| 01 September 2010
Right after he finished dismantling Kelly Pavlik, Bernard Hopkins said he was finished fighting younger guys. He almost sounded like he felt bad about tarnishing Pavlik's rising star by schooling him in the finer points of the sweet science.
Those pangs of regret have apparently faded. Or maybe B-Hop just meant he was done fighting young American boxers. Either way, he'll soon be preparing to fight Jean Pascal on December 18 in Quebec City.
The interesting part is that Richard Schaefer told ESPN's Dan Rafael that he hopes to make a deal with Showtime to air the bout. Setting aside the rarity of Golden Boy working with Showtime, this is notable because Rafael reports that HBO has no interest in the fight.
But wait, you say. Didn't HBO just air Jean Pascal's big victory over Chad Dawson a few weeks ago? Right you are, and it's a little strange that HBO would choose that one over this newly signed fight.
Dawson has never been a draw and is usually Exhibit A when boxing writers start discussing guys who are being overpaid to appear on the big televised cards. Even in the twilight of his career, Hopkins is a much bigger name and can probably attract more eyeballs out of curiosity if nothing else.
After consulting with Uatu, we're in agreement that it must be a money thing: Hopkins will need to be paid more than Dawson, and the extra ratings he'll bring won't be enough to make up the extra investment. It's really the only reason that makes sense.
I'm sure Hopkins sees Pascal as a relatively simple guy to beat to add one more title to his resume. I like him to win as long as Father Time hasn't been too hard on him in their sparring sessions, but it's worth noting that Dawson also thought he would beat Pascal without too much trouble, and we all know how that turned out.
Let's do some...
SHOE SHINING
Bob Arum's son is missing, and the promoter has left the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito publicity tour to head for Seattle for any news. Love him or hate him, I hope everyone will join me in hoping that this story has a happy ending for Arum...
Antonio Tarver will make his heavyweight debut on ShoBox on October 15, site to be determined. I'm a longtime fan of the Magic Man, but I think he's fooling himself if he seriously thinks he can make any noise in the division at his age - especially when he'll be on the small side. I'd like to see him as a full time commentator sooner rather than later...
As expected, the critics have come out firing at Pacquiao for agreeing to fight Margarito, gaining extra ammo when Pac Man said he believed the Tijuana Tornado had to have known his hand wraps were loaded before he was caught prior to the Shane Mosley fight. I'm not saying I don't understand why some people feel queasy that Margarito is getting such a big payday by fighting Pacquiao, but if anyone seriously thought that Manny was going to somehow turn this bout down for moral reasons... I think the word naive comes to mind.
