the_godslayer

A news conference was held today at Chickie and Pete’s sports bar in south Philadelphia today to formally announce the Saturday, October 18 light heavyweight bout between former two-division world champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins and reigning world middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik. Hopkins, of Philadelphia, PA and Pavlik, of Youngstown, OH will fight at a catch-weight of 170 pounds. The bout, which is being presented by Top Rank and Golden Boy, in association with Caesars Atlantic City, will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Todd DuBoef, President of Top Rank Inc., opened the news conference with an introduction. “We are proud to bring to you a great fight featuring two great fighters, the young lion, undefeated middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik from Youngstown, Ohio, and a legend, your legend from Philadelphia, Bernard Hopkins.”
Ken Condon, representing Caesars Atlantic City, stepped up to thank everyone involved in making this fight happen, and hyped the fight by stating that tickets are expected to go fast.
Mark Taffet, of HBO, spoke next. He said, “Kelly Pavlik is building the young fan base that the sport needs. Kelly always wants the biggest challenge out there, and he is taking on a legend. That is a heck of a test. I’d like to thank Kelly Pavlik. He didn’t have to take this fight, but he did.
“On the other side of the dais is a first ballot hall-of-famer, Bernard Hopkins. Like Kelly, Bernard always wants the biggest challenge. He is taking on an undefeated KO artist in Kelly Pavlik. This will be a great fight. Will Bernard Hopkins be the fighter to derail the man who is Kelly Pavlik?”
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, introduced Hopkins’ longtime trainer, Nazim Richardson. Nazim said, “I appreciate Kelly Pavlik’s stride, and how he has come along as a fighter. People think he is new to Philly, but I know he’s been here in Philadelphia as an amateur. Bernard was getting ready for Simon Brown. He is no surprise to us, and we know we have to work hard. People overlook his skills because of his power. We have our work cut out for us.”
Richard Schaefer then introduced his fighter, Bernard Hopkins, as “The Ghostbuster”.
Hopkins took the dais, and immediately compared himself with another legend in the final phase of a great career, pro football’s Brett Favre. “As I look at the TV, I see an old dog named Brett Favre, who, like me, still got swagger at 40. I am not the only one still standing. Don’t look for me to retire. I have a long distance deal with Brett Favre. I’ll retire when Brett Favre retires,” he joked. “Now let’s talk about boxing.”
“I this fight, we have two blue collar guys, two construction workers fighting for a sandwich after 9 hours of work. I respect what this guy [Pavlik] has done. He is my successor, and he got it [the middleweight title] the old fashioned way like I did. But I have to do my job. I am not afraid of a ghost,” he said.
“This is a hurt business, and I’ve been successful at it for 20 years. I have confidence from my last fight. But I lost, you say. People just said I lost. I am coming in with a controlled anger and confidence. Yesterday is in the past. I am not showing my age. I am a seasoned veteran who has fought every style, and has a plan to take the other guy’s best weapon and use it against him.”
Hopkins then referred to his 2001 stoppage of then-undefeated Felix Trinidad as an example. “Everyone said I was in with a killer. They were saying “left hook, left hook, left hook”, but I showed him my right hand.”
He continued, “Pavlik is known for having a great right hand, but I have one of the best defenses in the sport. The name of the game is to take what he does best and use it against him. That’s what I do best.”
Bernard then made a brief hint at retirement. “Atlantic City has been good to me. If this is my last visit, on my terms – not Kelly Pavlik’s terms, I want to put on a great fight. I am looking for Kelly Pavlik to bring his A-game. I want to fight him at his best. At the end of the day, whoever has the best game plan will win the fight.”
Todd DuBoef then introduced Kelly’s father, Mike Pavlik, and called his trainer Jack Loew to the dais.
Loew praised Hopkins, stating, “Bernard Hopkins didn’t have to take this fight, but he did. I expect him to be fully prepared. Bernard proved himself with slappy Joe [Calzaghe]. I thought he won. He has a win over Winky Wright, and has had two close fights with Jermain Taylor. We know he will be fully prepared.
DuBoef then invited Kelly Pavlik to speak.
“People asked me why I took this fight, and why fight at 170. I wanted to fight the best. I wanted to fight Calzaghe, supposedly the best fighter pound-for-pound, but there is no way we could get him. Then someone mentioned Bernard Hopkins. We train the same way for every fight. I need to be at my best, and I expect a tough fight. It is a pleasure to be in the ring with Bernard Hopkins,” he said.
“He came up the same way as me. We both fought our way up. I knocked out tough Jose Luis Zertuche and Edison Miranda. I took chances and beat Miranda. I fought Jermain Taylor with no tune-up fight, and then I fought him a second time. It was a hard road.”
Answering the question why he elected to take this fight at 170 pounds, Pavlik said, “There was no one else to fight. Calzaghe won’t fight. That [Hopkins] was the only fight I had. He couldn’t weight 160, so we’re fighting at 170. I’m 6’2” and I walk around at 176. I have to lose weight to make this weight. My punches have more snap on them at this weight, and I’m not drained.”
“A win is a win,” stated Pavlik, when asked about pressure to look good. “A win over Bernard Hopkins is great. There is no pressure on me no matter how it turns out. Boxing was down a little, and this fight is a great fight for boxing, like Margarito-Cotto was. This is what boxing needs.”

