HOPKINS TAKES ON MAN 17 YEARS YOUNGER!
Hopkins (left) Dawson (right)
New York, NY – 2011‘s stacked boxing schedule of intrigue continues this weekend as 46-year-old “Hall of Fame” bound WBC light heavyweight (175) champion Bernard ‘the Executioner” Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) attempts to defend his crown against former belt holder “Bad” Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Saturday at 9 PM ET on HBO PPV.
SAME OL’, SAME…OLD?
In his most recent affair, Bernard Hopkins became the oldest man in the history of “athletic” sports (sans golf) to win a championship by systematically dethroning former light heavyweight (175 lbs) belt holder Jean Pascal in a rematch of their original controversial scrap (Draw 12). Before establishing such accolade, for the better part of the past 23 years, Hopkins has been calling out the biggest names in the sport while most of the time defiantly kicking their ass in the process. The boxing world took notice of the bombastic talents of Hopkins when he displayed a masterpiece performance against Felix Trinidad (W KO 12).
LIST OF GUYS ‘NARD BEAT LOOKS IMPRESSIVE
After his artistic beat down over Trinidad, Bernard’s take no prisoners back alley brawling style had allowed him to go “toe-to-toe” with (and whip) world elite combatants such as Oscar De La Hoya (W KO 9), Antonio Tarver (W UD 12), Winky Wright (W UD 12), Kelly Pavlik (W UD 12), and Roy Jones (W UD 12) with relative ease. On the contrary, as seen in performances where he had elected to fight in spurts against the likes of Joe Calzaghe (L SD 12), Jermain Taylor (L SD 12, L UD 12), and Roy Jones (L UD 12, in their first fight); Bernard has a tendency to become complaisant, over analyze his foe, and get out hustled. Coming into Saturday’s contest, Hopkins has eight wins against four losses and one draw in his last 13 bouts (1 KO).
Dawson (left)
CHAD’S GOOD BUT HE NEEDS TO GET BAD
Possessing a difficult to deal with southpaw style, Chad Dawson lit up the light heavyweight ranks and broke into top contention. Dawson then responded to the challenges of competing at the highest level of the game in impressive fashion by defeating admirable foes such as Eric Harding (W UD 12), Tomasz Adamek (W UD 12), Glen Johnson (W UD 12, twice), and Antonio Tarver (W UD 12, twice). Having walked away from such insurmountable tasks unsaved, Chad showed that he was human in a controversial losing effort against Jean Pascal (L TD 11). Postmortem; in a lackluster performance, Dawson out boxed formidable tough guy Adrian Diaconu (W UD 12).
SIZING ‘EM UP & PREDICTION
In consideration of Bernard’s experience, knowledge, athleticism, attitude, determination, and accomplishments, one would figure this should be a “no brainer” and history in the future will favor for the “old man”. However (as mentioned earlier), Hopkins can at times perform listless and flat. Luckily for Bernard that on those occasions where he seemed “off”, he wasn’t facing young power punchers or the type of fighters that can “pull the trigger” when they “smell blood” and “go for the kill”. Make no mistake, I’m not comparing Dawson to the type of assassin that a prime Mike Tyson was; by all means he is not. But Chad is young, powerful, hungry, and eager to redeem himself from previous disappointments in the ring. While strength isn’t everything in the ring (especially when facing such an adversary as Bernard who most believe enjoys the better crafted boxing ability than Dawson); I feel that raw youthful strength is Chad’s only serious chance at a win here. However having said that, and in consideration of Dawson’s “younger” attributes, I feel Chad isn’t bad enough and doesn’t have the mettle to get the job done. I got Hopkins frustrating and pounding the hell of this kid. (W KO 7) for the Executioner.
Malignaggi (left)
DECENT UNDER CARD UNDERNEATH
Entertaining scrapper Antonio DeMarco (25-1-1, 18 KOs) meets former strap carrier Jorge Linares (31-1, 20 KOs) for the vacant WBC lightweight (135) title in a scheduled 10 rounder.
In a “crossroads” type affair “up and coming” light welterweight (140) Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs) squares off against savvy former titlest Kendall Holt (27-4, 15 KOs) in a proposed 12 round showdown.
One time jr. welterweight (140) kingpin Paulie Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs) continues his come back quest for grandeur against rugged Mexican combatant Orlando Lora (28-1-1, 19 KOs) in a slated 10 frame stanza.
John Signorella