Has BHop finally bitten off more than he can chew?

Got to respect the old man. I mean, he is taking on a bonified punching machine. But will this be the first KO defeat of BHop's career?

How does this one go?

Yes I think he has, yes he really is an Alien is still savy enough to stay relavent but I really can't see how he doesn't get stopped here

Kovalev is a tremendous banger, actually the biggest banger Bhop has EVER face, and not only that he's also a good technical boxer too with relenting stamina. He won't let Bhop hit and hold he'll just keep throwing and grind the 49 year old down. Hoppo has gas left in the tank but can't fight hard anymore these days

Think Kovalev should deffo focus on the body to slow him down and if he can do that early I can't see Bhop riding the pressure too well

Kudos for him for taking it and if he can pull it off it'll be a remarkable achievement but can't see it myself

Early odds suggest that Kovalev is the big favourite here.....But me personally, I see it as a genuine pick 'em and think it's a 50:50 thing. Maybe I'm going soft (or softer) but when it comes to Hopkins you just know there's a chance you're going to look stupid if you back the other guy outright.

Hopkins wouldn't be signing for this fight unless he felt absolutely sure that he's spotted a weakness that he can definitely exploit in Kovalev's game. Now I know a lot of fighters take fights thinking that and then get a rude awakening, but here's the difference - Hopkins is smarter than just about all of them and far less prone to making that kind of judgement error, I feel.

All depends on the early rounds. Kovalev has been banging so many guys out early that he still has to prove that his power and conditioning can carry to the later stages of big-time fights. Hopkins might be vulnerable early, like was was in the first Pascal fight, but if he can get through those first few rounds without taking a Kovalev bomb clean on the chin (and Bernard is still protecting that chin just about as well as anyone in the sport) then I feel there's a real chance that Hopkins could end up discouraging and disheartening Kovalev and making him look a bit lost as he's done to so many younger, harder-hitting fighters in the past. Cloud, for instance, has in general had a good punch output and was tenacious in going forwards, even when getting a gift against Campillo, but Hopkins took that volume punching away from him.

Kovalev is a better fighter than the likes of Shumenov, Cloud and Pascal, but Hopkins has outclassed those guys by such a wide margin that I find it hard to see him getting pummelled in this one, even if he can't come away with the win. I'm really, really looking forward to this one and think it's a very exciting prospect....By rights, Kovalev should be retiring Hopkins, but Hoppo just never knows when to stop beating the bookies favourites. On the other hand, while we know that it could happen any moment, seeing Hopkins finally put away inside schedule or really having to take sustained punishment all night long would feel kind of surreal.

What the hell, I'll tentatively lean towards Hopkins on close decision, maybe even a split one, though that might chance nearer fight time. Bit of gut feeling involved in that one, I admit, so expect a lot of people to tear me to shreds.....But I think Kovalev still has a bit more to prove than a lot of others do, it seems.

Both WHU and Chris make good points. On one hand, how can BHop even compete with a killer like Kovalev? His refelxes are noticably slowing, he has not 'keep off me' power and he has been getting hit a little more recently. All of this should be enough for Kovalev to get his biggest win to date, but it wasn't enough for Pascal, or Shumenov or many others. Thing is, 6 months out the ring is a dangerous thing for a 49 year old. He may just be shot. Really, Kovalev needs to ensure he doesn't get hypnotized like Shumenov and Pascal did. Just go in there and hit Bhop. It is that simple. Use your tremendous offence to ensure you don't have to be in there after 8. If Kovalev is still there after 8, he is bang in trouble versus BHop. Whent he fight slows, BHop will bedazzle him with his boxing brain.

My gut says BHOp has hung around too long. But, who knows. BHop has made a fool of me more than once.

A lot of people thought Pavlik might beat Hoppo into submission and nearly three decades later he's still making mugs of us.

Like Chris says, you don't have Bernard's longevity in the sport (of boxing...sorry, couldn't resist) be being stupid so you do have to wonder what he sees in Kovalev to exploit that no-one else has

DAVE667 wrote:A lot of people thought Pavlik might beat Hoppo into submission and nearly three decades later he's still making mugs of us.

Like Chris says, you don't have Bernard's longevity in the sport (of boxing...sorry, couldn't resist) be being stupid so you do have to wonder what he sees in Kovalev to exploit that no-one else has

V. true. But is it possible he is losing his judgement? Possibly falling in love with his own legacy?

Let's not forget that Trinidad was expected to walk straight through Hopkins and Bernard made him look stupid. He's a wily old fox and although he only fights in spurts these days he has as much ring nous as the rest of the LHW division put together. However, that was 13 years ago.

I think this could turn into a bit of a chess match and a spoiling fight (like all of Ol' Popkins' fights, I guess) but I think that Kovalev is a bit smarter than we give him credit for. As much as I admire Bernard's savvy and spoiling techniques, I think he will struggle with the power being thrown once Sergey connects (and I believe he will).

It won't be easy, but I think Hopkins will end up slumped in a corner and heading for a well-earned retirement somewhere around the 10th. As that was my prediction and it's Hopkins, expect Grandad to win a close and hotly disputed 12 rd decision...  

Hopkins attitude is he has nothing really to lose at this stage of his career. Every fight is a bonus. He had to take one of the two other belt holders in his next fight or else be forced to face a mandatory that the tv networks would crap on. Stevenson team apparently tried to use this to their advantage and negotiate a better deal for themselves. They thought Hopkins was snookered. But the recent thaw in relations between HBO and Golden Boy meant Kovalev became a potential opponent and his demands were far less. Hes so desperate for an opponent that Hopkins was able to secure a nice deal for himself.

