On Espn.com Dan Rafael has reported that Richard Schaefer has initiated talks for a possible fight this fall. Could this be the perfect swan song for Hopkins?? If he's still got the stamina and the legs (big if) i think its a great look for Bernard.

The old man must be planning on fighting in Montreal...because if his hold up with Dawson was the money, Oh Canada is the only place that he can make it with Pascal.

Is this REALLY a shock to anyone? Dude, boxing has become so predictable, even Stevie Wonder can see what's going to happen 6 months in advance. I believe I was preaching this exact same scenario to Method just a few weeks back when were talking about Ol' Snaggletooth. Pascal has a much better style suited for Hopkins than Dawson ever did. Hopkins will make it look easy against a fighter who, for some reason, reminds me a lot of Jean Marc Mormeck. And then after he wins, he'll STILL be calling out David Haye.

If Hopkins beats Pascal - where does that put him on the P4P list?

I really want BHOP to just go away, his fights not what they use to be. This is getting out of control, how about a rematch with Dawson. It was a decent fight that can only be better new time around with Pascal trying to keep the title and prove it was not a fluke. Plus Dawson have to dig deep from the start, to prove his worth.

I dont know....um....when Froch beat Pascal where did that put Froch in the P4P list?

No-fuckin'-where.

Hopkins....great fighter and all that but just go the fuck away man.

Well, when Froch beat Pascal, Pascal wasn't coming off of a victory over Chad Dawson.

Gimme Hopkins by slow methodical 12 round UD.

I give Hopkins a good chance of winning this fight, even though he's in his mid 40's. Yeah we know Pascal is fast but he is also technically flawed. He can get hit with jabs, when he lunges foward he's off balance ,and he fights in spots. Moreover he has no jab with which to keep Hopkins out of range. So he just lies on the ropes, covering up, and waiting for his tank to refill for the next flurry. That's not going to get it done against Hopkins who knows how to outhustle guys on the indside.

this fight has a lot of possible scenarios....will pascal even feel he needs to exert himself as much earlier on vs bhop as he did vs younger SAD Chad Dawson?

Can Bhop push pascal enough for him to gas to the extent he was vs dawson?

Will pascal try to knock out the old man?

Will Bhop try to use rough house tactics on the road vs home town favor? They will DQ his a$$ i'm sure.

I think Bhop should come out early and jump on pascal. Get him excited so he can exert himself early and just weather the storm....by rd six bernard can pick him apart and possibly stop him if he's gas like he did vs dawson.

Pascal said wednesday he wanted to get bhop back for what he did to his idol roy. Pascal does not remind me of jones jr one damn bit either. Not sure why manny said that vs dawson.

Oh yeah cos Chad Dawson has always been a great fighter right?

His loss to the inferior Pascal was a massive upset because a few (insert however many you to) sucked up on his cock like he was something special.

OK.

Walk away mate.

Yeah if the fight happens it won't be the biggest surprise in the world but that doesn't mean it doesn't make it an intriguing prospect. I'm not convinced Hopkins will make it look EASY though. Even though Pascal isn't anything special, if Hopkins does beat the man who is currently now THE MAN at Light Heavy, at 45, in his final fight, i think that DOES send him higher up the P4P list.

I think anyone who fights Hopkins NOW is in a no win situation and that's as far as I'd take it.

Well, I never thought he was great -BUT- he was the top dog in the division.

Hopkins ALL DAY. That amateur style will get owned....Joe Lipsey style.

Oh, and Ex is top 3 P4P.

I think Hopkins beats him. Yeah he didn't look great against Roy but Pascal is not all that good anyway. And I don't necessarily see his style of lunging in with weak flurries working against B-Hop. If Pascar had any real speed I'd give him a shot but he doesn't. And he has no kind of style.

Hopkins may have a chance at a late stoppage here with the way Pascal gasses.

I am in the minority here, but I say Pascal wins a decision. I guess I just like what I see in Pascal at 175. I have no problem with people thinking Hops can win either, I just think Pascal can take Hopkins at this stage. I just do not think the old man will be able to keep up. If Hopkins does beat beat Pascal, he gets major props from me, which just is crazy at his age. Pascal is a good fighter, it's like he gets no credit for his skills. I also think this could be a very exciting fight.

