Bernard Hopkins vs. Tavoris Cloud
On Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, Bernard Hopkins who is 48 years old will try to become the oldest man to ever win a world title. The previous record holder also happens to be Hopkins. The man standing in his way is the undefeated Tavoris Cloud, who is 17 years younger than Hopkins. This fight will pit age and wisdom against youth and athleticism.
Hopkins has one of the highest boxing IQ's of all-time and has on many occasions schooled younger fighters, so Cloud needs to be sharp if he wants to keep his title. But Hopkins could be ripe for the picking. In his last four fights he has fought Jean Pascal twice and Chad Dawson twice going a combined 1-1-1 with one no contest. That no contest came in his first fight against Dawson, when Hopkins got tossed over, suffered a knee injury, and could not continue. His next fight against Dawson he was easily outpointed, although one judge scored it even. Hopkins fights are usually ugly and hard to score, but most viewers had Dawson winning easily. Also in that fight Hopkins appeared as if he didn't want to be in the ring. Still no opponent can ever be overconfident in the ring against Hopkins. His career record 52-6-2 with 32 knockouts, and he is without a doubt a future hall of famer. But with his career dwindling, Cloud could capatalize and earn his the biggest victory of his young career.
Cloud isn't as seasoned as the elder statesman Hopkins, but his power and athleticism should prove to be a big advantage in this fight. His record is 24-0 with 19 knockouts meaning he has won by knockout in 79% of his fights, one of the highest percentages in the sport. However his record isn't as impressive when you look at his opposition. He has only fought three top tier fighters, those fighters being; Glen Johnson, Yusaf Mack, and Gabriel Campillo. But if he were to beat Hopkins big money fights would surely be in his future.
Hopkins will try to make this a typical "Hopkins" fight, ugly! He will try to tie up Cloud whenever he takes the fight to the inside, and for his part, Cloud will be throwing bombs, trying to knock Hopkins out. The reason Hopkins may have looked so bad against Dawson is because Dawson like to control fights with his jab, move around the ring, and not take alot of punishment. Cloud is a different beast. He always comes forward, tries to land power shots, and has little regard for defense. But if he changes his gameplan up a little bit and moves around the ring better than usual this could be a long night for Hopkins.
PREDICTION: Tavoris Cloud gets the biggest win of his career by majority decision.
Keith Thurman vs. Jan Zaveck
The appetizer for the main event is a tantalizing one. It will be a welterweight title eliminator between the ultra powerful Keith Thurman and the tough foreigner Jan Zaveck. Casual fans might not be very aware of either fighter, but they should be. Thurman is an up and coming powerhouse, and Zaveck is a gutsy veteran. This fight will be won by Thurman's power or Zaveck's chin.
This will be Thurman's third fight on HBO and his first 12 round fight. When he fought for the first time on the network fans were furious that such an unproven prospect was getting such a big spotlight, but he proved worthy and by the second time he fought on HBO fans were ready to watch. He is still somewhat of an unknown entity. His record is impressive at 19-0 with an out of this world 18 knockouts, a 90% knockout rate, but he has only fought to legit foes; Carlos Quintana and to a lesser extent Orlando Lora. But that may be due to the fact that his power is so prolific that many top boxers are avoiding him. The scariest thing about Thurman is that he boxing skills are improving with every fight. If his skills continue to sharpen he could be on his way to superstardom. Zaveck will never be a superstar but he does come into the ring with something to prove.
Zaveck has only had one fight in the U.S. and that came in a blowout defeat to Andre Berto, where Zaveck's corner stopped the fight to protect their fighter. Most of his other fights have come in Germany against less than top level talent. Even still, his record is a strong 32-2 but he only has 18 knockouts. Zaveck could be moving into a new stage of his career, the tough veteran used to test how far along a young fighter is, the type of guys we always see face a new hot prospect on Friday Night Fights. And that is what he will be on Saturday, the biggest test of Thurman's career. And he could possibly deal Thurman his first career loss if he can take him into the champinship rounds.
Most of Thurman's fights end very early, he has only been passed 6 rounds twice. If Zaveck shows a good chin, and ring intelligence he has a shot of the upset. But Thurman has the kind of power punches that make even the most rock solid chins crumble to sand. This fight shouldn't last long, but will be entertaining while it does.
PREDICTION: Keith Thurman get another KO victory, this time in the 7th round.
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