Boxing Result: Bernard Hopkins Turns Back The Clock To School Kelly Pavlik
© Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions
Bernard Hopkins continues to defy the restrictions of time that mere mortals in the boxing world are subject to as the 43 year old former World Middleweight Champion took current WBC/WBO Middleweight titlist Kelly Pavlik back to the woodshed last night for an old school boxing lesson at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in a 170 lb weight limit non-title affair.
26 year old Pavlik came into the bout having twice defeated Jermain Taylor, the man who ended Hopkins’ ten year reign as middleweight champion in 2005, and held advantages in height, reach and punching power but by the time the twelfth and final round had come to a close, none of that had ever come close to becoming a factor in the fight.
Hopkins put on a breathtaking performance through all twelve rounds, utilizing superb footwork to maintain distance when he wanted it and shooting forward to attack Pavlik when the Ohio man was out of position.
Whenever Pavlik got close on his own attacks, Hopkins largely negated the effort through upper body movement, clinching or some of the best counterpunching seen in quite some time. Mostly, Pavlik was kept off balance, prevented from mounting any sustained offense and thoroughly frustrated by the wily old coyote from Philadelphia.
Hopkins displayed remarkable handspeed, reflexes, punch selection and defense and that coupled with the ring smarts picked up over the course of 26 world title bouts proved to be just too high of a hurtle for Pavlik to surmount.
The middleweight champion did manage to close distance during the middle rounds and started to get to Hopkins but the old master simply upped his work rate and hammered Pavlik with bracing shots, taking away whatever initiative the younger man had managed to achieve.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the fight that Hopkins mounted was that he never ran out of steam despite being made to move constantly by the oncoming Pavlik and throwing a lot of power shots. Each man lost a point during the course of the bout, Pavlik for rabbit punching and Hopkins for holding.
There were a few times when Pavlik looked shaken but to his credit, he never lost his composure or allowed Hopkins to run over him, showing a good chin and a big heart in that he never stopped coming forward and trying to win the fight.
In sweeping the scorecards via marks of 119-106, 118-108 and 117-109, Hopkins improves his career record 49-5-1 (32) while Pavlik loses for the first time to fall to 34-1 (30).
On the undercard, WBO Super Feather Champ Steven Luevano, 36-1-1 (15), posted a unanimous decision over Australia’s Billy Dib, 21-1 (11), on scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 after twelve rounds.
In a WBC Middleweight title eliminator, big punching Marco Antonio Rubio, 43-4-1 (37), won a 116-112, 115-113, 113-115 split decision against sharp boxing opponent Enrique Ornelas, 28-5 (18), after a twelve round slugfest.
Light middle Yuri Foreman, 26-0 (8), won a wide ten round points decision over Vinroy Barrett, 22-7 (11), and super middle prospect Daniel Jacobs, 11-0 (10), knocked out Tyrone Watson, 7-2 (3), in the first with a left hand to the body.
