Tavoris Cloud vs. Bernard Hopkins - Saturday night chat/fight thread

[TitoFan]

Hopkins is near impossible to knock out, no matter how old he is. Also, he's a survivor and will resort to any tactics necessary to avoid a blowout. I hope I'm wrong, but a DQ wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Either way, expect an ugly fight.

I don't know. He was dropped a couple of times by Pascal, who is hardly a huge puncher. Could be a sign his chin is leaving him. We'll certainly find out against Cloud.

Cloud's best chance at a TKO is to fight smart. Hopkins will try to rough house him, clinch, maybe a subtle foul here and there, in short.... frustrate the man. Hopkins knows he can't win the youth, power, and endurance battle. If Cloud just starts looking for the knockout, we're almost guaranteed an ugly-ass fight.

[IamInuit]

Hopkins is near impossible to knock out, no matter how old he is. Also, he's a survivor and will resort to any tactics necessary to avoid a blowout. I hope I'm wrong, but a DQ wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Either way, expect an ugly fight.

I don't know. He was dropped a couple of times by Pascal, who is hardly a huge puncher. Could be a sign his chin is leaving him. We'll certainly find out against Cloud.

Cloud's best chance at a TKO is to fight smart. Hopkins will try to rough house him, clinch, maybe a subtle foul here and there, in short.... frustrate the man. Hopkins knows he can't win the youth, power, and endurance battle. If Cloud just starts looking for the knockout, we're almost guaranteed an ugly-ass fight.

That is a tall order

I just cant see him out boxing or out smarting Hopkins. Cloud only seems to fight one way. This could be the evening when father time really makes his presence known but IF Hopkins is even 50% it could prove to be a long tutorial for Mr. Cloud.

I agree with you on Hops chin. Its titanium and he's really only been dropped about three times his entire career cleanly and has never from what I've seen been hurt. I also agree that Hop knows every trick in the book and with Clouds style I think Hop will take advantage of where the ref is all night. Clouds only hope imo is to blow his wad over the first six rounds cause he wont win a battle of attrition. Problem for Cloud is that Hopkins knows this. The boxing establishment would consider Hop winning an upset. I wouldn't. I have this feeling that this may be Bernards fight even if he wins unless he's trying to break Moores longevity record.

[Master]

Love him or hate him, you have to admire Hopkins to fight at his age against top opposition is frankly amazing.

[Spicoli]

Pascal was a ring general compared to Cloud who wears his intention on his sleeve. He had tempo and set up on his shots. Cloud has one gear from what I've seen and its very primal...jump on his chest with those straight punches and pretend its only a 6 round fight. Cloud is stronger...he shouldn't think outside of that, and that alone.