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Guys...Hopkins is a physical marvel and a legend and all that, but be honest with yourselves; given the level of opposition, Bhop did not look great tonight.
Rust was certainly part of it, but was anyone else surprised by how often Ornelas was able to land? And while styles make fights, is it not telling that Ornelas did a heck of a lot better against Bhop than Pavlik did? Wouldn't you expect Bhop to do much better than he did tonite against a non-top ten middleweight?
I expected Bhop to totally outclass this guy after he shook off what little rust he might have(since Hops is always in the gym and probably sparring often anyways). But in reality Ornelas was fairly competitive, especially early.
I also expected Hopkins to stop his man, and why wouldn't I? This is the lowest ranked guy Hopkins has fought in ages, and he was fighting in front of a home town crowd. Granted he would naturally want some rounds(this is a tune up afterall), but the character of the fight suggests that Hopkins wasn't simply carrying Ornelas to get rounds. He just wasn't confident enough to try and up the pressure until the last round...and even then Ornelas survived.
I think the clock is ticking FAST for Hopkins now, and that the Versus commentary was overt cheer-leading. Bhop is definitely starting to look his age. Hopefully it was just ring rust, but I'm not so sure.
Rust was certainly part of it, but was anyone else surprised by how often Ornelas was able to land? And while styles make fights, is it not telling that Ornelas did a heck of a lot better against Bhop than Pavlik did? Wouldn't you expect Bhop to do much better than he did tonite against a non-top ten middleweight?
I expected Bhop to totally outclass this guy after he shook off what little rust he might have(since Hops is always in the gym and probably sparring often anyways). But in reality Ornelas was fairly competitive, especially early.
I also expected Hopkins to stop his man, and why wouldn't I? This is the lowest ranked guy Hopkins has fought in ages, and he was fighting in front of a home town crowd. Granted he would naturally want some rounds(this is a tune up afterall), but the character of the fight suggests that Hopkins wasn't simply carrying Ornelas to get rounds. He just wasn't confident enough to try and up the pressure until the last round...and even then Ornelas survived.
I think the clock is ticking FAST for Hopkins now, and that the Versus commentary was overt cheer-leading. Bhop is definitely starting to look his age. Hopefully it was just ring rust, but I'm not so sure.