Huge Upset

In a huge upset, Bernard Hopkins turned back the clock and completely controlled the action over current middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik for twelve rounds from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.  In a fight card billed as “Unstoppable”, that is exactly what Hopkins was as he landed pot shots at will as well as a series of combinations over the slower and often confused Pavlik through out the fight.  Hopkins who at 43 is seventeen years Pavlk’s senior earned a unanimous decision with scores of 117-109, 119-106 and 118-109 on the official scores while Harold Lederman of HBO scored it a complete shutout.

The bout began simply enough as Hopkins was the busier of the two, even hurting Pavlik in the second round.  While many ringside pundits believed that Hopkins would tire out by the middle rounds and thus setting up a Pavlik TKO, that ending never materialized as Hopkins seemed to get stronger and faster as the fight matured and kept away from his usual “punch and hold’ tactic.

After the bout, Pavlik stated that he would be returning to the middleweight division where he holds the WBO and WBC straps.

With the win, Hopkins sees ledger go to 49-5-1, 32KO while Pavlik sees his record blemished for the first time and travels back home to Ohio with 34-1, 30KO.

“He doesn’t have a punch at this weight. Hopkins gave a helluva performance. Bernard is a good fighter.” Pavlik’s trainer Jack Lowe added, “You can’t take anything away from him. It just wasn’t our night. I don’t think 170 is our weight class, but no excuses. None whatsoever.” Arum confirmed that Pavlik has an obligation to face Marco Antonio Rubio and that Pavlik’s next fight will be at 160.

WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano (36-1-1, 15 KOs) retained his title with a relatively uneventful unanimous decision over previously unbeaten challenger Billy Dib (21-1, 11 KOs). Scores were 116-112, 115-113, and 117-111.

In a WBC middleweight eliminator, Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 37 KOs) earned a shot at Kelly Pavlik with a twelve round split decision over Enrique Ornelas (28-5, 18 KOs). A late rally put Rubio over the top on two cards 115-113 116-112, while Ornelas prevailed 115-113 on the third card.

All photos by Tim Larsen