By Scott Gilfoid: Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) confirmed that he’ll be back in the ring on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Hopkins’ opponent is expected to be WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (25-0, 12 KO’s), who has been itching to get Hopkins in the ring for the past year now and it looks like he’s finally got his wish.
Hopkins said on his twitter today “March 9, 2013 Barclay Center. I will break my record and become light heavyweight champ at 48.”
I hate to say it but Hopkins is going to smack Cleverly around the ring all night long. I just hope Cleverly’s trainer has a a towel handy to toss in the ring to signal surrender before it gets too bad.
Cleverly has never been in the ring with anyone remotely as talented as Hopkins and we’re going to see a lot fighter out there on March 9th. Cleverly took a beating against Tony Bellew on the inside, so how is going to be able to deal with an expert inside fighter like Hopkins?
Hopkins will be turning 48 on January 15th, so it’s going to be really impressive to see the man schooling a fighter 23 years younger than him in 25-year-old Cleverly. Hopkins is almost twice his age, but when they get in the ring it’s going to be like a parent teaching a child. It’s going to be brutal watching Hopkins show Cleverly how to fight on the inside the proper way.
Cleverly looked horrible last night in arm punching his way to an 8th round stoppage of Shawn Hawk at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight was televised on Showtime in the United States, so a lot of American boxing fans got to see Cleverly fight for the first time. Cleverly really couldn’t do much with Hawk until he changed his game and started working inside on him by throwing a lot of body shots. Cleverly can’t beat Hopkins fighting on the outside because Cleverly is too slow.
Hopkins is about to turn 48, but he’s still got faster hands than Cleverly. But it’s going to be real interesting when Cleverly tries to fight Hopkins on the inside. The inside is Hopkins’ game and Cleverly is going to be lost if and when he tries to get in close with Hopkins.
Cleverly is going to be forced to fight on the inside anyway because that’s how Hopkins likes to fight. He’s a lot like Andre Ward in that respect. You may start out thinking you can fight Hopkins and Ward on the outside, but they both are excellent cutting off the ring and forcing the fight in close where they’re unbeatable.
Comments are closed.