Hopkins v. Kessler

Hopkins - Kessler would be more competitive than Hopkins - Pavlik. Kessler is a better technical fighter than Pavlik. He has better footwork, wider range of combinations, faster hands and better defense. I could see him winning a few rounds but Bernard's superior counter punching, Defense and footwork will win him a competitive but clear decision. Honestly, you take away Kessler's jab, you take away 80% of his arsenal, Hopkins is a master at taking away his opponent's best weapon, I see Hopkins winning if they ever fight. these 2 posts best describes why Hop would school Kessler :cool2:

Hopkins studies his opponants very carefully, trying to exploit their weaknesses, thats why his fights are usual quite boring, with the exception of the pavlik fight.

Hopkins v. Kessler: These 2 are very intelligent fighters, but i'll give Hopkins an edge due to his crafty nature. He'll try to outwit Kessler, but Kessler isn't as dumb as other fighters. He'll be in there calculating as well. Bernard will have to watch for his jabs, so he'll pace around Kessler quite often, and then engage on the inside where he is better than Kessler. Kessler will try to adapt/counter with uppercuts. This will be the pattern until they wear each other out. After that, it's a toss-up. Kessler is made for Hopkins, he wont land that jab on hopkins, and doesnt move his head enough to avoid the counters that would come back to him. Takes too much time to set up shots, doubt he could cope with hopkins lateral movement. There are just a heap of reasons why Kessler would get hurt in that fight, unless hopkins gets supershot.

Kessler has the size at 168, the boxing skills, the movement and the speed to easily handle Hopkins and retire him from the sport. As good as Kessler looked, I doubt that Hopkins will want to take the hook and seek out a fight with him. Hopkins wants a fight with Joe Calzaghe or Roy Jones Jr., either of which would bring in much more money without all the risk that Kessler would bring to the table. I realize that Kessler has been beaten by Calzaghe, but the fight was very close and in a rematch, I’m fairly certain he would beat him. That’s why Calzaghe probably doesn’t want to face him again. As far as Kessler-Hopkins, I don’t see any reason why this fight can’t place. Kessler would probably agree to fight Hopkins at 175 any day of the weak, because it would mean that he would only have to put on a couple of pounds to make the fight. Realistically, Kessler wouldn’t have to gain a pound and he would still be big enough, quick enough and skilled enough to beat him. Ultimately, Hopkins may have no other option but to face Kessler, because Calzaghe has no interest whatsoever in going over old ground and beating Hopkins one more time, and Roy Jones Jr. won’t be in the position to fight Hopkins after he loses badly to Calzaghe Kessler’s jab would be a major factor in the fight, as he would keep it in Hopkins’ face the whole time. Hopkins previously had problems in his fight with Jermain Taylor mainly because of Jermain’s jabs and speedy combinations. Kessler would bring the same thing to the table against Hopkins, but adding much more versatility when it comes to offensive firepower. I think this would be a fight that the sneaky Hopkins couldn’t think his way through, trying to devise alternative strategies to beat Kessler. Believe me, Kessler would have a plan B, C, D, E and F, and would quickly work through each one until he found one that worked against the older Hopkins

Kessler is an elite fighter, hes the best at 168, he fought a good fight against calzaghe (i am british) but his sparring and he injured his hand or wrist couple of weeks before the fight which meant his preparation was hampered but he hit calzaghe with bombs.... calzaghe his not defensive fighter but he does have speed and reactions (something maybe hopkins is lacking apart from a one paced fighter). Kessler to be harsh on him his remembered for his loss to calzaghe, many people question his heart but he went 12 hard top class rounds under prepared against an under rated and unbeaten champion in kessler (the only guy really for me to threaten calzaghes unbeaten reign) kessler has speed hand speed hes a huge super middleweight (would jump at a fight at a catch weight) power techical ablity he his the complete fighter. hopkins stock has risen since his demolish job on kelly pavlik (should never of went down tbh) but hopkins does struggle with fighters with fast hands and fighters who use angles (pavlik his a come forward fighter with the double jab and right hand according to jack loew or whatever his name is.... double the ****ing jab blah blah) you cant belittle hopkins achievement the media was predicting that he was gonna get knocked out retired even and hopkins ended the unbeaten reign (beat the man who beat the man so to speak) my point is kessler has quick hands he uses angles, he has a good chin, hes methodical works the body, has power shots hopkins would ask a bigger question but we saw how fatigued hopkins was against calzaghe someone who made him move who made him think and not allow to tee off at will. kessler will ask hopkins all those questions and especially with hopkins stamina queries (being a young 43 yr old) kessler should be able to out score hopkins maybe even hurt him but with hopkins style a stoppage his very unlikely as hopkins has a good set of whiskers... kessler ud 116 to 112 or 115 - 113 it will be close because of hopkins defensive style but with kesslers working feints and working angles he should be able to lower hopkins output and that would be the key to the fight. as someone has already alluded too it looks very unlikely that this fight will be as kesslers stock even though hes a world champion has not risen, he needs to put himself in the shop window as soon as possible even a blow out of jones jr would be what kessler needs

I've only seen Kessler fight once or twice. He looks good but Bernard knows how to make guys look like shit. Kessler isn't well known though. I haven't heard any1 calling for this fight to happen.

