Can Pavlik finally put an end on Hopkins’ career?

That’s probably the question on every boxing fan’s mind coming to this huge fight on Saturday. At 43, Bernard ”the Executioner” Hopkins just keeps on coming back and Pavlik wants to finally put an end to what has been one of the most amazing runs in boxing history.

Besides, being the undefeated middleweight champion that he is, Kelly ”the Ghost” Pavlik definitely has the tools to end Hopkins’ stint inside the squared circle. Pavlik has continued to make quite a splash since beating Jermain Taylor for the middleweight belt and beating one of the modern legends in the business will further add into what is becoming quite an impressive boxing resume.

”Our game plan is to make him have to throw at least 65 punches a round,” Kelly Pavlik said from his home in Youngstown, Ohio. ”He never really averages that at all, but if he’s going to have any chance of winning it’s going to be his only choice.”

”I just go out and keep winning the rounds. If a knockout comes, great, especially against Hopkins, but our main goal is to go in there and win that fight.”

”Hopkins has a good chin and a good defense. A lot of fighters, they get into Hopkins’s game, and that’s…”

Well, what’s left of it anyway. And yes, he’ll try to salvage what’s left of his aging career when he meets the undefeated middleweight king.

Future Hall-of-Famer and once a two-division world champion, Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins will meet undefeated world middleweight champion Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik on October 18 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall in what is shaping up to be a good one, to say the least.

Hopkins, known as the one of the greatest middleweights of all time, has a 48-5-1 record with 32 wins coming from knockouts. He has held the world title as a middleweight and light heavyweight every year since 1995. Now over 40, he’s trying to rekindle the greatness he once had against Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik. Can he overcome and shock the world?

Dating back in 2006, Hopkins moved from middleweight to light heavyweight and quickly made some noise by beating Antonio Tarver. He continued his domination of the squared circle by winning a 170-pound bout against then title contender Winky Wright. But after losing his title to Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor, Hopkins’ descend from the top began.

Although he lost again in his last bout as a light heavyweight, losing to Joe Calzaghe a few months ago, he is still determined to be on top of the sport again. Beating a world champion like Pavlik could do that.

In order to beat Pavlik, Hopkins needs two things…

In case you haven’t heard, yes, Pavlik and Hopkins are on this October.

The reigning middleweight champion of the world, Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik, is set to go one on one with Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins on October 18 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in what could be the fight that will definie just how good of a champion Pavlik is.

Still undefeated at a perfect 34-0, Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik moved up in weight to face Hopkins for the 170-pound titular showdown. Pavlik has been compared to an express train as he continues to awe boxing fans with his stellar performances courtesy of his supreme aggressive ring style, jaw-breaking punches and almost 90 percent knock-out ratio.

Of course, he already did something Hopkins failed at, TWICE, that’s beating Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor to keep the middleweight title. So how can a champion like this guy beat up a 43-year-old man? Hmm…

For Kelly Pavlik to win this match, Pavlik must take advantage of his speed and quickness being the younger fighter. Hopkins is a slick veteran with a bunch of boxing tricks in his bag, that’s why Pavlik shouldn’t try to brawl with Hopkins but instead, be patient and wait for openings Hopkins just might give up. Pavlik has one way to fight, defense with straight-forward throwing punches.

When he is in range, he lets the big ones fly. He should not change that, that’s the style that catapulted him to the upper echelons of…

Can the Executioner slay a Ghost?

That’s probably the mindset promoters of this Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins vs Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik extravaganza are in. Hopkins, even at the late stages of his career, is still one of the best in the game right now but when he’s matched up against an undefeated Ghost like Pavlik, you have to ask yourself, how in the hell can you execute a freakin’ ghost?

And when you’re talking about the world middleweight champion Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik, trying to slay THE Ghost is more of an impossibility. After all, he is not the undisputed king of the middleweight division for nothing and after surprising the world by beating then champ, Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor, Kelly Pavlik has arrived with a bang and by the looks of it, he’s here for the long haul.

STILL, if there’s one guy who can shock the world, it’s Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins. There are not many boxers who can claim they can stay on top of the game at 40. B-Hop has.

Hopkins is 43 for crying out loud people and he can still bitch-slap Manny Pacquiao faster than Pacquiao can eat duck fetus. When Hopkins’ mother, Shirley Hopkins, passed away in 2003…

That should be the mindset Mr. Bad Intentions should be in this Saturday.

