[poetwarrior41]

The Ghost is back in the ring and looking to send Hopkins to the executioner. Who is everyone on?

HBO PPV - BOARDWALK HALL, ATLANTIC CITY, NJ 12 RDS7:00 PM 11273 KELLY PAVLIK - - -420
11274 BERNARD HOPKINS - - +330

7:00 PM 11275 KELLY PAVLIK - o11½-215 -
11276 BERNARD HOPKINS - u11½+175

I love Pavlik, but cant lay the big price, so i will take a shot on the under.

[bigboydan]

The only way I could bet this fight is to lay the wood, actually. However, just like you sir. I can't bring myself to lay it.

[Matt Rain]

Pavlik by decision -117

[ZXCVBNM]

Pavlik by dec is most logical but I'd stay away.

Pavlik's first fight at 170, remember how Winky fought vs Hopkins?

[louisvillekid]

i threw money on Hopkins yesterday, couldn't pass it up.

but i laid the chalk on Bisping in London tomorrow.

[poetwarrior41]

BERT SUGAR'S PRE-FIGHT ANALYSIS

October 16, 2008 - by Bert Sugar with Steve Small
STRENGTHS OF BOTH FIGHTERS

KELLY PAVLIK - (34-0, 30 KO's)

* Pavlik possesses firepower in both hands, which he throws with leverage unseen since Tommy Hearns, both on the inside and from the outside.

* Uses his looong left to set up his power right.

* Can effectively capitalize upon his opponent's mistakes--as he did in his first fight against Jermain Taylor, countering Taylor's jab and blocking Taylor's wide, looping punches before unleashing his dynamite right.

* Has extraordinary "chin whiskers" and amazing recuperative powers, as he demonstrated in both the Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor fights.

BERNARD HOPKINS - (48-5-1, 32 KO's)

* A classic old-school fighter, Hopkins combines savvy and slickness with a determination to do anything to win.

* Hopkins stands right in front of his opponent, fighting from a wide stance with both hands held high and chin held low, all the better to give his opponent little to hit, especially with a solid shot.

* A tremendous all-around fighter with no glaring weaknesses, Hopkins has been able to outbox punchers and outpunch boxers--wearing them down with punches to the body, both over and under their guards.

* Hopkins has an unusual way of getting inside. While most fighters step forward behind their jab, Hopkins steps forward while throwing right-hand crosses or left-hand hooks, often confusing his opponents.

WEAKNESSES OF BOTH FIGHTERS

PAVLIK

* Pavlik is a one-gear fighter, walking straight in on his opponent with little or no head movement, offering a stationary target for Hopkins.

* Pavlik allows himself to be tied up on the inside, Hopkins's "turf."

* Although Pavlik is one of the heaviest hitters in the middleweight division since Rocky Graziano, in Hopkins he is facing a fighter who has never been knocked out and only knocked down twice (by Segundo Mercado 14 years ago) and may become frustrated by his inability to hurt Hopkins.

HOPKINS

* At 43-going-on-Social Security, Hopkins is one of the wonders of the boxing world. And while, as he says, "nobody has told me to quit," his body may one day and he could become boxing's version of Dorian Gray right in the middle of a fight.

* Not a one-punch knockout fighter, Hopkins cannot afford to trade howitzers with the heavier-hitting Pavlik.

* Hopkins has shown a tendency to pace himself, sometimes fighting not only in spots but only part of a fight--as witnessed by his fighting only six rounds in each of his two Jermain Taylor fights.

WHAT EACH MUST DO TO WIN

PAVLIK

* Wear Hopkins down, press him and make him expend energy. When Hopkins circles the ring, slide with him and cut him off, make him fight three minutes a round.

* Throw hard jabs. When Calzaghe fought Hopkins he pawed and slapped with his jab in the first half of the fight, allowing Hopkins to easily move away from or step inside Calzaghe's jab. In the second half of the fight, Calzaghe threw fast, stiff jabs, forcing Hopkins to stay stationary and block them, enabling Calzache to land hooks and crosses. Pavlik needs to do the same.

* Keep his hands up and step to his right to offer Hopkins' most effective technique, that of waiting for his opponent to stop punching and then stepping forward with a right-hand lead and moving in like a battering ram, his head coming right behind his fists.

* Pavlik cannot play cat-and-mouse games with Hopkins. He must ignore Hopkins' tricks and feints and not let Hopkins' street fighting take him out of his gameplan.

HOPKINS.

* Hopkins must control the pace of the fight. In recent fights he has shown he cannot go twelve rounds at a fast pace and only fights in spurts.

* Hopkins is all defense from the outside. He must circle away from Pavlik and not let him set his feet.

* Hopkins needs to step in with right hand leads, get inside and stay there. Inside Hopkins is a much better fighter than Pavlik, who tends to leave himself open when punching inside.

[poetwarrior41]

i threw money on Hopkins yesterday, couldn't pass it up.

but i laid the chalk on Bisping in London tomorrow.

LK......I bet Leben! Hopefully shaping up to be an exciting Boxing/MMA weekend.