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the_godslayer

By Matthew Hurley: “Kelly got the championship the right way. He earned it. I became a fan because of that.”

So said Bernard Hopkins in regards to his October 18th opponent, WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. The two will meet at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City at a catch weight of 170 pounds, the second time Pavlik has had to step up in weight since winning the crown from Jermain Taylor in September of 2007. (A rematch clause in the contract for the Taylor fight stipulated that the return bout would be fought at 165 pounds. Kelly won a unanimous decision.)

After one defense against over-matched challenger Gary Lockett the Youngstown native has again found himself in the awkward position of putting his beloved belts on the shelf when no viable opponent could be found. The one fight at middleweight everyone wants to see would be against IBF champion Arthur Abraham. Abraham, who took out Edison Miranda in the fourth round of their rematch, was immediately scheduled to fight mandatory challenger Raul Marquez on October 4th. With Abraham unavailable Pavlik, in his stoic manner, lobbied for a fight with super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe who squeaked by Hopkins in April. Calzaghe opted for a fight with Roy Jones and then injured his brittle right hand during training, postponing the bout. With nary an option Hopkins, convinced that he deserved the decision over Calzaghe (and many in the media agreed), stepped into the breach and suddenly boxing fans are faced with another go-round with the forty-three year old Philadelphia fighter.

When the matchup was announced even Pavlik was caught somewhat by surprise. It wasn’t the fight he wanted or in any way anticipated. But once it was signed he warmed to the idea. It’s an opportunity to put a legendary name on his ledger, no matter how old that legend may be.

“He’s the biggest name (still) out there,” Pavlik said at the promotional kickoff press conference in New York. “It’ll be a pleasure for me to be in the ring with him. Never in my life did I think I’d be fighting Hopkins.”

Hopkins deserves all the accolades that should be afforded a first ballot hall of fame fighter but there is also plenty to criticize about this aging version of the ‘Executioner’. Put simply, his fights, as of late, are boring. Hopkins’ bouts have become tedious affairs because of both his technical proficiency and his understanding that he can no longer fight three minutes of every round. That necessitates a lot of backing up, clinching and picking his shots judiciously, not to mention a well placed foul or two. Of course Hopkins views his style as professorial but after thirty-six rounds of studious non-aggression against Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright and Calzaghe many fans were hoping that B-Hop would call it a career. Ok, he did knock Tarver and Calzaghe down but those were mere ripples in a very calm pond.

His shtick is also getting a bit tiresome. His motor mouth will still be among his best weapons even when his legs finally give out, but we’ve heard it all before. He’ll promise destruction – he says this bout will be a “bloodbath” – and yet when has he delivered that kind of fight? His last knockout came against undersized Oscar De La Hoya in 2004. His signature victory over Felix Trinidad was way back in 2001. He deserves all the credit in the world for his longevity but by lingering on the boxing scene he has become something of an annoyance to boxing fans outside of his diehard believers.

And then there are the pre-fight histrionics. He has become one of those athletes who revert to speaking in the third person whenever talking about his “greatness” as if not only should we be in awe of him but that he is equally in awe of himself. In Hopkins defense it is that very self-confidence and self-belief along with his Spartan-like self-discipline both in and out of the ring that has allowed him to trudge forward at forty-three years of age and take on elite fighters like the aforementioned Tarver, Wright and Calzaghe regardless of how tepid the end result may have been.