Because the last time Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor met Kelly Pavlik inside the squared circle, Taylor’s career changed in a blink of an eye. He he… Who knew Pavlik will come back strong to shock the world after being dominated by Taylor in the first two rounds of their first meeting?

Jermain Taylor, then defending his middleweight championship title for the fifth time in Atlantic City, New Jersey last September 29, knocked Kelly Pavlik down in the second round. He knocked Pavlik down so bad that the referee ALMOST stopped the fight right then and there.

Thankfully, referee Steve Smoger didn’t. Kelly Pavlik survived and all of a sudden, Taylor just couldn’t follow up on his round two knockout blow. Hell, Mr. Bad Intentions couldn’t even land another clean shot.

”There was a minute, 45 [seconds] left in that round when I went down and there wasn’t another knockdown,” Kelly Pavlik said. ”And then not only couldn’t he stop me but he wasn’t able to really knock me down…”

Probably because Taylor is just itching to have his revenge after Pavlik knocked the daylights out of him the last time they met.

It’s on in Las Vegas on February 16 when Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor looks to reclaim the very title he lost to now World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion of the world, Kelly Pavlik. It’s a rematch Taylor was probably looking for after losing his title. Let’s hope he doesn’t get his ass knocked down this time.

The date was September 29, 2007, when a virtual unknown named Kelly Pavlik shocked the world by coming up with a 7th round knockout over Jermain Taylor to become the new WBC middleweight world champion.

Now that everybody knows the name Kelly Pavlik, boxing fans are probably eager to see whether Pavlik’s win over Taylor was just a mere fluke or not.

WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has a perfect 32-0 record, 29 by way of knock out. Pavlik can bang with both hands and his classic right cross is an equalizer in almost every encounter. The best thing about Kelly Pavlik is that when he is on, he sets up his attack with hard left jabs and the combinations flow off of the basic maneuver.

Often creating opportunities for his right cross, letting him able to…

Apparently, the 41-year old executioner has given up on the Middleweight title.

Yup, after getting his ass knocked down to the canvass for the second straight time, ”The Executioner” Bernard Hopkins has given up on his Middleweight title belt he held for so long, a title belt he relinquished to Jermain Taylor.

So what did B-Hop do? He moved up weight classes to challenge Antonio Tarver for his Light Heavyweight Championship. Jeez… How stupid can this 41-year old man get?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE B-Hop fan. Heck, I can’t stop fighting as him in one of them Fight Night games where I beat the crap out of that fagot, Manny Pacquiao.

BUT, c’mon Bernard, you’re 41 years old and facing an opponent a couple of weight classes above you is just not smart. And then you go on by saying that this will be your last fight. Jeez… Do you wanna walk out of the game as a retarded black man with his brains bashed-in inside his goddamn skull?

Oh yeah, Antonio Tarver is not just any fighter, he beat that guy dubbed as the best pound – for – pound fighter in the world, Roy Jones Jr., AND he also destroyed…

The fantasy football world was pretty disaffected by the whole Daunte Culpepper injury. All that time spent waiting for the guy to play like last season was getting rather old. However, it’s still a little strange to start trumpeting Brad Johnson as a possible roster replacement to make up for the Culpepper loss. But that’s what Fort Worth Star-Telegram fantasy writer David Thomas is telling owners to do. It’s a half-hearted suggestion at best, but he still said this:

"One thing to watch for is whether Johnson develops a favorite receiver. Moss topped 1,300 yards in six of his seven years with the Vikings. This year, the Vikings don?t have a player on pace for 1,000 yards, so they have lacked a go-to fantasy player. Owners of Nate Burleson, Marcus Robinson, Travis Taylor, Travis Williamson and tight end Jermaine Wiggins should begin hoping now that Johnson takes a liking to their guy."

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· Jermain Taylor upsets reigning middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins in split decision and lets the world know [...]

What can we say about this Jermain Taylor v. Bernard Hopkins battle tomorrow night? Even though Hopkins, the lovable, meth-mouth looking crazy man has inexplicably become the "people’s champ"– to homeless people that live in cardboard boxes and see imaginary clowns running around their neighborhoods, that is–there’s a lot of action being thrown at the underdog Taylor. The squirrely Canucks at Covers reveal that the sharps love Taylor as the +154 dog, factoring in Hopkins age(40) and Taylor’s up-and-coming-status as a big-time fighter in the 160 lb. middleweight division.