Personally feel even now, a faded 44 year old Hopkins beats Kessler. IMO anyway

Kessler would retire Hopkins. If by retire you mean add another win to his resume then your right. :)

one thing to remember is before the calzaghe fight kessler barely lost a round to anybody. I think Kessler should win this but you never know with hopkins as hes a bit crafty and studies his opponents well before the fight to take away thier best punches.

Kessler would retire Hopkins.

thats true that joe hurt kess with a body shot, joes punching power imo is quite poor, so imagine what someone like hopkins would do. but i think that joe hits harder than we sometimes think and hopkins doesn't hit as hard as some ppl think. i still maintain that hopkins hs more pop tthough, but not as much as some people think, look at how he teed off kelly all night but still didn't manage to put him away. also is hopkins wants to fight on the inside he has to get on the inside first, if he tries that i see kess timing him with his right uppercut, if not i can see kess slipping off to the sides and looking for counters. his footwork is really good. i can't see hopkins taking away kess's jab - he bangs that drum often enough that people think he can do it to anything, did he take away joes workrate, did he take away taylors feints or combo's? hopkins is always well prepped and might take away kess's money punch (the right hand) but i can't see him taking the jab away from him. I agree, Calzaghe's power is underated but i also feel Hopkins power is underated. Hopkins was able to stun Pavlik a few times and Pavlik does have a solid chin. The downfall for Hopkins in his fights against Taylor and Calzaghe was their Workrate, They won because they threw more punches but they rarely landed anything. Hopkins did lower Calzaghes workrate by around 250 punches. Hopkins took away Pavliks jab and his right hand, he would do the exact same to kessler. Kessler is a better boxer than Pavlik but he is still robotic and a bit too predictable for Hopkins. Hopkins is very good at getting inside of his opponent, Kessler has never proven to me that he knows how to fight on the inside or keep his opponent from getting inside, Calzaghe was able to get inside on Kessler at will, Hopkins would do the same.

Hopkins v. Kessler: These 2 are very intelligent fighters, but i'll give Hopkins an edge due to his crafty nature. He'll try to outwit Kessler, but Kessler isn't as dumb as other fighters. He'll be in there calculating as well. Bernard will have to watch for his jabs, so he'll pace around Kessler quite often, and then engage on the inside where he is better than Kessler. Kessler will try to adapt/counter with uppercuts. This will be the pattern until they wear each other out. After that, it's a toss-up. Hopkins would school Kessler

Hopkins would take away Kessler's jab like he did with Pavlik and Wright. Calzaghe was able to overwhelm Kessler on the inside and even hurt him with a body shot, Hopkins is a better inside fighter and hits harder. Hopkins footwork, counter punching, defense and ring smarts would lead him to a decision victory. thats true that joe hurt kess with a body shot, joes punching power imo is quite poor, so imagine what someone like hopkins would do. but i think that joe hits harder than we sometimes think and hopkins doesn't hit as hard as some ppl think. i still maintain that hopkins hs more pop tthough, but not as much as some people think, look at how he teed off kelly all night but still didn't manage to put him away. also is hopkins wants to fight on the inside he has to get on the inside first, if he tries that i see kess timing him with his right uppercut, if not i can see kess slipping off to the sides and looking for counters. his footwork is really good. i can't see hopkins taking away kess's jab - he bangs that drum often enough that people think he can do it to anything, did he take away joes workrate, did he take away taylors feints or combo's? hopkins is always well prepped and might take away kess's money punch (the right hand) but i can't see him taking the jab away from him.

A purposeful oxymoron by me. Kessler's highly regarded for a loss against a top fighter. Makes me think of how Judah was getting extra credit on here for having 4 solid rounds against Mayweather after that fight. He was still being highly touted and was supposed to be a shoe in to beat Cotto. I never understand that. If it was a four round fight then they would of done a good job :lol1: the problem is..........the fights were 12 rounders haha.

How can it be his biggest win when he lost :wtf: What you mean is why would Bhop want to fight someone who's level of competition isn't very good and when he did step up his competition (Calzaghe) he got decisively beat.... This is probably why the fight isn't happening. One reason why Kessler is a good fight for Bhop is Kessler holds the WBA supermiddleweight title, That would be a nice asset to add to his resume, that making him a three division champ. Other than that there are no more good reasons. A purposeful oxymoron by me. Kessler's highly regarded for a loss against a top fighter. Makes me think of how Judah was getting extra credit on here for having 4 solid rounds against Mayweather after that fight. He was still being highly touted and was supposed to be a shoe in to beat an inferior Cotto.

