but his power and aggression lets him get away with it. The styles of his toughest opponents (eg Gonzalez, Johnson etc) constrast so much to Hopkins, would be interesting to see how he reacts. I would prefer Pascal but I don't know how Pascal's managament would feel about it.
Scored it 116-111 Hopkins. 10-8 in rounds 1 & 3. 10-10 in round 2; can't give a round to someone when they each land less than 4 punches. Hopkins won every single other round, with only one, two tops being relatively close.
Hopefully he has one more fight with a rematch with Pascal, I want to see him in the ring one last time schooling Pascal again. It's gonna be a sad day when Bernard retires, he's a great boxer and will be surely missed in the ring.
hopkins 115-111 I was a lil worried about hops legs early but in round 4 when he touched that body i knew everything was gonna be ok.
This content is protected and, when he touched that body I started to feel better but still worried, not that everything will be ok.
The first time I payed attention (not the first time I saw him fight) was when he beat Felix Trinidad back in 2001. Before that time, I didn't think much of him despite his dominance at Middleweight. I actually thought Tito was going to destroy him. Bernard had other plans and since that time period he has continued to impress me. Last night's performance despite the decision proved to me that he is simply a top tier fighter who despite his age has talent that is a class above this current generation. I don't claim robbery for the Calzaghe fight although the 2nd-3rd time I saw it I scored it for Hopkins. The first time I saw it I was in an environment that was biased and therefore the crowd reaction had a major influence in scoring. Either way it was a close fight. Yesterday was close, but close for Bernard.
