Pavlik vs Hopkins Predictions/Fight Thread

[Guest]

Having spoken to Hopkins and doing my preview, I am now 100% ready for this fight.
B-Hop has never been ko'ed and only down 3 times in his career. 2 of those knockdowns were very early on when he was a youngster.
Can the "Ghost" do in the "Executioner"
Let me hear who's going to win and why.

[mswerb]

Pavlik. because he is white, and from Ohio.
No other reason.

[swerb]

Kelly dicates the tempo. And for the first time in his career, BHop really starts to show his age and looks overmatched.

Kelly wears him down with some big blows in the 6th and 7th. Knocks his old ass out in the 8th.

[216]

The Ghost in round 6 by KO

Simply because BHOP is old and The Ghost hits like Iron Mike
well maybe not as hard but... ya know


And then he calls out calazaghe in the post fight interview

I know thats not really Kelly's style
But someone has tell Calazaghe he is a chump for not fighting Pavlik

[swerb]

Over under 11.5 rounds

$210 to win $100 on the over
$100 to win $165 on the under

[Guest]

I threw a little on Pavlik by KO/TKO/DQ
25 to win 87

[skatingtripods]

Kelly dicates the tempo. And for the first time in his career, BHop really starts to show his age and looks overmatched.

Kelly wears him down with some big blows in the 6th and 7th. Knocks his old ass out in the 8th.

Make it the 9th. I was down to my last $5 in my betting account. Put it on a Pavlik win in the 9th at +2500. That's my hope.

[skatingtripods]

On a side note, for the next Pavlik fight, assuming we aren't all at it in Cleveland somewhere, we should have a TCF watch party for it. Split the cost at someone's house with a big screen, get a bunch of beer and food, and enjoy watching him beat the fuck out of somebody else.

[Guest]

I want Pavlik by KO but don't think it's going to happen.
I think Hopkins will frustrate Kelly and it will be ugly for most of the fight.
Hopkins by UD
Damn I hope I'm wrong.

[swerb]

Top ten pound for pound yet cuz?

Fuckin A ...

This is an ass beating.

[swerb]

Lesson learned: Stay at 160

[Bayou Tribe]

This is horribly dissapointing. Pavlik looks lethargic, not sure if it is because of the extra weight or because of Hopkins.

Not what I expected at all.

[216]

ok one thing

Why is that if BHOP loses in a UD and goes the distance they say oh he has heart he has iron will blah, blah, blah

But if Kelly goes the distance and loses in rd 12

he has been exposed!!

[consigliere]

Wow. No contest.

[216]

STFU Hopkins!!! spare us the Im your daddy speech

[swerb]

Win moves BHop up to #23 on the Fight Drs top lb for lb list

[Bayou Tribe]

"If you would bend your knees and not stay so straight up you could be a black fighter."

Say what?

[216]

Kelly looks like he wants to cry

He is broken
listen to him talk

[jack_tors]

Massive, massive disappointment. By no means did I think this was going to be a walk in the park but to lose by such a wide margin is just ridiculous. Hopkins looked better all night, except when he pulled that thuggery at the end and grabbed the ref by the throat. Nice of Lampley to gloss over that fact.

With Boston winning and Hopkins winning, this was a disappointing evening..

[peeker643]

He shouldn't of taken that fight.

He was never in that fight.

And he was more than a bit exposed in that fight as far as competing with someone with heart and quickness.

Horrible.

Hats off to Hopkins who controlled, initiated and dictated the action from the opening bell.

[Guest]

Who said it was a lose lose fight?
What a destruction, a shutout.
Still not top 10 pound for pound. A Hall of Famer, no doubt about it however.
I'll give B-Hop my #11 spot

[216]

So BHOP was right about one thing this could make or break Kelly

what do you think happened tonight. Do you think this defeat broke his cofidence?
or
This will motivate and make Kelly hungry again

Myself I still dont think Kelly has hit his prime yet he is still young.

[onlyindreams]

I was looking at Hopkins record. He had his first major loss to Roy Jones in '93 and then went 12 years without losing again. He was 2 years older than Pavlik at the time of that loss to Roy Jones so that tells you how much time Pavlik has on his side. The question is, does he have the potential to become a much better technical boxer??

[Guest]

Pavlik has the heart of a champion. That's what will set him apart from a lot of guys and this fight will only make him better in my opinion.
He has a number of flaws and has been able to get by because of his marbles.
There is no shame is losing to a fighter like Hopkins, it's how he comes back from it that will determine how good he really is, and can be.
A lot of guys have gotten beaten like this and then were never the same. The next 2 years will tell a lot about him.