^^^^^Well if there is any point to beat Hopkins it would be now. But I don't see Pascal as the guy who can do it.

He doesn't have too much speed, and he fights in spurts. Plays right into B-Hop's hands I think. Especially given his age.

If you wanna expose his age, you have to have a pretty good pace to force him to keep up, and you have to have pretty good speed.

But anythings possible. If Hopkins was to lose to this guy, I don't think he should consider fight anymore. Just for the simple fact that 2 years ago he would have smashed this guy.

i agree lil lights.... im not sure hopkins can keep up with a younger upper echelon fighter at this stage and pascal is for sure a level of fighter above what he was before he fought dawson... he's feeling himself... now with that said in a rematch id still favor dawson... i think dawson can change some things and avenge that loss vs pascal but at the same time pascal is a better fighter than what he was when he fought froch and better than what some are giving him credit for... i dont see hopkins being able to keep up with pascals activity rate... at this stage, if he can... he'd get all the praise from me and personally i think solidifies him as an all time great (i think he's knocking on the door of being one as it is but at this age beating a young lion which pascal is would be phenominal)...

I thought Hopkins looked pretty good defensively against Jones, and though I think Pascal might be faster and stronger at this stage than Jones, he still has a lot of things that Hopkins can use against him.

Firts of all, the danger for this 45 year old Hopkins is facing a guy with speed and stamina. As I said before, Hopkins is still pretty good so that he can nullify a guy's speed, using clinches and defense. As far as the stamina question goes, Pascal is no Calzaghe. Both Hopkins and Pascal fight in spots but the difference is Hopkins can work on the inside while Pascal can't.

even though I give Hopkins a very good chance of beating Pascal, if the fight takes place in Montreal, you can expect Hopkins's inside game to be limited by the ref and Pascal flashier punches to impress the judges.

As great a fighter as Hopkins has been I dont know if I could ever convince myself he still has enough left to beat Pascal. There is no comparison prime for prime but Hops is an old man now and Pascal is just coming off his biggest ever win. I'd be interested to see it no doubt.[code][/code]

Never count B-Hop out....Pascal looked good at times against Dawson but was nearly K.Oed in the end. Hopkins wasnt very impressive against Jones but I think he wanted to just do whatever he could to win the fight against Jones....I think to count Hopkins out against a guy like Pascal is a mistake....IF the fight happened zI think B-Hop abuses Pascal without question...that being said I dont think Pascal vs Hopkins will ever happen....neither will Hopkins vs Dawson.

If B-hop doesnt announce an opponent soon I feel he is retired and is satisfied with what he has done.

I'll go with a couple of my learned colleagues above and pick Pascal for the upset. I'm basing this purely on Bernard's age.

Against Jo(k)e Calzaghe he showed some signs that he can no longer can fight 12 tough rounds. Then he went and turned back the clock and dismantled Pavlik, but I thought some of his antics against Jones were straight up BITCH. That's not a word I would ever associate with Hopkins before, he's as tough as they come, but it showed to me that he is what he is, a 45 year old man.

Could Hopkins turn back time once more by beating up the limited Pascal? Sure, Nard's surprised me more than a few times in the past and he may do it again, but those signs against Roy were worrying. More than worrying, just plain strange.

Pascal by UD, (I'll be cheering for Hopkins though.)

Pascal runs into a right hand with that lunging amatuerish style... honestly dude landed some hard punches against dawson but he threw more than he landed and the crowd reaction won him at least 3-4 rounds where he actually did not land many clean shots. He is vulnerable and easy to hit... Hopkins is a very live dog for sure.

@ this point I don't think Pascal beating my would be an upset, I have no doubt that X could pull off a win & even shut Pascal down if he comes in busy & ready to fight! If he plays what he has the last 2 fights, looking for penalty points for low blows that didn't happen & punches behind the head that barely happened, he would lose no matter where the fight is! X is one of my favorite fighters of all time but he needs to bring it if he wants this fight or just retire as one of the best to ever lace 'em up! I don't think X has anything left to prove!