[firedawg]

i hope leben wins this

[poetwarrior41]

Leben looks to silence English fans at UFC 89Oct. 13, 2008
By Todd Martin
Special to CBSSports.com

With the newest season of UFC's

Ultimate Fighter

television show revolving around the wild escapades of Junie Browning, many are reminded of the original bad boy of MMA reality television, Chris Leben.

Leben says he is a different person. (UFC) Leben rose to fame on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter with his drunken antics and heated rivalry with Josh Koscheck. But you would hardly figure Leben as a controversial figure based on the trajectory of his career following the show.
Since leaving the Ultimate Fighter house, Leben has accumulated an 8-3 UFC record including victories over middleweight title contender Patrick Cote and surging American Top Team star Jorge Santiago. At Saturday night's UFC 89 on Spike TV, Leben has one of the biggest opportunities of his career when he takes on UFC's top European star, Michael Bisping.
It has been a long road for Leben, who attributes much of his success to more maturity and professional focus.
"I'm definitely a different person now," Leben says. "The show was four years ago. It was a younger, wilder Chris Leben. Definitely a little more rough around the edges. I've worked on a lot of things in and out of the cage and I continue to work on those things. It took the show to make me realize a lot of things about myself and my fight game that needed work. Without that who knows where I'd be."
While Leben has created a niche for himself as an exciting main card fighter, beating the popular Bisping is the sort of high-profile victory that opens up future opportunities. Leben recognizes this and is prepared for the challenges Bisping presents.
"He's got a great record," Leben notes. "From what I've seen he's fairly well rounded. I would say he's a solid fighter and there are no gaping holes anywhere in his game."
One potential advantage for Bisping in the fight is the fact that he has fought most of his career at a higher weight class. While Leben was fighting middleweights, Bisping was fighting light heavyweights like Matt Hamill and Rashad Evans. But Leben doesn't feel there will be much of a difference between himself and Bisping.
"He was a small light heavyweight," Leben says. "And he's not necessarily a huge middleweight. He's definitely a little taller than me, but as far as his strength goes I'd say I have the upper hand there."
UFC 89 will take place in Birmingham, England, where English native Bisping is likely to get a thunderous ovation. Leben relishes the opportunity to silence Bisping's fans.
"As an amateur coming up through the ranks, I've traveled out of town and been the bad guy before," Leben observes. "To be frank, I kind of like it. Making 20,000 people scream is great. But there's nothing more exciting than when you make 20,000 people shut up all at once."
An added benefit of being the villain to the live crowd is that you don't have to worry about living up to expectations or pleasing anybody. Leben says he would rather be in his position than in Bisping's.
"The pressure's on him," Leben says. "He's the one performing in front of the hometown crowd. I've just got to roll in and do my thing. I don't have to worry about impressing anyone or satisfying my hometown crowd. He's the one fighting in the motherland."
To deal with the jet lag, Leben left the Pacific Northwest for the United Kingdom on the evening of Oct. 7. Leben will enter the fight having spent over a week and a half getting acclimated to the different time zone. Of course, that still won't offer the built-in advantage of fighting close to home and not having significant travel in the first place.
While Leben is a colorful and exciting fighter, it's Bisping who figures to fit more prominently into UFC's future plans. Since winning the light heavyweight portion of the third season of the Ultimate Fighter, Bisping has been pegged for big things. He has been featured prominently in the advertising for the past five UFC events he fought in and has received star reactions from crowds on both sides of the Atlantic.
The next season of the Ultimate Fighter will feature a U.S. vs. U.K. theme, and Bisping would be a natural fit as coach if he can defeat Leben. Leben has heard the talk that Bisping is intended for that role and looks to spoil UFC's plans.
"It looks like when UFC makes these matches that they have a master plan of how they'd like them to go," Leben notes. "Definitely the talk of him being coach on the next Ultimate Fighter furthers that belief, but I'm fine with that. Most of the time that they've wanted me to be defeated I've won, so it's fine."
Leben has played a number of roles during his fighting career. Spoiler shouldn't be that hard to pull off.
Todd Martin has covered mixed martial arts for the Los Angeles Times, Wrestling Observer, SI.com and CBSSports.com. He can be reached at ToddMartin4L@aol.com.

[poetwarrior41]

UFC 89 Weigh-In Michael Bisping & Chris Leben

[poetwarrior41]

Everytime i try and post a picture it never fukking works!

[Matt Rain]

Pavlik by dec is most logical but I'd stay away.

Pavlik's first fight at 170, remember how Winky fought vs Hopkins?

True, but Winky's a pussy with an annoying "turtleshell defense" and he's a counterpuncher. There will be no defensive chess match with Pavlik - Kelly will be coming forward all night long and his range might allow him to land a lot more than Winky did.

IMO, Pavlik coming up in weight merely means that he won't have that same KO power he had at 160 against guys like Taylor.

I feel quite good about this bet. Fight should be a good one too.

[SlickFazzer]

Looking forward to the fight.