[jb]

STFU Hopkins!!! spare us the Im your daddy speech

Maybe KP shoulda shown up for his pay day. Then he could have shut him up.

Horrific beat down. Who was that slow, white bum?

Almost makes you wonder....

[216]

Not making excuses but

Kelly was not the 160lbs Kelly that beat up JT.

not sure why he took this fight only a couple possible scenarios
and none are good for Kelly

The first being what happened last night. And now the sports media questioning his credibilty or if he will be able to overcome this.

The second was if Kelly would have won by UD... again would have been loss for Kelly because the sports media and BHOPS camp would have spun it that way "This young KO artist couldnt KO this old man" again Kelly would be considered "exposed"

The third Kelly KO's BHOP and it would have been "good job" you KO'd somone twice your age who is way past his prime.

The fourth Kelly gets KO'd and again the media spins it. "He is a power puncher with a questionable chin."

Kelly was not the Kelly that beat Jermaine Taylor.
He was very slow. He was having a off night we wasnt listening to his corner at all.

And BHOP was at his best.

Kelly trained to KO BHOP he can deny all day long that he didnt but the truth is he did.

BHOP trained not to be KO'd so all he has to do is avoid Kelly power punches
and counter and he wins.

I would love to see BHOP drop down to 160 and fight Kelly
not saying Kelly would KO him then but I think it would be
a completely different fight.

They should have put something in the contract about a re-match option at 160.

[peeker643]

Not making excuses but

Kelly was not the 160lbs Kelly that beat up JT.

not sure why he took this fight only a couple possible scenarios
and none are good for Kelly

The first being what happened last night. And now the sports media questioning his credibilty or if he will be able to overcome this.

The second was if Kelly would have won by UD... again would have been loss for Kelly because the sports media and BHOPS camp would have spun it that way "This young KO artist couldnt KO this old man" again Kelly would be considered "exposed"

The third Kelly KO's BHOP and it would have been "good job" you KO'd somone twice your age who is way past his prime.

The fourth Kelly gets KO'd and again the media spins it. "He is a power puncher with a questionable chin."

Kelly was not the Kelly that beat Jermaine Taylor.
He was very slow. He was having a off night we wasnt listening to his corner at all.

And BHOP was at his best.

Kelly trained to KO BHOP he can deny all day long that he didnt but the truth is he did.

BHOP trained not to be KO'd so all he has to do is avoid Kelly power punches
and counter and he wins.

I would love to see BHOP drop down to 160 and fight Kelly
not saying Kelly would KO him then but I think it would be
a completely different fight.

They should have put something in the contract about a re-match option at 160.

You listed valid reasons why we should have never seen this fight once. I certainly am not interested in seeing it again at any weight. Pavlik should and will move on and move forward. He can't get that fight back regardless of whether he fights him again.

[skatingtripods]

It's interesting when you think about the irony of this. The fighter who claims to represent the blue-collar workers of Youngstown, Ohio goes for the big payday and gets knocked down a few pegs.

I guess that answered the question of: Is $3M worth getting your ass kicked? Apparently, for Pavlik's camp, the answer is yes.

[Rusty]

It's interesting when you think about the irony of this. The fighter who claims to represent the blue-collar workers of Youngstown, Ohio goes for the big payday and gets knocked down a few pegs.

I guess that answered the question of: Is $3M worth getting your ass kicked? Apparently, for Pavlik's camp, the answer is yes.

For anyone that believes the bullshit that Lampley & Merchant were spewing about how Pavlik's camp were greedy for moving up to fight Hopkins, please read the article linked below. HBO basically forced them to take the fight... the big payday was their only option.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=16483

This was just a mismatch of styles that featured a 43 year old legendary fighter at his very best. It's not like Pavlik's team threw him in there with Mike Tyson in his prime. He was a 3-1 favorite going into the fight, after all. Bert Sugar and about 95% of respectable boxing journalists picked Kelly to win. Nobody expected THAT Bernard Hopkins to show up... NOBODY.

Kelly got his boxing lesson, he will come back even stronger and he will dominate at 160.

[swerb]

What Rusty said

[StewieG]

FWIW, someone close to the Pavlik family said that he was fighting bronchitis and was on antibiotics, which made him a bit slower than usual the other night.

Now, I don't know if this is true or not, or even if it makes medical sense (I don't recall being slower when I take antibiotics, but then again I'm not in a fight when I take them), but that is what I was told.