GHOSTBUSTER?
Bernard Hopkins no longer fights with the enraged style that he once did, Hopkins is no longer on the outside looking in, Hopkins now seems to be on the inside looking out. Hopkins may still have some anger stored into his heart after being overlooked for so many years early on his career, however the anger he still may have is alot more controlled, the anger seems to come out only in spurts.
Kelly Pavlik on the other hand is still fighting with a fierce menacing anger, Pavlik seems to punish his opponents almost as if to tell everyone that he too has always been overlooked. It is with that anger that has us wanting more, Pavlik is what’s good for boxing, Pavlik is the type of fighter who would ask ‘’ Why the need for three judges? ‘’ So who wins this match? The old wise man or the angry fierce man?
I for one would much rather want to see Hopkins vs. Jones in a retirement fight, as I feel that there is a score to settle between the two. I would much rather also see Pavlik vs. Calzaghe, A Pavlik/Calzaghe fight would really allow us all to see what Calzaghe is really about. Can Calzaghe slay the young dragon in Pavlik? Or would Calzaghe be the one to be slayed and starched by the punching power of Pavlik?
As you can probably tell by now, I am not sold on Calzaghe. Saturday night when I saw Chad Dawson dismantle Antonio Tarver, I was later asked if I felt Dawson would do the same to Calzaghe, my answer was a loud ‘’Absolutely'’. Dawson would show the slapping Calzaghe the definition of real speed, Dawson would baffle Calzaghe on speed alone. To me a better fight would be btween Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud, now that would be a fight to see.
Since we are forced to see Pavlik vs. Hopkins instead of the fights mentioned above, let’s get to it and pick a winner. In this fight distance should be the only thing on Pavlik’s mind, if Pavlik allows Hopkins to get close as Calzaghe allowed him to do, well then we might as well give Hopkins the win now.
No doubt about it, we all know that Pavlik is a beast but how does this beast find the distance it needs to fire off his punches that seem to freeze his opponents once they land? A nice long stiff jab is the key to finding the distance that one will need to land enough hard shots, there lies the problem. If Winky Wright who uses the hard jab as his main primary weapon couldn’t pull it off then what makes us think that Pavlik will?
As much as I want Pavlik to win this fight, reality then kicks in and reminds me that the ghostbuster is going to scheme his way closer and closer then finally close enough to make the fight close enough to steal. As I mentioned before that the executioner has put himself in position where he has complete profound command over any opponent that enters the ring against him, because of that I am picking Hopkins to win, Hopkins by SD.
Posted by: Albert Alvarez