That's it right there. Pascal is fast but he makes a lot of mistakes. This guy is not Joe Calzaghe where he'll be pressing Hopkins for every minute of every round. Hell, he's not even Jermain Taylor who had a jab to keep Hopkins out of range. Call me crazy but even though Hopkins pulled out some "bitch" moves in the Jones fight, I didn't really see him get hit with many clean punches. His relfexes are still damn good so that he can avoid some of those lunging amateur Pascal shots.

If Hopkins wants to fight Pascal, you can rest assured that he'll beat Pascal. Whether or not he gets the nod on the scorecards is a different story, however, Hopkins WILL beat Pascal. Guaranteed!

Pascal has the style Bernard loves...but he is an athlete, and Hopkins is going to be 46.

That said, I have no interest in this. Come on HBO...no more Mosley...no more Hopkins...spend less on better fights with younger guys.

I much rather see a Pascal-Dawson rematch or a fight with Cloud. Hopkins needs to retire.

Hopkins all day.

Pascal gonna get Lipsey-fied.

Fucking over-musclebound cat can only fight for 30 seconds a round, and then he bike ridin. Ex is gonna clip Grape Ape as he come in w uppers just like he did Lipsey, and just like Chad did in the 11th.

Im glad Dawson lost, cuz I thought he had been overrated given what he had done (or failed to do impressively) up to that point, but I think he was en route to finishing Pascal in the last two stanzas despite accurately being down by three rounds at the time of the stoppage.

Dawson definitely fought a shitty fight for 10 rounds against Pascal but I'm not counting him out just yet. I think Dawson beats Pascal if they ever rematch. I hope he learned a valuable lesson from his last performance. I'm not shocked that Hopkins is jumping all over Pascal right now either. Pascal's style is suited well for Hopkins. I'll still pick Dawson over Hopkins and I think Hopkins knows that Dawson would pose a better challenge than Pascal.

Yup. All day long. Pascal's shit is wide ass loosey goosey and the motherfucker GASSES quick (as loosey goosey as CalSlappy was with not landing, at least he could bamboozle by missing for a complete 3 minutes of 12 rounds, when he wasnt being countered and walked into traps).

Pascal seems to me the boxing equivalent of an aspiring Olympic swimmer who solely trains by power-lifting. Muscle don't float, holmes, and you are a far fucking cry from a prime Roy Jones.

Hype we did loosely discuss weeks ago and you did mention. And I agree with your commentary after the aforementioned post I quoted above. Hopkins WILL beat Pascal, and I even think he won't get jobbed on the cards because he won't be as paralyzed as Chad was (for whatever reason). I think Chad had to have been fucking distracted with all the shit going on outside the ring. I mean, w that shady fucker James Prince, and falling out w his parents...I have no clue cuz I could really give fuck all, but it seems like Chad had a "somewhat mo' money mo' problems" issue...getting $30K from Prince to pay back $300K? Ill take that payout all day long. See, UNLIKE Pretty Boy Floyd, I could SEE where Chad would want to refuse to fight to make more money because it seemed EVERYONE had a piece of his ass - Prince got 10%, the trainer got 10%, someone else got something, and Chad was left w like 50% of whatever, and the good ol gov't takes 35% of that...so fuck it...let me shed the sand bags so this balloon can fly high.

...and now Chad suddenly BACK w Prince? He needed the fucking money and probably signed an even deadlier deal w the proverbial devil.'

But back to the lesson at hand...Hops gonna beat that cat Pascal. It's not gonna matter to me P4P at all, because I already consider him among the best, and this is what they are supposed to do. Judging Hopkins on the Roy fight is just like judging him off of Wink - always gonna be a bad styles thing. Ex was gonna get Jones' ass any which way, and if he hammed the rabbit punches up to make sure he had the ref/judges on point you can bet your ass that paranoid prison yard motherfucker was gonna make sure they didnt try to resurrect Roy one more time to make some more $ off of him w a win over Nard. I put nothing past Bernard - the dude used to run around the prison yard talking aloud to nobody just to make the crazy fuckers think he was an absolute nutjob. We all know that shit. Man, I saw that paranoid cat pulling crumpled money out of his sock to pay a tab at the Sport Cafe in Miami Beach after we watched Tarver/Jones I (after he's a millionaire a few times over) . BOXING IS THAT DUDE:S LIFESTYLE. That's ALL he knows. That dude takes NOTHING for granted. When you are rotten to the core like he was on the come up and you have that "by any means necessary" or "its either gonna be me or you and it aint gonna be me" mentality, you do whatever. Like DMX says, "When you starvin you eat whatever's there/C'mon/You know the code in the street/'Whatever's fair'".

