A couple of notes and thoughts from last night:
-The arena was packed and the atmosphere was great. All weekend in Atlantic City everywhere you went you saw Pavlik and Youngstown /Ohio shirts. People were pumped and you could tell it was fight weekend.
-Most of the Pavlik fans looked and tended to act like UFC fans (not MMA fans).
-The Pavlik and "b-hug chants" were going on all night started with the undercard. The undercard was decently packed. I noticed a lot of people buying walk up tickets but I guess that's the advantage of having a fight right on the boardwalk.
-By round 4 a lot of the crowd had turned and by round 6 till the end huge B-hop chant had broken out.
-Anywhere you were in the arena you were surrounded by Pavlik fans. The guys behind me were particularly vulgar chanting a lot of trash out about Hopkins and even by round 7 saying that Pavlik was "laying a trap". By the end of the 6th and 7th round I saw Pavlik go back to his corner with his head down and shoulders down. From what I can see this always means a fighter is done. So I yelled out "pavlik is done" (of course I was correct). This really pissed off a lot of the Pavlik fans around me and they started screaming a lot of trash. It was a lot of fun.
-A group of Pavlik fans after the fight were yelling that hopkins "held" and "ran". The old ladies in front of me were pretty upset as they were cheering pavlik the whole time.
-A TON of Pavlik fans left by round 10. Including the clowns behind me. A lot of people stayed and seemed to suddenly be rooting for Hopkins. Tons of "B hop" "Executioner" and "overrated " chants.
-The undercard bored most of the fans in the audience but I though the action was pretty interesting.
-I got to talk to Larry Merchant and Stewart Ringside after the fight. Both were very nice. Merchant said to a few of us fans "I always though this was a possibility. But did I predict it? No. No one could have because despite the style difference no one knew how much Hopkins had in the tank."
Merchant also mentioned that he thought "This win makes the Joe Calzaghe fight more interesting. He should get credit for that win (I think he meant Joe). However I think his status will be blown out of proportion after this fight".
Stewart also made some similar comments also talking about how the fight played out.
I also got to give Merchant props for the Lennox Lewis interview after the Vitali fight. Funny enough he denied remembering doing it so I described it, to which Larry said "I'm too old, I forget everything". Larry is a funny guy, and it's hard to tell if he was messing with me or genuinely did not remember. Either way one of my favorite boxing interviews of all time.
As for the fight breakdown a few notes:
-Hopkins did not beat Pavlik with speed. He timed him. Pavlik gave a "tell" whenever jabbing (the bow and arrow with the right hand) that allowed him to counter with the right hand over the top all night. Pavlik had no answer for this at all. By the mid round Hopkins was able to tee off because he had broken Pavliks will and mentality by then.
-Hopkins was turning Pavlik all night. In fact at times he would hold and turn him. But Pavlik had no idea how to stop a guy turning him that severely.
-Hopkins also was bouncing off the corner ropes much as he did against Tito. He would get trapped near the corner, go off of the left rope, bounce against the right back to the left, and spin out of danger. Excellent stuff.
-Pavlik deserves credit for finishing that fight. He's a tough guy. That was a mental beating and an iron breaking of wills type fight. From my experience not the kind of fight that most fighters ever come back from 100 percent or even close to it. Bad idea to take this fight at this point in his resume.
-Roy Jones, Hopkins, Lampley were all very nice in person. It was a pleasure to meet them.
-There were a TON of hot chicks in the arena. It was unbelievable. A lot of people dressed in suit jackets and girls in ****tail dresses.
There's more but I'm exhausted from being up all night partying. Great fight. Great night. Props to both fighters.
-The arena was packed and the atmosphere was great. All weekend in Atlantic City everywhere you went you saw Pavlik and Youngstown /Ohio shirts. People were pumped and you could tell it was fight weekend.
-Most of the Pavlik fans looked and tended to act like UFC fans (not MMA fans).
-The Pavlik and "b-hug chants" were going on all night started with the undercard. The undercard was decently packed. I noticed a lot of people buying walk up tickets but I guess that's the advantage of having a fight right on the boardwalk.
-By round 4 a lot of the crowd had turned and by round 6 till the end huge B-hop chant had broken out.
-Anywhere you were in the arena you were surrounded by Pavlik fans. The guys behind me were particularly vulgar chanting a lot of trash out about Hopkins and even by round 7 saying that Pavlik was "laying a trap". By the end of the 6th and 7th round I saw Pavlik go back to his corner with his head down and shoulders down. From what I can see this always means a fighter is done. So I yelled out "pavlik is done" (of course I was correct). This really pissed off a lot of the Pavlik fans around me and they started screaming a lot of trash. It was a lot of fun.
-A group of Pavlik fans after the fight were yelling that hopkins "held" and "ran". The old ladies in front of me were pretty upset as they were cheering pavlik the whole time.
-A TON of Pavlik fans left by round 10. Including the clowns behind me. A lot of people stayed and seemed to suddenly be rooting for Hopkins. Tons of "B hop" "Executioner" and "overrated " chants.
-The undercard bored most of the fans in the audience but I though the action was pretty interesting.
-I got to talk to Larry Merchant and Stewart Ringside after the fight. Both were very nice. Merchant said to a few of us fans "I always though this was a possibility. But did I predict it? No. No one could have because despite the style difference no one knew how much Hopkins had in the tank."
Merchant also mentioned that he thought "This win makes the Joe Calzaghe fight more interesting. He should get credit for that win (I think he meant Joe). However I think his status will be blown out of proportion after this fight".
Stewart also made some similar comments also talking about how the fight played out.
I also got to give Merchant props for the Lennox Lewis interview after the Vitali fight. Funny enough he denied remembering doing it so I described it, to which Larry said "I'm too old, I forget everything". Larry is a funny guy, and it's hard to tell if he was messing with me or genuinely did not remember. Either way one of my favorite boxing interviews of all time.
As for the fight breakdown a few notes:
-Hopkins did not beat Pavlik with speed. He timed him. Pavlik gave a "tell" whenever jabbing (the bow and arrow with the right hand) that allowed him to counter with the right hand over the top all night. Pavlik had no answer for this at all. By the mid round Hopkins was able to tee off because he had broken Pavliks will and mentality by then.
-Hopkins was turning Pavlik all night. In fact at times he would hold and turn him. But Pavlik had no idea how to stop a guy turning him that severely.
-Hopkins also was bouncing off the corner ropes much as he did against Tito. He would get trapped near the corner, go off of the left rope, bounce against the right back to the left, and spin out of danger. Excellent stuff.
-Pavlik deserves credit for finishing that fight. He's a tough guy. That was a mental beating and an iron breaking of wills type fight. From my experience not the kind of fight that most fighters ever come back from 100 percent or even close to it. Bad idea to take this fight at this point in his resume.
-Roy Jones, Hopkins, Lampley were all very nice in person. It was a pleasure to meet them.
-There were a TON of hot chicks in the arena. It was unbelievable. A lot of people dressed in suit jackets and girls in ****tail dresses.
There's more but I'm exhausted from being up all night partying. Great fight. Great night. Props to both fighters.
Hatton?, where do you get that from?, just because i'm from the UK?.
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