Will someone tell me, what's in it for BHop to take a guy who's biggest win is losing clearly to Calzaghe as his last fight? How can it be his biggest win when he lost :wtf: What you mean is why would Bhop want to fight someone who's level of competition isn't very good and when he did step up his competition (Calzaghe) he got decisively beat.... This is probably why the fight isn't happening. One reason why Kessler is a good fight for Bhop is Kessler holds the WBA supermiddleweight title, That would be a nice asset to add to his resume, that making him a three division champ. Other than that there are no more good reasons.

Will someone tell me, what's in it for BHop to take a guy who's biggest win is losing clearly to Calzaghe as his last fight?

lol anyone who thinks that mikkels and kelly's style similarity will mean that kess suffers a similar fate doesn't know what they're talking about. kess is so far ahead of pavlik in terms of defense, offense, power, speed, technique heck just about every category you can name!! as for kess vs b-hop, the fight wont happen simply because is too much of a risk and not enough reward. but if they were to fight i think kess would be the biggest puncher that hopkins has been in the ring with. at first i though to nyself that kess is simply too damn good and will win the fight by late KO. but the more i think abou the more i realize its not that simple. kess is a very economical puncher hes not like taylor or calzaghe who fight at high pace and managed to wear down b-hop with the high tempo. so now im thinking t myslef maybe kess will get outmsarted, maybe he will lose to someone who is just too damn crafty. but heres how i see kes winning - the jab. i think its that simple i think kess would win simpy by tagging b-hop more often with his jab and b-hop wouldn't have a response to it. heres how i see the fight playing out: ROUNDS 1-3 - both fighters come out looking to establish the jab, b-hop adpots the same tactic that he did with pavlik and tries to avoid the right hand but kess's quicker footwork means its not that simple. kess's better speed factor means he gets off a few more jabs, at the same time his textbook style mean that b-hops straight right counter isn't always there. ROUNDS 5 - 8 - b-hop starts to get the fight on the inside, he has some success here with hitting on the blindside, and sneaky shots here and there, kess looks roughed up, he wants a boxing match up. his corner tell kess to use his quicker footwork and avoid b-hops clinches, if he does clinch then kess uses his own superior strength to wrestle back. ROUNDS 9 - 12 - b-hops clinches and inside wrestling looked to be working but kess's own stength on wrestling has left the older men slightly more fatigued. if he goes on the inside now he'll be wasting even mmore energy, kess outboxes him from the outside, againlike the first fw rounds b-hop does land a few good sharp counters but not enough to hurt kess. overall kess's aggresion, jab and strength on the inside will win him this fight. it wouldn';t be a clean fight but one that he wins 115-113. Hopkins would take away Kessler's jab like he did with Pavlik and Wright. Calzaghe was able to overwhelm Kessler on the inside and even hurt him with a body shot, Hopkins is a better inside fighter and hits harder. Hopkins footwork, counter punching, defense and ring smarts would lead him to a decision victory.

Kessler is heartless once he's figured out. Hopkins ftw.

lol anyone who thinks that mikkels and kelly's style similarity will mean that kess suffers a similar fate doesn't know what they're talking about. kess is so far ahead of pavlik in terms of defense, offense, power, speed, technique heck just about every category you can name!! as for kess vs b-hop, the fight wont happen simply because is too much of a risk and not enough reward. but if they were to fight i think kess would be the biggest puncher that hopkins has been in the ring with. at first i though to nyself that kess is simply too damn good and will win the fight by late KO. but the more i think abou the more i realize its not that simple. kess is a very economical puncher hes not like taylor or calzaghe who fight at high pace and managed to wear down b-hop with the high tempo. so now im thinking t myslef maybe kess will get outmsarted, maybe he will lose to someone who is just too damn crafty. but heres how i see kes winning - the jab. i think its that simple i think kess would win simpy by tagging b-hop more often with his jab and b-hop wouldn't have a response to it. heres how i see the fight playing out: ROUNDS 1-3 - both fighters come out looking to establish the jab, b-hop adpots the same tactic that he did with pavlik and tries to avoid the right hand but kess's quicker footwork means its not that simple. kess's better speed factor means he gets off a few more jabs, at the same time his textbook style mean that b-hops straight right counter isn't always there. ROUNDS 5 - 8 - b-hop starts to get the fight on the inside, he has some success here with hitting on the blindside, and sneaky shots here and there, kess looks roughed up, he wants a boxing match up. his corner tell kess to use his quicker footwork and avoid b-hops clinches, if he does clinch then kess uses his own superior strength to wrestle back. ROUNDS 9 - 12 - b-hops clinches and inside wrestling looked to be working but kess's own stength on wrestling has left the older men slightly more fatigued. if he goes on the inside now he'll be wasting even mmore energy, kess outboxes him from the outside, againlike the first fw rounds b-hop does land a few good sharp counters but not enough to hurt kess. overall kess's aggresion, jab and strength on the inside will win him this fight. it wouldn';t be a clean fight but one that he wins 115-113.