I just hope this fucking fight gets made and I hope that Snags is another 5-1 dawg again so I can ring the register one last time on this slept on cat. I have never rang the register better as a gambler in boxing than I did on a Hopkins underdawg fight...Trinidad, Tarver, and ESPECIALLY Pavlik.

People have been bashing Hopkins on the age front SINCE HE WAS 36....BEFORE THE FUCKING MIDDLEWEIGHT UNIFICATION.

People just fed up throwing their hands up wanting to see him just go away is like asking for fucking chess to be uninvented and Bobby Fisher to have never been born.

I wanna see Ex get his ass kicked....retired in the ring...as his ending, because I guarandamntee IF it happens, you will see that motherfucker step up and be a man about it...for all his antics and hood rat shit....cat is a boxing artist...and I think that legacy eclipses the predated legacy of strong-armed mugger or thugs.

If Pascal is the man, please, once and for all, step up and whup this man's ass. I'll call for the retirement party. Fuck, I'll pay for fighthype to "ding dong the witch is dead" the shit...but have it be CONCLUSIVE.

When he gets Pascal take that overrated fucker Bute out or call out Haye again. HE beats Bute easy...Cloud easy...Johnson same way as he did....those three styles nothing fancy to solve. Cloud did nothing special against Johnson (yet he stands at the podium swolled up claiming to be the new Bernard Hopkins...hahahaha....when did you ever see Hopkins lumped up period, let alone at the podium proclaiming greatness beneath a sea of swollen flesh)... and Hopkins STILL owns Glenncoffe in sparring just like he did in their first fight. Ain't nothing changed - styles, boys...styles.

Haye wont fight Hopkins...Roy Jones bamboozling and making a fool of John Ruiz will forever prevent a guy like Hopkins moving up and getting a dope deal to fight Haye, as Haye has ZERO to gain and EVERYTHING TO LOSE fighting Hopkins. When Haye laughs off the Hopkins challenge, as he easily will be able to do - and get away with, Ex should either fight Bute or fight James Toney (cuz I'd pay $100 for a 6 month promo of that fight - combined w the actual fight itself).

Anyway, fuck you JD, for your stance. After all of the NY Jet shit being jammed down our throats. I mean...I would think you'd want to see an ass whupin too.

"Fighters don't retire from the ring...the ring retire fighters. When it looks like I cant do it no more, and I'm gettin my ass handed to me, I'll walk. How I'm gonna walk away from the ring when I'm still kickin everybody's ass...and I STILL can't get a fight. Listen to me - 'Fighter's don't retire from the ring. The ring retires fighters". - Bernard Hopkins in camp on video as he preps to turn Joppy into a bobble-head doll and some dipshit reporter asks him "when are you gonna retire...I dont wanna see you hurt".

I want to see it happen in the ring. Aint seen it yet. Fuck, man. Someone knock him the fuck down...better yet, rock his cagey fucking ass, and I might sway...but Naaz is right, Bernards got wraps, etc older than some of these young cats on the come up that are already derailing.

Whatever.

Let me go finish wack-ass Red Dead since JD enlightened me to the fact that the shitty game isnt over when it turns into "Little House on the Prairie" at the end and you stand over your parents grave.

Peace.

PS - Fitzie, no surprise, but P4P .gif...hottest shit since that sexy bitch in Sentral's sig/avvy.

Thanks man.

I think BHOP takes this one all day, as long as there is not a Joe Cortez type of ref in there. I'd like to see him beat Pascal and then step up and go after Haye for the icing on a great career. Hell, he could even fight Holyfield as a tuneup at HW.

Now if I'm Pascal, I find the biggest stadium in Canada and fight Bute for a ton of money and national supremacy.

LOL...I told you today...I blame no one for hating the Jets with all the hype. If I weren't a fan, I would root against these fuckers with a passion; but I am.

That said, man...I still don't want to see this fight.

