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#1
06-08-2006, 01:17 PM
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Tarver/Hopkins 6/10
SB.com:
Tarver -260 Hopkins +200 11.5 Rounds Over: -210 Under:+170 First off let me say what a stupid match-up for both fighters. Why is Tarver fighting a middleweight who is 41 and has lost his last 2 fights and why is Hopkins going up 2 classes to fight the best in the division? Better match-ups out ther for both fighters, but here we go I think the Tarver/Hopkins fight is going to be very similar to the Hopkins/DeLaHoya fight. Hopkins had established himself the best MW and Oscar was supposed to be the fighter who was going to bring the fans and money to the fight. Oscar was considered a dangerous opponet for Hopkins because he had good power and was a very good boxer to boot. Hopkins has spent the most of his career at 160 and Oscar was making the journey north in weight. When in the ring together, Oscar had his moments early on, but then the bigger the more experienced fighter in that weight took controll in the middle rounds and eventually ended this fight, proving a challenger who moves up to fight the stallworth at that division is getting in over his head. So in the Tarver/Hopkins fight, Hopkins is following Oscar's footsteps exactly. Ok he is a big MW and had room to add weight and Hopkins' frame could add a few pounds. So adding the weight will not be a huge problem for Bernard. The negatives surronding Tarver is that he needs to cut weight from his filiming in the next Rocky movie. Reports were that Tarver was in the 220 lb range, so he would need to lose 40-45 pounds to make the LHW weight limit. A lot harder said then done. Tarver is a BIG LHW, he walks around at 200 pounds and usually goes into the ring at 190-195. Tarver bulked up a while ago and that was just for the movie, as soon as the movie was over he was getting to fight weight, so I don't considered Tarver's weight lost to be a big concern. Hopkins will weigh-in light at around 172-173 (maybe even lower) and will enter the ring at right around that weight. This will be about a 15-17 weight advantage Tarver will have on Hopkins once the opening bell rings. Tarver is a good LHW fighter and for some reason an underrated P4P fighter. He was once rated at the best p4p fighter before his lost to a tough Glen Johnson, after that fight he lost a lot of respect/ground on the p4p list (which doesn't make sense because Johnson proved he is a legit fighter). Now Tarver seems underrated by the boxing experts. Every lose on his record he has redeemed. Tarver is a slick southpaw who uses his jab very well and throws good combinations (to the body as well). Tarver also has a good body attack that his trainer, Buddy McGirt, institutes to break down opponets. Hopkins is now 41 and stated this is his last fight ever (we will see, if its a close fight that goes to Tarver, I could see Hopkins wanting revenge ala Jermain Taylor). I have watched Hopkins' last 6 fights and he has really started to show his age in the last few fights. Hopkins boxing style has always been about defensive against an opponets major offensive weapons and then using his size to bully smaller opponet into situations where Hopkins can capitalize with his short crisp punches. Also Hopkins loves to work the body to break down the smaller fighters so that they are weakened in the later rounds and that is when BIG BAD BERNARD comes out of his shell and does his top work. The only problem with Hopkins' style in this fight is that he is not the bigger fighter and in fact he is going to be the much smaller fighter. If Hopkins had a fight with a guy with this size difference at MW, Hopkins would be salivating at physically dominating this opponet, well I see Tarver looking at Bernrd Hopkins in this light. I see Tarver pressuring Hopkins from the opening bell wanting to show who is that bigger and better fighter and who is going to be in command for the next 36 minutes (if it last that long). Tarver will look to use his jab to corner Hopkins where Tarver will work the body to slow the slicker fighter down. Tarver will also mix a few big money power shots, because if they connet, he wants to show Hopkins what kind of power he is in against and this might make Hopkins all the more cautious. Of course the longer the fight goes the better Hopkins will have at winning because that is when the MW champ comes alive, but I see Tarver not running scared of Bernard, like SO many of Hopkins MW opponets has. This pressure will open up Hopkin's offense early in the fight. Many people see this fight as a slow and boring fight, but I think the opposite might be true. Given that it is about 95% guarenteed that it is Hopkins last fight he will fight early in the fight instead of waiting to pick his moments. The only problem Bernard can not getting into a 12 round back and fourth with Tarver and expect to win. I see Tarver winning a most likly a close (116-112) UD because a great champion like Hopkins does not want to be stopped in his last fight for the first time ever. But it wouldn't surprise me if there was a late round stoppage from the ref or Hopkin's corner. ON A SIDE NOTE: Tarver made a $250,00 bet that he (Tarver) would KO Hopkins inside of 9 rounds. Hopkins accepted the bet. He is telling everyone he has a "feeling" he is going to KO Hopkins and as strange as it sounds, he did say the same thing about KOing Roy Jones Jr. in their second bout and he KO'ed RJJ after RJJ had never been KO'ed before in his entire career. So I got to put a little faith in Tarver when he say he can and will KO Hopkins. I would stay away from the O/U of 11.5 Enjoy the Fight Tuds 
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#4
06-08-2006, 01:50 PM
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Re: Tarver/Hopkins 6/10
Eh, other thread wasn't much of a writeup. Thanks Tuds, I appreciate the time you spent to do that.
I'm taking Tarver and the under, but I think both edges are small. Jesse
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#5
06-08-2006, 06:19 PM
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Re: Tarver/Hopkins 6/10
I think the other thread was one of the best threads we've had on these boards in a long time.
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#6
06-08-2006, 06:38 PM
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Re: Tarver/Hopkins 6/10
[ QUOTE ]
Eh, other thread wasn't much of a writeup. Thanks Tuds, I appreciate the time you spent to do that. I'm taking Tarver and the under, but I think both edges are small. Jesse [/ QUOTE ] Hey you can't just come in here and talk trash about my writeup! I thought I did a decent job! Tuds, do you know anything about Cotto's opponent, Maliggnnaggi? Wondered what you thought about that fight.
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