Who wins the rematch between Hopkins and Dawson?

I think Hopkins will take Dawson out of his comfort zone and start timing his shots in the mid-rounds. It looked like the opposite at the start of the first fight, but of course, the first half of the Pascal fight looked much different from the second as well, didn't it? I think Hopkins will lull Dawson into over-committing his offense since he was having brief success walking him down at range in the first fight. Once Dawson starts getting into a rhythm, I can see Hopkins capitalizing and jumping in with counter-shots and following up with punches on the inside before turning Dawson and doing it again. He'll start turning more and more, making Dawson second-guess his shots, and making him easier to time and set up. This is, of course, assuming Hopkins is at least as good as he was in the Pascal rematch. It may not necessarily be easy, but I wouldn't be surprised if Hopkins looks dominant by the late rounds.

 

Dawson stops him again. Probably earlier.

 

Style wise, Dawson is a nightmare for Hopkins. Tall, big, fast, technically sound, fights tall, very good defensively, very good jab, good power and puts together good combos. Only chance Hopkins has is if Dawson doesn't show up mentally.

 

All that about Dawson is true, but I don't see how it invalidates the strategy that I think Hopkins can, should, and will use. He has the better fundamentals and the higher Ring IQ, which will make the difference IMO.

 

Agreed. But i think he's at the point where all the fundamentals and ring iq won't be enough because he's lost too much physically. If this was Hopkins circa Calzaghe/Pavlik, i would favor Hopkins. But that was almost 5 years ago.

 

I see a Dawson UD!

 

I wasn't sure whether to pick Dawson by UD or Dawson by KO, but I went with KO cause Hopkins seems so fragile. He had a good run but I think his last big push was against Pascal.

 

It all depends on how much cheating Dawson can get away with, like their first fight? However, Hopkins can beat Dawson, but this one is close.

 

I really dont know.. I was one of those saying Hopkins bitched out of the first fight.. At First I need to eat my words about that. I guess. it does not make sense to have a rematch if you bitched out of the first fight...

I go for Dawson UD. Dawson really is skilled guy he just has pretty low output I am not sure if that will be enough for Hopkins.. fuk, this time old man will really lose it, Dawson points close.

 

in his forties, BHOP no longer can cope with handspeed for long, see Calzaghe fight. HOwever unlike Calzaghe, Dawson hits hard and is prime. Hopkins could survive the late rounds just by fudging Calzaghe' srandom rapid fire, though it was to cost him the fight . Not so with Dawsons big hits.

Dawson will take him down, ignomiously.

 

At LHW it seems Hopkins can only lose to a fighter like Calzaghe who just simply outworked him. Dawson is a very good fighter and a bad matchup for Hopkins, but I think the old man pulls it out in a boring fight. Dawson has a lot more power than Calzaghe, but not the quickness. Hopkins uses his wise tactics to eke out a Majority Decision.

 

this...^

only second time i'm betting against BHop.

Calzaghe fight was the first

 

I would say safe money is on Dawson but consider a few things.
- Dawsons biggest wins were against Tarver and Johnson who were both around 15 years older than Dawson and aged.
- Johnson looked unlucky for some against Dawson and Dawson looked out of it at one point.
- Dawson lost against Pascal, who Hopkins shaded on 2nd ask
- Hopkins was every bit as clear a winner as Dawson against Tarver
- Hopkins is probably the naturally bigger man. I know he boiled down to MW but he has had as many fights above MW than at MW and was above LHW when he turned pro
- Hopkins has only been beaten once at LHW, same as Dawson, but Dawson was beaten by Pascal.

Still with all of this Hopkins is getting older by the day and now could be the time for Dawson to beat him

 

B-Hop.

 

Hopkins