Hopkins vs. Cloud: Bernard to find out how much he has left on March 9th

By Boxing News - 02/28/2013 - Comments

hopkins22232By Eric Thomas: 48-years-old is awfully old for someone to still be fighting in the sport of boxing, especially someone still fighting on a high level. Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) will find out if he’s got enough youth left to beat IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KO’s) on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

As good as Hopkins has been during his 25-year professional career, he’s not won a fight in two years, and he’s not looked good.

In his last win over Jean Pascal in May, 2011, Hopkins was very impressive, getting the better of the younger Pascal with combinations, and using movement and inside fighting to dominate the fight in winning a 12 round decision.

Since then, Hopkins has had two poor efforts against Chad Dawson, fighting to a 2nd round no-contest in October 2011 in a fight where Dawson picked Hopkins up and dropped him on the canvas in a move that hurt Hopkins’s left shoulder causing the fight to be halted. Hopkins then came back six months later and lost a 12 round majority decision to Dawson in the rematch.

Cloud is a much different type of fighter than Dawson is, so there’s a chance that Hopkins can win this fight because Cloud is someone that’s easier for Hopkins to understand and figure out. Dawson was so defensive that he really never let Hopkins do the things that he likes to do in the ring.

Cloud is an old school type of fighter that just comes after his opponents and tries to outwork them over 12 rounds. He wins, but he rarely dominates anyone. Cloud has been fighting once a year since 2011, and he’s coming off of a controversial 12 round split decision win over Gabriel Campillo last year in February.

Hopkins is going to have a real fight on his hands with Cloud, and he’s going to have to find a way to either match his high punch out-put or smother him so that he’s not able to throw quite so many punches as he’s accustomed to doing.



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