Hopkins will turn up 50 years old wearing a 12 year olds Halloween mask and do his best to absolutely stink the place out and make it a butt ugly fight. Theres been nothing special about his recent performances other than in the context of his age. The weakness he sees in most boxers is that they are not prepared for a foul fest. Kovalev will be the harder puncher hes faced. I think he will get knocked out.

We all know that Hopkins is going to hold, headbutt, and claw his way through twelve rounds, if he makes it look ugly enough, he'll win. I hope he doesn't, but let's not kid ourselves and pretend Hopkins is taking this fight planning on a gunslinger-type fight.

Hopkins will win a unanimous decision.

Are we really saying BHop is going to be able to take out another 'Young Lion'?

[quote="DAVE667"]A lot of people thought Pavlik might beat Hoppo into submission and nearly three decades later/quote]

You getting your analysis in early for when Bhop retains his world heavyweight championship at the age of 70?

If he beats Kovaelv, he's P4P top 5 material (current rankings) for me. Incredible feat for a man of 50.

Although, for me, this is a step to far. He will most likely suffer his first TKO.

milkyboy wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:A lot of people thought Pavlik might beat Hoppo into submission and nearly three decades later/quote]

You getting your analysis in early for when Bhop retains his world heavyweight championship at the age of 70?

I wouldn't put it past the old git to still be knocking on the door.

DAVE667 wrote:

milkyboy wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:A lot of people thought Pavlik might beat Hoppo into submission and nearly three decades later/quote]

You getting your analysis in early for when Bhop retains his world heavyweight championship at the age of 70?

I wouldn't put it past the old git to still be knocking on the door.

Roger Mayweathers son will probably challenge Bhop for a world title in about 20 years.

Has Hopkins bitten off more than he can chew? I’m surprised that BHop can chew anything at all these days! Shouldn’t everything he eats be blended into mush and sucked through a straw with a knitted blanket over his knees?

That said, if he beat Kovalev I would not be surprised in the slightest… well OK, maybe a little, but I wouldn’t be knocked off my feet. Kovalev is good, maybe the best in the division depending if you sit on the Stevenson side of the fence, but is he “world class” ( whatever that means )? I’m still not 100% sure.

How amazing is it that this board seems quite split and posters are giving a 50 year old a good chance against an arguably top 3 p4p puncher. Absolutely phenomenal. Regardless if his style is boring, I will be cheering him on. He certainly can't be accused of cherry picking.

On a side note, I am worried that he is still fighting on at this stage. George Foreman set the precedent and I wish he hadn't as I am uncomfortable with boxers going on as long as this. It would be a shame if this is the one fight too far that ruins a healthy and happy retirement for him. He could get seriously hurt here. At is is Bhop though, I don't think he will get hurt. I predict a close Kovalev UD with Bhop sailing off into the sunset with everyones respect.

Think a lot of the "Hoppo will win" stuff in very tongue in cheek as it's hard not to admire B-Hop. He was supposed to get massive props for beating Oscar but the superstardom never seemed to come his way. He's never gained popular recognition in the same way someone like Hagler did for example so he's contented himself with bucking trends, defying the odds and throwing spanners in the works ever since.

Fair play to him, will wish him all the best

Should Hoppo win, would that be cause for bumping him up a few places in the HOF pecking order?

I would say so. Kovalev is a decent name for any fighter to get a "W" against on their CV but at 50 definitely.

In his whole career, for me Hopkins has only ever been beaten clearly and without any doubt (the Taylor and Calzaghe fights were debatable, though certainly not robberies) twice – by Jones all the way back in 1993, and then against Dawson nineteen years later. For a whole lot of reasons the Jones fight doesn’t really have much relevance to how someone can beat him now; Hopkins a different fighter now and nobody at 175 today is going to replicate Jones’ style in any way. But the Dawson fight was relatively recently, so might be worth reading in to more even though Dawson and Kovalev have little in common from a styles point of view.

Speed traditionally tended to be what troubled Hopkins (Jones, Taylor, Calzaghe). Kovalev isn’t slow but isn’t in the same bracket as those guys for speed – but then again, neither was Dawson (again, that doesn’t mean Dawson is slow by any means). Kind of indicates, I guess, that you don’t have to be a speed merchant to beat Hopkins now and lends weight to the theory that his recent wins over slower, more predictable fighters like Cloud, Pascal and Shumenov might have flattered to deceive a little. They’re all decent wins by any Light-Heavyweight’s standards but come off as excellent wins in Hopkins’ case because of his age, which is fair enough I guess….But Dawson, despite the slip up against Pascal, is probably the best all-rounder in that group and he beat Hopkins clearly, and there are a lot of people who believe that Kovalev is a class above Bad Chad, even the one who beat Hopkins.

They’re very different styles but I was shocked to see how small and weak Hopkins looked compared to Dawson in the ring. Hopkins never looked comfortable or confident against Dawson and it was him having done to him what he usually does to others, getting roughed up, not being allowed to work inside, missing and getting countered etc. Dawson’s defence was really exceptional for a lot of that fight (not the farce one they had a few months before!) which Kovalev probably isn’t going to replicate, but if he can deal with Hopkins’ inside work and master the dark arts then Bernard is going to have a lot of problems because Hopkins needs to give him something to think about as he wades forward and make him doubt himself, as he did to Cloud and Pavlik.

Changing my prediction already!