COMPUBOX POST-FIGHT ANALYSIS

October 20, 2008 - by Compubox

When boxing fans tuned in to see Bernard Hopkins and Kelly Pavlik fight Saturday night, they expected to see a dominating performance. But instead of Pavlik's youth and strength, it was Hopkins' extraordinary ring craft and shockingly superlative hand speed that carried him to a landslide - and landmark - unanimous decision over the reigning WBC and WBO middleweight champion.

On every conceivable level in every possible category, "The Executioner" lived up to his nickname in a fashion few could have ever expected. His crisp punches consistently sliced through Pavlik's porous defense, leaving "The Ghost" bewildered and thoroughly exorcised. How commanding was Hopkins? Let us count the ways:

* He out-landed Pavlik 10 out of the 12 rounds with one round (the fifth) even. Only in round six did Pavlik manage to land more blows (17-13).

* Hopkins connected on more power punches in every round, including 16-3 in the seventh and a mind-boggling 34-4 in the final two stanzas.

* The 43-year-old actually threw more punches overall (530-463) and landed more (172-108), mostly on the strength of his power punching. There he crushed Pavlik by a 148-55 margin in connects and landed at a 49 percent rate to Pavlik's 26. He also threw 304 power shots to Pavlik's 211.

* The key to Pavlik's success was imposing his volume punching style, but Hopkins' studious movement and faster hands successfully inhibited the Ohioan. In the two Taylor fights Pavlik averaged 66 and 70 punches per round but against Hopkins he threw just 38.6 punches per round. Coincidentally, 38.6 punches per round was the exact rate Pavlik held Jermain Taylor to in their rematch.

* Hopkins reached fight-highs in four categories in the final round: Punches thrown (66), punches landed (25), power punches thrown (48) and power punches landed (24).

* Finally, while Hopkins didn't turn back the clock in terms of his output between 1990-2002 (53 punches thrown), he improved on his efficiency in power shots (47.6 percent in his prime as opposed to 49 percent against Pavlik). That was a marked increase over Hopkins' last 10 fights tracked by CompuBox where he connected on 40.9 percent of his power punches. Then again, Pavlik has historically been vulnerable in this regard as Taylor landed 64.8 percent and 53.5 percent in their two fights, but Taylor was in his late 20s while Hopkins was a confirmed forty-something who many in the press - including this corner - dismissed as a no-hoper.

It was, simply put, one of the most extraordinary performances by an elder statesman against a far younger opponent in boxing history, both in substance and in style. By humbling a previously undefeated pound-for-pound entrant, Hopkins has once again earned the power and privilege to write his own ticket in terms of opponent and compensation. His place in history was secure before he ever entered the ring against Pavlik, but who could have ever guessed that he would be able to lift his legend by yet another notch? How high can he go? Only God knows for sure.