Pavlik vs. Hopkins: Not What The Fans Want To See

[ufirst]

hype??????

why do guys keep mentioning "ending the hype" of Kelly Pavlik? Do people think he's over-hyped? He's stopped most guys he fought, and knocked out the (over-hyped) champ to win his title. True, he doesn't have dazzling footwork or blinding hand speed but he does box well, can take a shot and punches even better. I think his hype, if anyone's, is well deserved. I actually think Bernard, with all due respect for his caginess, is in real trouble for this fight. Kelly's work rate and punching can and will probably lead to Hopkins getting dropped for the first time in a long time...

[SlimTim]

Hopkins admittedly loses power fighting at 170 as opposed to 175 where he can still crack. Look for that to be a key factor as I don't believe he can get Pavlik's respect as he did Tarver and Calzaghe's. Pavlik will hurt Bernard to the body by the sixth and stop him between rounds 8 and 11.

[Reggie Miller]

pavlik/abraham is what i wanted to see.
pavlik could've become the undisputed middleweight champion.

[deanrw]

I was kinda upset at pavlik for taking this nonsense fight but after reading that, it actually makes sense. Hopkins is just a stay-busy fight for pavlik which just goes to show how much pavlik is willing to put it all on the line by fighting a guy like hopkins just to stay active. although they don't mention why they overlooked sturm, other than that, a fight with hopkins makes sense now after that explanation.

Sturm will never happen. He is cozy hiding away with his belt. He will never risk it against Pavlik or Abraham.

[Dambala]

I respect B-Hop but he doesn't deserve this fight and I hate catch-weights, more when one of the fighters is a champion. I understand that Pavlik(Top Rank to be honest) wants to improve his marketing appeal, but people would like to see him fighting Abraham, Calzaghe, Kessler or Sturm but besides Calzaghe they're no names.

[Randall_Hopkirk]

Sturm will never happen. He is cozy hiding away with his belt. He will never risk it against Pavlik or Abraham.

I've stopped taking Sturm seriously as a "world champion".

[Jim Jeffries]

I don't see how Pavlik can move up to 170 and be effective against a 185 lb or so FN Hopkins, then move back down to 160 and not be weight drained against a top fighter like Abraham, which needs to happen.

[Cabannaro]

I think that Hopkins is a tougher fight than ring-rusty Wright, welterweight Williams or anyone else available to Pavlik.

'Tougher' doesn't necessary mean 'more interesting'... Not interested at all with all that B-Hops spoiling tactics

[FLY TY]

how does hopkins not DESERVE this fight? hopkins deserves any fight he chooses, the question is whether this was a SMART move on his part. face it, calzaghe and jones are already set to face each other, and from what i heard WINKY AND PW priced themselves out of the fight. AA is not well known enough, especially for a PPV fight, which is obviously what pavlik wants.....so who's left?

face it, this might nit be the slugfest everyone wants it to be, this (according to the article) is not the fight the fans want to see.......but its the fight you're getting.

either watch or dont.