The Legend Grows: Ringside Post-Fight Report Card

[Scott9945]

oh, and by the way, cliff rold is ridiculous. it was one thing for him to say andre berto was gonna stop steve forbes, even though forbes had never even been knocked down, in his career......but this guy took the cake when he said pavlik was gonna KO bernard hopkins. i couldn't believe a WRITER, would have the nerves to put that in print.....it's one thing for fans to say it, but a respected journalist should know better....

How come you didn't share your wisdom and criticize the writer BEFORE the fact?

[neovitae12]

oh, and by the way, cliff rold is ridiculous. it was one thing for him to say andre berto was gonna stop steve forbes, even though forbes had never even been knocked down, in his career......but this guy took the cake when he said pavlik was gonna KO bernard hopkins. i couldn't believe a WRITER, would have the nerves to put that in print.....it's one thing for fans to say it, but a respected journalist should know better....

As a matter of fact, Cliff Rold just happens to be one of the best boxing writers at present. I've often laughed at his predictions, only for them to turn out exactly as he said they would. Just because he missed on a couple calls doesn't make him ridiculous. I beg you to take a look at the dozens of other boxing writers that picked a pavlik UD and even a KO. Furthermore, you picked Mayorga over Mosely, and Cotto over Margarito. Should someone be calling you ridiculous?
Its one thing to ridicule someone's boxing predictions (in a sport where one lucky shot can prove everyone wrong) but to pretend you know more than an accomplished, often spot-on boxing journalist is absurd. If what you said didn't piss me off so bad, I wouldn't waste the precious few minutes to respond to your garbage of a post.

[Scott9945]

As a matter of fact, Cliff Rold just happens to be one of the best boxing writers at present. I've often laughed at his predictions, only for them to turn out exactly as he said they would. Just because he missed on a couple calls doesn't make him ridiculous. I beg you to take a look at the dozens of other boxing writers that picked a pavlik UD and even a KO. Furthermore, you picked Mayorga over Mosely, and Cotto over Margarito. Should someone be calling you ridiculous?
Its one thing to ridicule someone's boxing predictions (in a sport where one lucky shot can prove everyone wrong) but to pretend you know more than an accomplished, often spot-on boxing journalist is absurd. If what you said didn't piss me off so bad, I wouldn't waste the precious few minutes to respond to your garbage of a post.

Anyone picking boxing matches (or any other athletic contests) is going to be wrong (at least) several times a year. To take cheap shots like the previous poster after the fact is just plain chicken****.

[fightnews55]

Calzaghe will always be known as a slapper. He will never get the across the board respect of a real fighter like BHOP.

[them_apples]

I stayed up all night to watch this and then went straight to work after (being in the UK), but damn it was worth it. Hopkins is one of the best fighters I've ever seen in my life. At 43, he has no right to do what he did and I don't care if Pavlik was stepping up 10lbs. I just wish Hopkins was always this exciting to go with that ability. Regardless, I think this proved that for now at least, Pavlik is one dimensional even if freakishly powerful whilst Hopkins deserves a hall of fame all to himself.

On a side note, it makes me laugh to see people still slating Calzaghe after this Hopkins performance. JC has one up on BH, there's no getting away from it no matter how much you hate him. I also don't think it's fair to say Hopkins would kill Calzaghe in a rematch. Now I had the fight with Hopkins and Calzaghe as a draw, but I wouln't begrudge anyone who gave it to Calzaghe as I don't think Hopkins threw enough to win even if Calzaghe was slapping whilst Hopkins did more damage. For me JC is elite, Hopkins is legend, and it's still an even match at this stage of their careers - they're both awkward. But regardless, I'd rather see Hopkins Vs Jones Jr as a retirement fight for the both of them - I been waiting for that rematch for years!

Just a quick footnote, did anyone else think that maybe Hopkins played the nice guy in the pre-fight pressers to take a little bit of destruction out of Pavlik, perhaps making Pavlik less keen to try to hurt him initially? Didn't really need to after that schooling, but still...

Hopkins is legend.

Watch Calzaghe vs Hopkins again, I give Calzaghe credit for not getting dominated, but he did not win that fight....nothing landed of significance..little slaps that hit Hopkins back and shoulders don't count.

Zaghe will duck a rematch, and that is why I totally despise Calzaghe..he will never pick a fight that's to dangerous.

[crold1]

I want to meet the guy who never picked a fight wrong...then I want to take him to vegas.

[ListenUpWell]

you just said yourself, and i quote, "calzaghe was SLAPPING whilest HOPKINS DID MORE DAMAGE." that was pretty much the story of the fight....yea, for the record, calzaghe is 1 up on hopkins, but im not so sure about that in the court of public opinion........regardless, if hopkins fight jc as agressively as he went after pavlik last night, he will dominate calzaghe, just as he did to pavlik.

you may say you dont think hopkins threw enough to beat jc, but the punches he threw did more damage than the girly shots calzaghe was landing on hopkins's shoulders and arms.........i still today am amazed calzaghe got that decision, "because he threw more," regardless of the fact he got knocked down, and the other guy landed all the harder punches.

I still think it was a draw, and I'm not alone there (I believe many publications such as The Ring had it the same way, not that that matters). Hopkins did more damage, agreed, but only with a couple of shots. Calzaghe landed more (even though they were slappy), and for me boxing is all about hitting without getting hit. If it was about damage, boxers such as the Magic Man PM wouldn't have more than 5 wins 2 their name despite their talents. As for a rematch, Hopkins would beat near anyone fighting like that, but like I said before the Calzaghe match, that Welsh ****a is as awkward as they come. Hopkins would always find it awkward to fight him because other than the slaps he doesn't have a particular style, he changes half way through fights to accomodate what he's fighting (as you'll see when he's fought the few class fighters there are on his resume). And I don't think it's ever going to be an exciting fight therefore I'm rootin' for Roy Vs Bernard. Just my opinion.