That is the general consensus over at another boxing message board. People want to see him retire beacause his "fights are boring". I'm thinking "You're seeing a man who is 45 years ols, hanging in there with guys who are often more than 10 years younger than him (a feat not likely to be repeated anytime soon) and you want the fucker to retire?" Look at Chavez, Duran and other greats being physically shot or at least past it in their mid 30's, being beaten by ordinary fighters like Willy Wise, and then you see Hopkins easily beating young guns like Pavlik and Ornelas and you wonder how people cannot realize what an exceptional fighter he is. Never mind that when he beats Pascal people will be coming up with such gems like "Hopkins is a warrior" "I am amazed" and so on. After his stinkers with Taylor people were saying he was done and then when he beat Tarver they were all over his dick. Same thing after the Pavlik fight. Short term memory.

Might as well say, "I still don't wanna see Miles Davis play horn", or, "I don't feel like seeing B.B. King play guitar".

Boxing fans would prefer to see the supposed young lions like Tavaris fucking Cloud fight tooth and nail with a 40 year old gatekeeper (who, let's face it, as much as we ALL love him, was a perennial gatekeeper) in Glenn Johnson.

Dude, I'm all for crowning the younger lions as leaders of the boxing pride, but let them fucking earn that shit. They're being handed these HBO bullshit contracts, P4P status, and having these HBO buzz clips on future of the sport, and then they're ALL fucking derailing and falling off.

I wanna see some asses kicked OUT of the sport...If Bernard Hopkins was embarrassing himself...more importantly, if Bernard Hopkins was embarrassing the sport I love, believe me, I would be beating the drum to TAKE A FUCKING HIKE, but the dude is text book definition of ambassador boxer to the sport of boxing...not personality, not star power, the DLH faggy looks or hype machine bs...just talking about dedicated athlete/ambassador to the SPORT...no...fuck that, THE ART OF BOXING...being rhetorically asked of by hardcore boxing fans "I wish he would just beat it" "reitre already", etc. Man, hate the fucking Jermain Taylor's of the world, the Kelly Pavliks of the world, the Fernando Vargas' of the world, the Jeff Lacy's of the world...the guys that were crowned "heir apparents" APPARENTLY well before they were deserving of it, but were out riding motorcycles instead of training and staying disciplined (Taylor), playing darts in beer halls instead of being dedicated to the sport (Pavlik), lifting weights and being musclebound fucks (Jeff Lacy) instead of perfecting his craft, riding around in stretch limos with speed bags hanging from the roof instead in a gym hitting real speed bags (Vargas)..........while guys like Hopkins, at age 46, ain't even being HIT/HURT by legit punches, let alone KTFO...

The man has earned the right to be retired by the ring. I wanna see a motherfucker do it.

Yep. Most boxing fans are rubbish. They change after every fucking fight. Alexander-Bradley is a prime example.

Bradley beats Holt and people are saying how good he is and the best 140 fighter and how he would beat Alexander. Alexander beats Urango and we hear the same shit people were saying about Bradley, except now Alexander is the man now. People chop and change.

That said, I would have liked Hopkins to retire after Tarver, that didn't happen and I wanted him to retire after Pavlik. Hopkins has been remarkable and sometimes I think people under appreciate or don't realise how special he is for what he is doing at his age. Though I prefer to see him retire because I would like to see him go out on top. Then his fight with RJJ, that was nothing to be proud of. First off, he shouldn't have been proud for making the fight, and then the performance was nothing to be proud about either.
He also seems to be just hanging around and doesn't really have a real goal for himself. If he had someones head in mind and worked towards that, it would be different. But now, nobody has a fucking clue what he wants to do. Is it Haye? Pascal? Does he still want to win a title at heavyweight? He doesn't have anything set and is just hanging around.
But until then, nobody has forced him to retire like Naaz said. Young guys are supposed to force old guys into retirement and it isn't happening. I don't want Hopkins to retire because he was boring (I actually don't find him boring most of the times, because I appreciate what he does in the ring and love watching it). I prefer him to retire because he doesn't have a goal and he has nothing else to prove and it would be fitting for him to go out on top.

BH retired by someone???wont happen.. too preserved ... brain too good... reflexes still too good... while guys wasted their years face fighting Bh learned the art of defense and is making millions at 45.... LMAO a true master

Yeah, well if he never retires on his own and keeps fighting. It's inevitable for it to happen. I know how good it is that he has lasted as long as he has, but nobody is immortal.

