Hopkins v. Kessler

[Nobuhiro Sugoi]

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

[Pugilistic™]

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 ****s 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.

[BattlingNelson]

Kessler would retire Hopkins.

[Tony628]

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.

[Pugilistic™]

Kessler would retire Hopkins.

If by retire you mean add another win to his resume then your right.

[Abstraction]

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

[-EX-]

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

[mrbigshot]

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

[jangeorg]

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

[tommy boo boxer]

man it looks like the same things are being said... Kessler will this Hopkins will that...



me... bhop 12 round split