By Tim Kudgis: Day after day I have been trying to figure out why I am so against this fight. At first, I thought to myself “Am I against this fight for my own selfish reasons?” This idea was brought on by the fact that Bernard Hopkins is my all time favorite and he is set to face my current favorite fighter, Kelly Pavlik.
After a lot of debating with myself, I realized that I am not being selfish for myself, but I am being selfish for boxing. Kelly Pavlik should be fighting Paul Williams. This would have been another Pavlik showcase, but this time against a World-Class Fighter. The Pavlik/Williams fight would have helped the buildup for Pavlik vs Abraham or Calzaghe. Bernard could then fight a send-off fight against Trinadad—a fight that everyone may not want to see, but could be a perfect send off for an All Time Great. Using this situation, HBO could have provided one hell of a doubleheader.
A lot of people are questioning “Is this fight good for boxing?” The answer is simple, No!
Breaking the outcomes down will show you the ill effect that this fight could have. Pavlik winning this fight would have critics complaining that he defeated a completely diminished legend. Pavlik losing this fight will cause critics to proclaim that he is extremely overrated because he lost to this fading legend. What if Hopkins wins this fight? He retires with a big win, and does not allow Pavlik to avenge what would be the only lose of his career, thus, completely vaporizing the chance of a potential mega-fight between Kelly Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe.
Now if Hopkins loses he will have no where to turn after losing two fights in a row, which knowing him will force him to fight another fight against a nobody to go out on top.
Let’s recap: Does this fight make for Kelly Pavlik? No! Bernard Hopkins? No! The fans? No! The only people it makes sense for is the promoters. They are going to try to make this a “passing of the torch fight?” There is no way you can justify calling this a passing of the torch. The torch of Bernard Hopkins was already passed to Kelly Pavlik after he defeated Jermaine Taylor twice. Due to the fact Taylor “defeated” Hopkins twice a few years before.
Bottom line, Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya are looking to put together a big money bout. Time can only tell the effect that this fight will have on the sport of boxing. Though, I can almost promise that it will not be a good one.
This article also appears on The Mushroom Mag:
http://www.eatthemushroom.com/mag