Wright V Hopkins

[a87star]

Czar Amonsot was actually rushed to the hospital after the fight with a suspected blood clot on the brain.

[meade95]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Terrible job by the judges. Two of them had it 117-111 Hopkins, and the other guy had it 116-112. From a completely neutral standpoint, there is absoulutely no way that Bernard won 8-9 of the 12 rounds. I actually had it 6-5-1 for Winky, and the final punchstat numbers would substantiate that. A draw wasn't completely out of the question, but the lopsided scorecards in favor of "The Executioner" were in no way reflective of what actually transpired in the ring. A Hopkins-Calzaghe fight would be interesting, but I would have to give the edge to Joe at this point, regardless of the venue.

While I'll agree that the 117-111 scores were a bit too high in favor of Hopkins.....Winky did not win that fight...

And punch-stat numbers in and of themselves are meaningless (and only touted by the TV because it is an easy way to dumb-down boxing for the general public).

Punch-stat numbers have "some" meaning within context of the larger fight itself.....(power shots, RG, etc).

Hopkins won that fight last night - Not by a 117-111 score....but he won it by at least 2pts - 4pts (depending on if you wanted to call a round even).

[meade95]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Just a quick thought. The Michael Katsidis vs Czar Amonsot on the Hopkins-Wright undercard was the best fight of the night IMO. Katsidis, bleeding profusely throughout, rocked Amonsot on several occasions, putting him on the deck twice en route to a UD decision win. With the victory, Katsidis claims the WBO interim lightweight title, and, with power to spare, is one to watch in the 135 lb. division.

Agree - Very good fight - Prayers for Amonsot - And Katsidis will be tough for anyone to beat at 135...

[a87star]

Originally Posted by meade95

Prayers for Amonsot

Yeah I hope Amonsot has a speedy recovery and a full productive life outside the ring. He seems like a good guy and gave a truly game effort against Katsidis. It's been a bad year in regards to boxing injuries. Lito Sonorio suffering a fatal injury against a top notch Thai fighter in Chatchai Sasakul despite the fact he was suspended by the GAB in the Philippines (was also used as a tune-up fight for Pong) and Victor Burgos who suffered a blood clot on the brain after taking a beating against Vic Darchinyan. The prognosis on Burgos is good and from what i'm hearing he is walking around and speaking on his own which is great news considering the way he left the ring that night.

[Thunder]

Just saw the fight for the first time. What a mess.

I didn't disagree much with the Lederman scorecard. I don't know, I guess me and Winky are the only two people who think he's never lost a fight.
Given the scorecards it didn't matter, but what's point of warning a guy 77 times for rules infractions and not taking a point?

Kind of a blah fight, glad I saved the half a hundy.

[a87star]

Hopkins/B-Hop was not worthy of a PPV slot. I had it 7-5 for Hopkins but the fact he wasn't penalized once for all those clinches speaks volumes on how elite fighters get free passes from the referees in the sport.

[Syd Thrift]

I just saw it too and don't agree with Lederman at all. Neither fighter scored a lot, but I don't think I saw Wright actually damage Hopkins once. Yes, Hopkins did a lot of shoe-shining to Wright's guard, but he also hit him with some pretty hard blows when they went on the inside (and not just with his head either). It wasn't an exciting fight by any means, and I am sooooo glad I didn't pay for it, but using the criterion of who would have still been standing if the fight went 20 or 30 rounds, I give the fight to Hopkins easily.

That being said, I didn't see anything about this fight that makes me want to see Hopkins fight again. Blech.

[Syd Thrift]

dola,

Originally Posted by a87star

Hopkins/B-Hop was not worthy of a PPV slot. I had it 7-5 for Hopkins but the fact he wasn't penalized once for all those clinches speaks volumes on how elite fighters get free passes from the referees in the sport.

In fairness, I saw Wright tugging on Hopkins nearly as often as the other way around. I think this issue gets more coverage because Bird at one point told him he was one hold away from getting warned but never went through with his threat, but I personally prefer that to deducting a point from him for failing to touch the other guy's gloves in the final round, if you get my drift.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

dola,In fairness, I saw Wright tugging on Hopkins nearly as often as the other way around. I think this issue gets more coverage because Bird at one point told him he was one hold away from getting warned but never went through with his threat, but I personally prefer that to deducting a point from him for failing to touch the other guy's gloves in the final round, if you get my drift.

