Kelly Pavlik vs Bernard Hopkins

A 43-year-old fighter whom many expected to fade over twelve rounds threw more punches than his 26-year-old opponent and won by margins of eight, ten and thirteen points. Bernard Hopkins gave Kelly Pavlik his first professional defeat at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on October 18, 2008, taking a unanimous decision in a non-title contest made at 170 pounds. Pavlik, the unbeaten middleweight champion from Youngstown, had entered with 34 wins and 30 knockouts. Hopkins, coming off a points loss to Joe Calzaghe, was widely regarded as the underdog.

Pavlik had won the middleweight title by stopping Jermain Taylor and had beaten him again in a return contest. His straight jab and right hand had carried him through both fights, and a substantial contingent from Youngstown supported him at Boardwalk Hall. Hopkins had held the middleweight championship for more than a decade, but his recent bouts had often been slow affairs in which he fought in short spells and tied opponents up. This time he began briskly. In the first round he jabbed, went to the body and landed a left hook, then moved away as Pavlik tried to press. Pavlik connected with a right, but could not keep Hopkins in front of him.

Hopkins established the pattern more firmly in the second. Pavlik followed him, looking to set the jab before throwing his right, while Hopkins stepped in with the cleaner punches and left before Pavlik could answer. A left uppercut cut the skin beneath Pavlik’s right eye, and a hard right shook him during the round. Hopkins continued to score with combinations in the third. Pavlik held at times and appeared reluctant to commit himself after taking Hopkins’s counters. In the fourth, he landed a body punch, but his jab still failed to secure the distance he needed. Hopkins moved to Pavlik’s right, away from the line of the straight right hand, and met him with short punches when he tried to close.

Pavlik showed more activity in the fifth, a closer round in which both men exchanged flurries and Hopkins held when they came together. It brought no lasting change. In the sixth, Hopkins landed another hard right, then tied Pavlik up after exchanges at close quarters. Pavlik continued forward but seldom put his punches together. The seventh was a particularly strong round for Hopkins: he landed rights followed by lefts, moved when Pavlik pursued him, and resumed punching as soon as he had room. Pavlik took the blows without going down, though his efforts to reach Hopkins were becoming slower and less effective.

Hopkins’s combinations again troubled Pavlik in the eighth. Referee Benjy Esteves Jr. deducted a point from Pavlik for hitting behind the head. Hopkins lost a point himself in the ninth for repeated holding, after Pavlik had managed some scoring punches amid the clinches. By then Pavlik’s corner was attending to cuts and a persistent nosebleed. Hopkins remained the fresher-looking man through the tenth. Pavlik brought him to a corner and landed a right hand, but could not follow it with an attack that altered the fight. Hopkins answered when Pavlik advanced and continued to find openings to the head and body.

Pavlik worked through the eleventh and made Hopkins hold, but he was far behind and had little success in forcing a sustained exchange. Hopkins finished strongly rather than merely protecting his lead. He caught Pavlik with combinations in the twelfth and hurt him without putting him down. Pavlik remained on his feet to the bell, his face marked by the punishment he had taken. There had been no knockdowns in the contest.

Alan Rubenstein scored it 119–106, Steve Weisfeld 118–108 and Barbara Perez 117–109, all for Hopkins. The point deductions were included in those totals. The figures for punches landed also reflected the difference between activity and effect: Hopkins landed 172 of 530 thrown, against 108 of 463 for Pavlik, with a 148–55 advantage in power punches. Pavlik had kept advancing, but Hopkins repeatedly struck first, changed position and denied him the settled target on which his jab and right hand depended. Pavlik retained his middleweight title, which had not been at stake, but left Atlantic City with his unbeaten record ended.

I thought Pavlik was the obvious favourite going in. He’d stopped Jermain Taylor to win the middleweight title, beaten him again, and built a following in Youngstown by walking men down behind a solid jab and heavy right hand. Hopkins was 43 and had just lost to Calzaghe. Most of us expected him to have good spells, then slow down. He never did.

Hopkins saw exactly how Pavlik set up his work. He moved to his right, made the jab fall short, and denied Pavlik the position for that straight right. Then he stepped in with quick punches of his own. When Pavlik finally got close, Hopkins held him or turned him. Kelly kept coming, but following a man is no use if you cannot make him stand still.

I won’t blame the weight or a bad night for a defeat that clear. Pavlik had heart and took the punches, but he had no answer when his usual jab-right hand pattern failed. Hopkins was the quicker thinker and, remarkably, the busier fighter. At 119–106, 118–108 and 117–109, the judges were right. It was the best I’d seen Hopkins box in years.