Now he’s taking on one of boxing’s budding superstars; a guy who hits like a mule, is probably close to peaking and knows only how to move forward. Six or seven years ago it is conceivable that Hopkins would have picked Kelly Pavlik apart. Now there is the foreboding sense, once again, that Hopkins talent for negating his opponent’s main strength, in this case Kelly’s powerful right hand will turn this fight into a dull affair. It is smart tactics that have kept him afloat, and you would be hard pressed to name a smarter fighter than Hopkins in the last ten years, but it also inevitably leads to dreadful bouts. Couple that with Bernard’s diminishing offensive output and what you’re left with in Pavlik - Hopkins is a name brand dud.

In previous fights Hopkins was able to generate interest and controversy with his pre-fight tirades. Against Calzaghe he uttered the now infamous, “I’ll never lose to a white boy” which galvanized reporters to take him to task for the comment. It was a stupid remark but in its own twisted way helped hype the fight and Hopkins knew it would before the words left his mouth. Against Felix Trinidad he tossed the Puerto Rican flag to the ground incurring the wrath of Trinidad loyalists and the fighter himself, which again was his plan all along. He got in Trinidad’s head and beat him psychologically before the opening bell even rang. He shoved Winky Wright at a press conference, infuriating the usually unflappable southpaw and then he mocked Antonio Tarver’s appearance as heavyweight Mason Dixon in the movie Rocky Balboa.

As for Pavlik? Well, he likes him. There won’t be many verbal fireworks in the build up to this fight, one that no one expected and no one really wanted. Although Bernard did offer this quip in reference to Pavlik’s nickname, “I’m a fan (of his) but I never been afraid of ghosts.”

In the end Hopkins is in a no-lose situation. He got this fight by default and his recent history dictates that he can probably keep it close, albeit in an unappealing way. That doesn’t bode well for pay-per-view buys. But like anyone with years of experience under his belt Hopkins feels a sense of entitlement and he couldn’t care less what critics say about him as he prolongs the twilight of his career. He’s earned that right but the fans he keeps trying to sell his never ending show to are quickly turning their backs on him. Eventually, should he continue fighting, no one will pay any attention to him at all – until that day when he enters the hall of fame. On that day everyone will cheer.


source - - - Boxing - Columns - Matthew Hurley

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Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone

NFFC

I've merged a lot of other threads about this fight with this one. Hope no-one minds.

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Oscar De la Hoya: Legend
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KoolKid

Hopkins is one of my favourite fighters. I hate when people say he's rubbish just because he says bad things to build up hype to a fight and because of his countering style which makes him wait for you to do something before he does which i love cause it skillful but people say its not entertaining. He is a intelligent boxer.
Look at him here at the age of 43 still fighting young champions. He is a honor to the sport of boxing he keeps fighting and giving us fans great fights he's a true champ he could of retired years ago and still of been a legend.
From seeing him fight Joe and lose which i think was because of his work rate being slower due to his age. I think he will lose to Pavlik but just like how Joe never hurt him i think Pavlik will not hurt Hopkins at all but will win due to him being younger and having a better work rate. I'm not counting Hopkins out tho as people have done to him all through his career. Hopkins is a very very smart boxer and has a counter style and that lets him still be able to fight now because if he had a fighter style of Joe calzaghe he couldn't fight at that age cause he couldn't keep up the work rate which is what Joe has going for him. But Hopkins has intelligence beyond the other boxers and has more experience and skills than Pavlik and can give Pavlik some real problems he is a better fighter than Pavlik in my eyes but Pavlik is young and has a big heart and likes to brawl a bit and that will tire Hopkins out but Hopkins likes to counter so the more punches you through the more danger your in for a counter from Hopkins. If Hopkins wonts to win he must finish the fight early on if it gets into the later rounds he has no chance cause he will be tired.
I like how both men are showing respect to one another its good to see Hopkins being respectful to Pavlik cause Hopkins doesn't show respect to much boxers. Pavlik will be most expected to win but Hopkins has a chance its not a silly fight. I wont Hopkins to win but i like Pavlik as well.

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The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.

RMAcero722

Imagine if Hopkins beats Pavlik and Jones beats Calz, we may see Jones-Hops II! The Rematch of the Century, just a century too late.