I agree Wright did his fair share of holding but Hopkins initiated most of it. B-Hop has turned into a safety first fighter (one punch and hold) and it's clear to see he's not as swift anymore but he still has a good punch. He'll be able to feast on old LHW's but he doesn't stand a chance against someone like Chad Dawson.

[mh2365]

I couldn't watch the replay or the Forrest fight last night ... tried a couple of times but yuck.

[franklin_1]

Originally Posted by mh2365

I couldn't watch the replay or the Forrest fight last night ... tried a couple of times but yuck.

I thought the Forrest fight was quite good actually, lots of action and he looked like he still has 3-5 good fights left in his tank.

[Jim_Kidd]

Vernon fought well. I agree, he should have some miles left on him. But I think he's around 35 or 36 years old now. So, he'd better hurry and get some bigger fights before it's too late. It's funny what a KO loss does. No one talks about his victories over a very good Shane Mosley, who's still very good. Everyone remembers his losses (although the second one was close) against Ricardo Mayorga.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by franklin_1

I thought the Forrest fight was quite good actually, lots of action and he looked like he still has 3-5 good fights left in his tank.

Maybe it was residual left over from the Hopkins replay .. I watched the first three rounds and turned it off. Could have been that I don't think it really mattered who won.

[a87star]

I think Forrest has more left in the tank than people think. The two years away from the sport (elbow and shoulder surgery) really saved some miles off his legs. Last night, he really looked like the guy that dominated Shane Mosley twice back in 2002. Should have three or four fights left before his skills start to go.

[erickdamac]

You know whats said, Hard loving boxing fans being turned off by what we suppose to love, Forrest performance was beautiful he did a better job the Floyd Mayweather IMO (We wont get into that lol ) But seriously dont let larry merchant or any ufc fight fan change what we are suppose to love about the sport and that the art, I thought ther cory spinks vs taylor fight was beautiful, Cory won the fight hands down imo I had it 116-112, but alot of people said It was boring this and that, sit back and listen to yourself, why cory didnt do this do that, he knew his ability knows what he can can't did and he made an extreamly talented fighter, fight a slow pace and look terrible.

But hey thats just me.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by a87star

I think Forrest has more left in the tank than people think. The two years away from the sport (elbow and shoulder surgery) really saved some miles off his legs. Last night, he really looked like the guy that dominated Shane Mosley twice back in 2002. Should have three or four fights left before his skills start to go.

Taking time off doesn't help save your legs ... fighting once a year doesn't help ODLH's legs he is still old and post prime

[mrchallenge]

Originally Posted by Thunder

I don't know, I guess me and Winky are the only two people who think he's never lost a fight.

Funny, I think Hopkins just handed Winky the first decisive loss of his career. I think the Vasquez fight could have been at least a draw and 3 of the knockdowns were bogus. The losses to Vargas and Simon were political and the Taylor fight was clearly in Wrights favour. The fight with hopkins was close but for the first time ever Winky truly got beat.

I personally don't know what the press has been bashing this fight. Its a fight between 2 of the best middleweights of the last 10 years. Its what I call a "legacy" fight, as it impacts the legacy of both fighters. I don't think anybody can criticize Hopkins for breaking his mothers promise. He's beaten both Tarver and Wright, who were ranked in the top 5 pound for pound by ring magazine going into the fights.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by mrchallenge

and the Taylor fight was clearly in Wrights favour.

Until Wright decided it was wise not to throw a punch the last two rounds.

[hamed]

Wow, this surprised me! We discussed how many people here would buy this fight & almost nobody said they would & we're some hard core boxing fans.

305,000 buy Hopkins-Wright!
HBOPPV today reported 305,000 PPV buys and $15.3 million of PPV revenue for the July 21 Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright light heavyweight fight. That figure represents the second-highest total this year for a PPV fight, behind only De La Hoya-Mayweather. "We are pleased with the PPV performance of Hopkins-Wright," said Mark Taffet of HBOPPV. "It performed well within the range of expectations. Most importantly, following Barrera-Marquez, De La Hoya-Mayweather and Cotto-Judah, the Hopkins-Wright fight continues the string of high profile boxing events which have resulted in HBOPPV being on a record-setting pace for 2007 amidst what has been a great resurgence for the sport of boxing as evidenced by the fights which have taken place or are scheduled to take place both live on HBO and on HBOPPV this year."
Wednesday, August 1 2007

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Until Wright decided it was wise not to throw a punch the last two rounds.

It's ok Mike, JT has bounced back nicely after his three-fight losing streak.