Vol. 5, No. 10, October 2008
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Ring of Fire
Bernard Hopkins and Kelly Pavlik will clash in a bizarre but interesting 171-pound matchup this month.
On October 18 at Boardwalk Hall, Pavlik, the blue-collar, hard-punching middleweight from Youngstown, Ohio meets Hopkins, the slick Philadelphian who still punches well but is more likely to mug an opponent and steal a decision.
Their records are sterling. Pavlik carries a 34-0 mark with 30 knockouts. Hopkins holds the middleweight record for title defenses, 20, which he carved between 1995 and 2005. He later captured a light-heavyweight crown and is 48-5-1 with 32 knockouts.
So the 26-year-old gunslinger and the 43-year-old chess master meet in Atlantic City. Pavlik promises to outslug Hopkins, who contends he can take the younger fighter to school.
“The key is that Kelly is going to fight at a 26-year-old’s pace, not a 43-year-old’s pace,” says Pavlik’s trainer Jack Loew, honored as boxing’s top 2007 trainer by an organization called The Sweet Science. “You’ll see that show up around the seventh and eighth round. There’s no way that Bernard Hopkins, great as he is, can put up with the kind of pressure Kelly is going to apply to him.
The key to fighting Hopkins, says Loew, is maintaining control of the fight. “You can’t chase Hopkins around the ring.”
The contracted weight resembles a slick street move authored by the savvy Hopkins. The halfway point of the two divisions would be 167.5 pounds. The additional 3.5 pounds leans closer to where Hopkins prefers to fight.
Loew says no.
“Kelly was 170 after the first week of training,” Loew indicates. “All this did was make him bigger. You have someone of Kelly’s size throwing 100 punches a round, it will have its impact. We relish the thrill of fighting a legend in Bernard Hopkins, but our guy is younger and stronger.”
What about wiser? That’s where Hopkins supporters are optimistic. One interested observer is Hopkins’ promoter, another legend, Oscar De La Hoya. The Golden Boy, who uses Hopkins as an East Coast promoter, knows the ramifications of moving up in weight. As a multi-division champion, De La Hoya defeated anyone who moved up as little as five pounds to fight him. When he moved into the middleweight division, he could not beat Hopkins. At some point, weight elevations reduce power.
De La Hoya, who will promote this bout, believes Pavlik has tested that philosophy.
“This is a tricky fight for Kelly Pavlik,” De La Hoya says. “Hopkins still has gas. Hopkins can still punch and he has the patience to wait for you to make a mistake and then capitalize.
“When you combine the knowledge Hopkins has, and the experience he has, it adds up to a good matchup for him.”
It’s also a good match for fans who would normally not get to see boxers who are 15 pounds apart. Throw in some wild-card negotiating, find an in-between weight and watch what happens.
Both fighters are Atlantic City icons. That’s what drew the sponsorship of Ken Condon, the consultant for Bally’s, Harrah’s, Caesars and Showboat.
“It’s very unique with Pavlik having to go up in weight to a place Bernard Hopkins is comfortable at,” Condon says. “Hopkins seems to be ageless. Even at the press conference he looked in fantastic shape. He is a very intelligent boxer. I think this should be interesting and it’s a good gate fight. There is a lot of interest in it. Atlantic City has adopted Pavlik and his fans will come out full force. Hopkins brings a base from Philadelphia.”
Pavlik became Atlantic City’s new favorite son with a thrilling come-from-behind knockout victory over Jermain Taylor last September. After being knocked down in the second round and languishing two punches away from defeat, Pavlik surged and stopped the previously undefeated Taylor in seven. The exhilarating victory came right after Atlantic City lost its big-event meal ticket, Arturo Gatti, to retirement.
The likeable Pavlik defended his title here in June with a quick knockout of Gary Lockett. Whether he can maintain Gatti’s two-a-year, big-fight pace in Atlantic City depends largely on this outcome.
And Hopkins will say plenty. The Executioner has become an outside-the-ring giant in the last couple of years. He signed with De La Hoya’s company, helped orchestrate a promotion deal for Golden Boy with the Borgata, and he can still box.
The finest hour in this era for Hopkins occurred in 2006. He dismantled, outboxed and practically toyed with light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver before dethroning him at Boardwalk Hall. The effort was practically flawless.
Hopkins retired on top after that fight, but you know the business. It kept dragging him back. He delivered an instant replay several months later by scoring a lopsided decision over Winky Wright. In consecutive fights, he had literally toyed with younger fighters— champions in fact, whose combined record was 75-6.
The Executioner nearly made it three in a row before coming up short. In April, he temporarily silenced a rabid crowd that came from Wales to see their superstar Joe Calzaghe. A Hopkins counter right hand dropped Calzaghe the first round of their 175-pound championship bout. After a collective groan sounded through the arena, however, Hopkins faded and Calzaghe captured a split decision.
Variables surround Pavlik-Hopkins. Can Pavlik force Hopkins into the street brawl he wants? Will Hopkins perform his proverbial nuisance routine—tying up his opponent, throwing counter right hands and slowing the pace of the fight? How will the weight affect Pavlik?
Questions, questions, questions. Several thousand people will show up to find the answers.
