By CompuBox
Bernard Hopkins, who avg'd just 16.3 punches thrown per round (5.4 landed) in his loss to Kovalev 25 months ago, avg'd just 37.8 thrown and 12.9 landed in his 14 fights at light heavyweight. Light Heavy avg.: 16.1 of 52.5.
Hopkins strength is "gumming up" his opponents offense. Opponents landed just 10.6 punches per round and just 7.4 power shots per round. All but one of his light heavyweight opponents (Ornelas) was a current or former champ when they fought Hopkins. Smith avg'd 76.4 thrown (24.5) landed in his last 5 fights, with 4 of those last 5 opponents (Fonfara was legit) non-threatening.
Those non-descript opponents plus Fonfara, landed 38.6% of their power shots- A RED FLAG! and the reason Smith was chosen as the opponent for Hopkins farewell fight.
Former two-division world champion and Future Hall of Famer Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (55-7 2, 32 KOs) and Joe Smith, Jr. (22-1, 18 KOs) collide at Inglewood, Calif.'s "Fabulous" Forum on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
In addition to Hopkins and Smith, Jr., co-main event fighters Joseph "Jojo" Diaz, Jr. (22-0, 13 KOs) and Horacio Garcia (30-1-1, 21 KOs) who will fight for Diaz, Jr.'s NABF Featherweight Title; and Oleksandr Usyk (10-0, 9 KOs) and Thabiso Mchunu (17-2, 11 KOs) who will battle for Usyk's WBO Cruiserweight Title.
Tickets for Hopkins vs. Smith, Jr. are on sale and are priced at $25, $50, $75, $105 and $205, not including applicable service charges and taxes, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or the Forum Box Office (Monday through Friday 11:00 a.m. PST to 7:00 p.m. PST) at (310) 330-7300. Tickets are also available for purchase at www.fabulousforum.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
