Hopkins V. Pavlick

Okay, let me start by saying I am a Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins fan. He has handled his business with grit and style, and always puts on an amazing fight. That being said, I think he has bitten off more than he can chew in facing the wrecking machine that is Kelly Pavlick. Pavlick is is on a mission to not only become Number One, but to systematically and totally destroy everyone in his path (funny, though, we said the same thing about Joe Calzaghe. Granted, he is moving up in weight to face Hopkins, but I don't see how Bernard, at 41, is going to win, much less keep his string of "never-been-knocked-out" fights intact.

There was an interesting article on Sports Illustrated about the fight. The article says:

...one of three things could happen in another non-title fight [for Pavlick] against a legend who's almost 44 years old: 1) Pavlik loses and becomes a completely unmarketable guy with a belt, 2) Pavlik wins a Calzaghe-like decision which proves that, in his prime, he's still only as good as Bernard, who is past his prime, 3) Pavlik dominates Bernard, which the public will not see as a testimony to how good he is, but rather just as proof that it is definitely time for Bernard to stop boxing.

For the record, I'm picking Pavlick in eight....but I'm cheering for Hopkins.