Bernard Hopkins-Kelly Pavlik: Curtain Call or Encore Performance?

Has the old dog finally run out of new tricks? That is the question that will be answered when Bernard Hopkins faces Kelly Pavlik in a light heavyweight bout.

Hopkins lost his last fight against Joe Calzaghe, and is 2-3 in his last five fights. However, as his career seems to finally be winding down, “The Executioner” is looking end it on the right track.

Hopkins doesn’t have a lot going for him in this fight. He is 17 years older than Pavlik, and about two inches shorter. Not only that, Pavlik defeated Jermain Taylor (who has defeated Hopkins twice) for the middleweight title. With that established, fights are more about matchups than anything.

Roy Jones Jr. defeated Hopkins back in 1993, who in turn lost twice to Antonio Tarver, who himself was defeated by Hopkins. See how that came full circle? Hopkins also posted an impressive win against Winky Wright, post the Taylor fights.

As for his three losses, the Hopkins-Taylor fights were a lot closer than the judges scorecards showed. To this day, there are still arguments as to who won that fight. This is also true for his fight against Joe Calzaghe. Although Calzaghe was more active in that fight, and Hopkins held a lot, at no point was he in real trouble.

Kelly Pavlik is poised to dominate the middleweight division for a long time. He has youth, power, size, and fundamentals, which is a dangerous combination no matter how you slice it. He is a fighter with a perfect record that has only went the distance four times.

But Pavlik has another thing coming if he thinks he can breeze through this fight. At age 43, Bernard Hopkins is still one of the most well conditioned athletes in the world.

He has tons of experience, and has never been stopped. Through his experience, he has learned all the nuances to keep himself in the fight and frustrate his opponent.

If Pavlik wants to win this fight, he will have to do the same things that brought him this far, which is work the jab, and stay patient. Hopkins will use dirty tactics to try to rattle him, but Pavlik will have to stay on his game plan, or else, the wily vet could pull off a surprise.