Manny Steward on "On the ropes" Bhop v Dawson

http://www.ontheropesboxingradio.com/wordpress/


Love Manny, very respectful of Bhop, very interesting to see his views on the fight. Great weekly radio show for anyone that doesn't follow

www.maineventboxing.wordpress.com

I am glad Hopkins is taking this fight. There were suggestions before that Hopkins rematch against Pascal was based on an informal agreement between Dawson and Hopkins that Dawson would get a shot after, and that some sources claimed Hopkins would not honour it. So its good to see that there is still some element of respect and honour in boxing and that there are fighters like Hopkins around who are fighting for more than just paper titles or money.

Hopkins is defo still fighting for money, make no mistake. But he could still make good money avoiding Dawson. This is a huge ask for Hopkins. Dawson has all the advantages physically but Hopkins knowledge and the fact he will screw with Dawson's head for weeks before this fight may help. But if Manny does his thing and he is obviously aware of Bhop as a threat then Dawson could out work ol Popkins to a UD.

The money is still a factor but I no longer think its the primary factor behind Hopkins fighting anymore. He is financially secure as far as I know and its not like a case of Holyfield or Jones still fighting on because they have debts to pay off.

Hopkins at his age and with what he's already done has got nothing to lose now and loses nothing legacy wise in his remaining fights.

I wouldn't be completely shocked if B-Hop wins but think Dawson has all the tools to beat him, especially at their respective stages of their careers.

Dawson pts is my early thoughts in ugly fight where Bhop runs out of steam.

Dawson needs to use the fast hands of his to rack up points. Also keep your distance when fighting B Hop and fighting on the inside gets you nowhere. B Hop is beatable (as Calzaghe showed) but you gotta have the right gameplan

exactly Steffan, i expect Dawson to win the first two ro three rounds without having to over excert, but form then on he has to let his hands go more. B-Hop will be overwelmed by a quick pace, this really is a fight Dawson should be able to win.

hopkins will destroy dawson imo cant see how dawson can win even tho hopkins is old he has too much skill

waingro, you seem to use destroy every fifth word. Next time you are abot to do so, hit synonym.

Dawson can certainly win, this isn't prime Tyson versus my mother for goodness sake!

One problem I could envisage is Hopkins is going up against a guy in which he may have to make the moves on, the fact he ran out of steam in the last 2 rounds slightly against Pascal in which he controlled much of the pace tells me something. Pascal had him in big trouble in the last round also. IF Chad Dawson for once decides to stop being so lackadaisical and decides to put a bit of pressure on and actually use his jab as a weapon I could see B-Hop in massive trouble. Dawson needs to set the pace I feel if he does that he could take out B-Hop late, though saying all of this, I see B-Hop hustling his way to the finish line because of the complete and utter waste of amazing talent that is Chad Dawson... Almost seems to have that "Audley Harrison" like mindset in a way though more talented and isn't quite as scared but doesn't seem to understand that if he pushed the pace he could be great.

Good article on Stewart

http://www.boxing-articles.com/a-man-for-all-seasons-a-brief-perspective-on-emanuel-steward/

Great article on Steward but 32% on that site voted Gatti-Ward 1 as fight of the last decade. All the others were of much higher standard of boxing and had the toe to toe stuff that Gatti-Ward had.

Coralles Castillo blows Gatti-Ward out of the water imo... Had all the toe to toe stuff with better quality and an incredible shocking ending, perhaps Gatti - Ward was slightly more brutal but Coralles Castillo had the most unbelievable drama.

Vasquez-Marquez 1 for me was better as well.

Vaquez Marquez 2 was absolute quality or was that three? The one where they both go down in the last round, unbelievable.

That was 3. The 4th was poor but both were shot to bits they took it right out of each other.

It is true they were a shadow of there former selves at that point, people were talking about a Barrera and Morales rematch, but I think it would look similar to Marquez Vasquez 4th...

Don't think Dawson has the work rate to beat Hopkins nor does he have the best boxing brain around, both of which are vital to beat the old man.

Hopkins should school him he isn't the smartest of fighters. I know he's a bit green compared to guys like Cloud but I would like to see Bhop fight Syllakh because he is a very gifted boxer with a sharp boxing brain. It would be interesting to see how the old man dealt with a clever fighter.

Say what you want about Calzaghe but he did have a pretty good boxing brain which for large parts was neutralised by Hopkins but it was the work rate which ultimately cost him, he's head and shoulders above anyone else in the world with the exception of Mayweather knowing what his opponent is going to do and how to counter that. Unless he gets really old over night then no one in the division can beat him, he's just too good.

Think he could struggle with Cloud or Syllakh a little more, just purely because of his age though and possibility of someone pushing the pace more than Pascal was capable of. But still would tip B-Hop over the pair of them on the back of what I've seen... Think he just "Old mans" them out of it.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Say what you want about Calzaghe but he did have a pretty good boxing brain which for large parts was neutralised by Hopkins but it was the work rate which ultimately cost him, he's head and shoulders above anyone else in the world with the exception of Mayweather knowing what his opponent is going to do and how to counter that. Unless he gets really old over night then no one in the division can beat him, he's just too good.

Think he's still lost a slight bit on his capabilties, though there is no one of Calzaghe standard to push him like that so I think you're probably right. Though I think Dawson has the correct tools and the correct team to beat him he just won't be able to.

You can make up a gameplan to beat Hopkins but unless you have something special about you it doesn't really matter, he now only loses because he's old and as such any opponent of his is in a loss/loss situation.

Depends who beats him and how in my opinion, everyone would throw out the he was just old card but there is a lot left and everyone deep down knows if Dawson beats him they should give him a lot of credit, but with the way things work... He won't get any.

Hopkins is 46 so a win over him while a good name on your record has to be taken into context, he's a genuine all time great fighter who has consistently fought and beaten the best around, regardless of the manner of victory only one thing will end up mattering and it's his age.

No doubt but really he's still ahead of all the rest so it's still a massive victory even if its not beating him in his prime.

At his age you have to take it fight by fight, while looking quite good against Pascal that's no guarantee he'll still have it in his next fight.

True unsure if he'll become an old man overnight, but he is at such an age I think it's possible, see your point.
Still I think it's unlikely and think if Dawson wins you have to credit him with something other than the usual "The writing was on the wall he looked tired in the last couple against Pascal - B-Hop was finished" crap.

It's a very tricky one because he looked in his last fight but it would be a good win for Dawson little more than that.

You see it's tricky... B-Hop is now regarded as the man at the weight, but yet if Dawson beat Cloud or Pascal it seems as though he'd be credited more for a win over them rather than the actual man at the weight! Odd situation!

Dawson has been there and done that in beating old fighters at the weight before in Tarver and Johnson but we've yet to see him beat someone more his age other than Adamek who was nothing special at 175lbs.

But where they regarded as the best fighter in there division at the time? Unsure if Tarver was or not...

They're his biggest wins which is the problem both against old men

No doubt, so would you rate a win over Cloud or Pascal better than actually beating the man at the weight in Hopkins?

Not at the current time but were he to beat Hopkins he'd have to follow it up with one of the young guns to legitimise his position

thats strange thinking about the logic, but makes sense in a way, if Cloud was to beat BHop I would have to regard him the man at the weight, however if Dawson goes ahead and actually takes him out, he doesn't get the same courtesy based on previous opposition...
Suppose his loss against Pascal is another talking point..