I just hope he doesn't lose to some overrated hype job. If he loses may it be to a great fighter and not some mediocre talented kid.

My man, as Fitzie said (in conjunction w what Naazim said on the front page), eventually youth will ultimately prevail. As the saying goes, on a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone turns to ZERO.

Has not happened yet, and I have no problem with him jockeying for fights until he shows me a glimpse of what Holyfield showed us YEARS AGO - that he cant do it at an elite level anymore. I dont even give a fuck enough if Hopkins comes out and gets his assd kicked by a half assed Pascal in the Fall...if he does, I think it's definitely time to yield...but truth is, I see Hopkins being too complete a boxer for Pascal to win. Let Jean Pascal prove me fucking prove me wrong. But Im not gonna concede him the shit and just close my eyes and wish Ex away...not when all these other jokers on the come up are fucking nothing special.

C'mon, like Naaz said, "Some athletes are good, and then you have some that are 'special'". Man, when I first saw Roy Jones fight, I thought, fuck man, this cat is a different breed of boxing athlete. Im from Philly, and I had heard of Bernard before I actually saw him in the ring, and I saw him in the ring, before I knew who I was watching, and Im watching this Hagler-ripped, spartan-like mofo just savagely fucking this cat up with an inside game the likes of which I had never seen in my life, a relentlessness I aint seen since Hagler, and trust me, as a Philly sports fan, we're bridesmaids, hardly EVER brides, and when I found out this new found special boxer, a middleweight no less (my favorite division thanks to Hags) was local Bernard Hopkins, I was fucking amped, because the cat just looked like something I hadnt really seen. No over the top flash, but so fucking complete...and relentless. Finally a winner to back in this god forsaken sports town. Of course the motherfucker's style has morphed from reckless abandon executioner who would just out will motherfuckers, to what we have in the last few years - cold, calculated, methodical, cerebral Executioner, who could wear guys down just by making them think to much. Im telling you right fucking now, the style you see Bernard fight now is more a product of Bouie Fisher pleading with Hopkins in camps, and in between rounds to box and be smart, than it is a product of Hopkins age. Go to the tape. Watch the second Echols fight. Listen to Fisher. The tape don't lie. Its all right there. I goes back that far (probably farther). "Be smart. You dont need to be so reckless son. You can make this a lot easier on yourself than you are. You have the tools to win easy. You don't have to make it this hard". Shit along those lines. The commentators went to Bouie during the fight and asked him on camera what he told his fighter and he repeats it. This is all Bouie. Naaz is the man. I love him. This shit was Bouie. And Bernard knows it.

Let the ring retire his old stubborn ass.

I think his goal truly was David Haye. I think Roy Jones spoiled any of those types of fights from happening, ONLY in so far as he beat that pathetic joker Ruiz, and served as the example that its a lot easier for plodding heavies to take on plodding heavies and make that paper, than to have a guy put on 20 lbs of muscle (EASY TO DO), and just outbox a plodder. In no way am I comparing Haye to Ruiz, but face it, Hopkins has a shot in ANY fight not headliend by a CLITchko, but Haye has NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING to GAIN and EVERYTHING to LOSE by fighting Hopkins. Haye knows it, and, JUST AS MUCH, GOLDEN BOY and SCHAEFER know it, and we have Jones/Ruiz as a blue print to thank for it. They can ring the register like a motherfucker on Haye a few more times over in Europe. They ain't gona give Hopkins a retirement check like that and let him ride off into the sunset while a potential cash cow lay potentially slayed. Haye would be the deserved favorite, but what does he gain? Ruiz needed Jones. Plus King had Ruiz. King WANTED Jones. Haye don't need Hopkins for shit. Hopkins should fight Pascal, Bute, Cloud and Toney. Try for Haye, but dont hold your breath.