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kevin6

hello

kevin6

what you doing

kevin6

what up

KoolKid

i never thought of that. that would be so wicked. i wish that would happen

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The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.

the_godslayer

Former two-division champion Bernard Hopkins predicts a grueling war when he meets undefeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on October 18. The fight takes place at a catch-weight of 170-pounds. Speaking with BoxingScene.com’s Bill Emes and other media, Hopkins feels that he’s got more to lose in the contest than the younger Pavlik.
“[It’s going to be] a bloodbath. A bloodbath. Of course Kelly will have all the blood on him. And at the end of the day - he was too much of a novice for Bernard Hopkins, but not for anyone else. You see, if Kelly Pavlik loses to a Bernard Hopkins it wont be a surprise. Bernard Hopkins loses to Kelly Pavlik they'll just say I’m old. I have more to lose in this fight than Kelly Pavlik does,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins doesn’t plan to run and hide from Pavlik’s power. He doesn’t want any excuses after fight over the agreed upon catch-weight, as Pavlik needs to move up by almost two weight-divisions for the challenge. Hopkins points out that he moved up by two full weight-divisions in 2006, when he jumped from 160 to 175 to challenge Antonio Tarver, who Hopkins dominated over twelve-rounds.
“Styles make fights. I have 43-year-old legs. I'm not running around, I never did run around. That's not my style. Defense, offense, slick, hit and not get hit, not run. He's right there, he's taller, he's leaning over you trying to hit you with that right hand. He's not mobile, but he has heart like Philadelphia fighter,” Hopkins said.
“I want to reserve this reminder. When Kelly Pavliks loses this fight, remember he's undefeated. Remember he beat three top middleweight fighters, Miranda, and Jermain Taylor twice. After that no disrespect but I don’t know what else is on his resume, but you know mine. Ya'll will not be shocked because this is a dangerous fight. Give him credit for taking this fight. He took the fight and I'm here. It's going to be a professor in there with a feisty lion who needs to be tamed and believe that I'll have the intelligence and the energy to do it.”
Hopkins knows that Pavlik is coming to hurt him and knock him out, but he was quick to point out that most of his past opponents also planned to hurt him and knock him out - and failed. Pavlik told BoxingScene that knocking Hopkins out would be a great goal to achieve. Hopkins doesn’t compare Pavlik’s high workrate to the high workrate of Joe Calzaghe. He says Pavlik is far more dangerous than Calzaghe.
“I think last 20 people planned to knock me out. If they plan to knock me out, to only get a victory - they already lost. I can get knocked out just like anyone can get knocked out but Bernard Hopkins is not a guy where you can crack the safe easy. I think the last 15, 20 years of fighting, I think I'm the most defensive fighter that came in my generation. I don’t get hit, I’ve never been cut in boxing,” Hopkins said.
“I've never been cut in 58, 59 fights. Matter fact, name a fight where I got beat up. Just doesn’t happen. I’m not saying that it wont never happen. You can get beat up and still get a victory, but Bernard Hopkins is a guy who will be more appreciated as time goes on. Kelly Pavlik's style is different than Joe. Joe throws 50 pitty-pat punches, lands only 5 and the fighter comes out without even a scar on him,. He threw punches but they were ineffective. Kelly Pavlik is a little different. I think people need to give Kelly Pavlik a little more credit for being a guy that when he throws punches, he throws punches to try to hurt you. He punches to try to put damage on you. I think he's a slightly better puncher than I am but my accuracy is not questionable when it comes to accuracy and systematically breaking a guy down from body to head. “
Hopkins is 43-years-old, fighting one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport. He says the fact that he’s still fighting is not the remarkable thing about him. According to Hopkins, the remarkable thing is his ability to take part in strenuous training camps.
“I'm still fighting because I can and because I still have the love for boxing. I still have the gut and determination to get up and train. The questions that you need to ask is why do I get up in the morning seven days a week and get up at 5:30 in the morning to go running,“ Hopkins said.
“I was boxing when I wasn't getting paid. I was boxing without gloves in the penitentiary. Fighting is easy to black folks in the ghetto. Boxing comes easy to us. Fighting comes easy to us. The training, seven-weeks away from your family, that's really the hard part that you still gotta have after achieving everything financially and career wise. I still have the fire to go through that and put my body through that. That's one of the reasons, the main reason that I'm here.”
“I've got to be the most fresh 50-plus fights under my belt fighter, never been knocked out, never been cut, never been beat up in the ring - in boxing history.“


source - - - Bernard Hopkins: “Kelly Pavlik Fight Will Be a Bloodbath”

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Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone