By Gilbert Manzano
No one knows the middleweight division better than boxing legend Bernard Hopkins, the former ruler at 160 pounds.
Hopkins won his first middleweight title in 1995 and went on to dominate the division for the next decade by making 20 consecutive title defenses and becoming an undisputed champion.
The fighter known as “The Executioner” is predicting Saturday’s unification bout between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas will go down in middleweight history.
“It’s going to be a historic making fight,” Hopkins said in an interview with BoxingScene.com. “I think it’s going to be a fight people are going to talk about in the middleweight division, which is a long history of great fights, for a long time.”
Hopkins said Alvarez-Jacobs reminds him of his battle with Oscar De La Hoya when all the four major belts were on the line in 2004 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Hopkins’ vicious body shot knockout of De La Hoya in the ninth round made him the first undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Hopkins is hoping De La Hoya comes out on the winning end Saturday night. The former foes are now business partners with Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes the Mexican superstar Alvarez.
“Reminds me of me and Oscar,” Hopkins said. “I’m hoping it’s a different outcome because we’re behind our fighter Canelo. This is 100 percent a 50-50 fight. Canelo must come with his game plan and Jacobs has to come with is.”
Many boxing fans agree with Hopkins that it will be a competitive fight, but the oddsmakers in Las Vegas don’t see it that way. Jacobs is a plus 350 underdog and Alvarez is a minus 450 favorite, according to the odds at Westgate SuperBook.
Jacobs, the IBF champion, and Alvarez, the WBC/WBA beltholder, have a common opponent in Gennady Golovkin. Jacobs gave Golovkin all he could handle in a unanimous decision loss in 2017. Alvarez fought Golovkin twice, a majority decision victory last year and a controversial split draw in 2017.
“Daniel Jacobs is a puncher boxer, not a one punch, not that, I’m talking three, four punches,” Hopkins said. “If he can get them in on the target, no matter where, he can do some damage (against Alvarez). He has all the fundamentals together.”