To see Dawson fighting Pascal, and they pull up the rankings at 175, and they have Hopkins ranked behind all these guys (what, was it like 5???)...Im like, "What? They have all these jokers ahead of Hopkins now based on fucking what? These guys had yet to beat anyone yet....apparently, decisive rematch wins over 40+ guys like Glenn Johnson and Antonio Tarver (Dawson), and even more washed Glenn Johnson who you tooth and nailed with (Cloud), and this fucking glass jawed Bute...gets you ranked over a guy that SCHOOLED Tarver the first time out. SCHOOLED Glenn Johnson for every second 0of every minute of all 11 rounds before the ref just euthanize Gentleman Glenn...Im spade calling here, man, you dont throw the man in the grave w Roy Jones. If the same type of shit goes down in the next outing, or if this cat half steps it and its obvious and apparent...I'll be the first to call it. But No fucking way as a so called boxing enthusiast would I be so fucking careless to just be like, "I wish this cat would just be gone", so I can see Tavaris Cloud? Wonder whether Chad Dawson will show up? Wonder if Bute's chin will hold up? Fuck that. I wanna see somebody reitre this man. I prefer it to be a superior, special athlete, but if its some half-stepper, then it only means Hopkins needs to yield to age....but if he's losing disputed decisions based on the preferred style of a judge (rather than the unified rules), then keep it coming.

As an aside Im throwing FMJ in there w the special athletes. I give it up to him after his performance vs Shane. He dug the fuck in, stood his ground, and BROUGHT it. I have a lot of respect for that performance, not so much cuz I thought the world of Shane at that age, but for how Mayweather stood in the pocket and just owned it. That's how special fighters earn that moniker. Manny Paq is something too, but he's not on the level, in my humble opinion, as the Jones', Hopkins' Mayweathers. Just not as complete....but every bit (AND MORESO) the star, and SERIOUSLY NOT that far behind in skills.

Great fucking post. Especially the bolded part.

Also have the same view as you on Mayweather's performance against Shane. Sure Shane was older, but that was one of the toughest and gutsiest versions I seen of him. I respected it, because to me, Shane is one of the physically strongest fighters p4p in recent times.

Except as Miles Davis and BB got older they didn't become shells of what they were, nor did they preclude other artists from performing because of dates and limited money on networks. Sure, the skill level is the same with Ex, but the physical side ain't...which makes his fights not as entertaining as they once were.

Pascal - Cloud will be more entertaining...but even better...how about HBO not waste their money on the light heavyweight division. It isn't interesting, there aren't many fights to be made, and the fighters in the division aren't worth the dates and the loot. Take a page out of Showtime's book with the Bantams or spend more money on making a Junior Welter tourney...Pascal - Hopkins is more of the same from HBO...a lot of money on a fight that will not be entertaining, and will have no impact on the future of the division, because if Hopkins wins, he will do what he has every right to do and that is hang back and chill...if Pascal wins, it will still leave the same fights ahead of him.

This has nothing to do with hate for Hopkins...I am not hating on Hopkins at all, I have always been a fan, which is why I want him to just ride off, his greatness remains unquestioned...it is about hate directed toward HBO for doing the same shit that does not work, IF they spend money on this thing.

I think Pascal would out-hustle Bernard and win a clear victory.

Not a way I wanna see Bernard go out...

If there's a way for snags to go out... fight Valuev. Make it a huge production and get the man a payday.

I dont see that happening unless Valuev can get his sweaty hairy paws on a belt. Surely theres a bigger payday somewhere than a non title heavyweight fight. Pascal or Bute I reckon is the way to go

It aint about a belt.

They could make a PPV with Khan-Maidana featuring the freak show between Bernard and Valuev.

As long as it's marketed correctly, it'll sell to the general public.

The Pascal and Bute fights are not PPV here in America. They wouldn't sell good so Hopkins purse would be tied directly to the license fee which ain't topping 3 million these days.

Fighting Valuev is the boxing equivalent of fighting George "The Animal" Steele (on steroids).

Snags be better of fighting Steele than losing to Pascal at this point in his career.

No way Hopkins beats Jean.

Then let him fight Jean, get his ass kicked or get the loss. Either of those two happen, he will NOT get another fight EVEN if he wants one, so it wont matter. I'd rather see it in the ring. I just don't see that fucking guy beating Hopkins with such a weak ass style, that he can only employ for 30 seconds of a 3 minute round ANYWAY. You'll know without a doubt what Hopkins has left when he fights a guy like Pascal.