May 13 - HBO 6:00 pm
Bernard Hopkins vs. Syd Vanderpool
(For the IBF MW Title [BH is champion])
Bernard in my opinion is the best 160 pound fighter out today. Since stopping Segundo
Mercado in 7 in Apr of 95, The executioner has defended his title 10 times against top
flight contenders. His first loss was his pro debut, and his only other loss was to none
other than, Roy Jones. Bernard hung tough and went the distance with Roy, but came up
short on the score cards. In his last defense he went an exciting 12 rounds this past Dec
with Antwun Echols.
Syd is a banger from the same neck of the woods in Canada that produced Lennox Lewis and
was on the same 1990 Canadian National Team that produced heavyweight contender Kirk
Johnson and former junior lightweight champion Arturo Gatti. The fight with Hopkins
tonight will be his toughest test to date. Syd is currently campaigning as a super middle
(168), and comes down to middle (160) to fight Bernard. The Canadian southpaw has a decent
run going. He is ranked #3 by the IBF and #2 by the WBO at 168. He is unranked at 160
although he started fighting at 168 on the heels of his 12 rd decision to Lonnie Beasley
in June of 98. He had 2 fights at 168 against mediocre opposition, and drops back to 160
to fight Bernard on short notice. In his last fight, Syd banged on Glen "Coffee"
Johnson this past November to a 12 round decision. In Glen's previous fight he went the
distance with champ Sven Ottke to a disputed draw then in first fight after that draw he
fought Syd. Syd dominated the guy who drawed the champ Sven Ottke. Needless to say, Syd's
confidence level is at an all time high! Oh, by the way. . . this Glen "Coffee"
Johnson dude. Bernard stopped him in 11 rounds in Jun of 97 in a title defense. Syd has
had 4.5 weeks to lose the weight and prepare to fight a world class champion like Bernard.
Hmmm.
Bernard expects Syd to be all over him for the first 4-5 rounds, then from that point it
will be a tactical fight. I expect the same, with Bernard counter punching and using lead
right hands. Syd has never seen nor tasted power like he's going to experience tonight.
It's just a matter of time when the inexperienced Syd leaves Bernard an opening.
Hopkins inside 10
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Richard Hall
(For the IBF, WBC, WBA and IBO LHW Titles [RJ is champion])
Roy is the epitome of world class champion. Quick, Crafty. Careful, Cautious?!?!? His last
couple bouts have been against less than top shelf opposition. In his last bout this past
Jan, he went the distance with unheralded David Telesco for the win (as predicted). Before that was the totally one sided
beating of Reggie Johnson (as predicted) for the
Undisputed title. Then the unknown NY cop Richard Frazier he blasted out in 2. Since
beating Reggie Johnson and becoming Undisputed LH Champ, Roy is picking and choosing his
defenses carefully.
Roy defends his undisputed title tonight against tough up and coming WBA #1 ranked Richard
Hall.
Richard is a banger, who has won all but one of his fights by way of knock out. His solo
loss was also by knockout, against Rocky Gannon on USA's TNF in June of 96. Richard had
Rocky down twice in the 2nd round, but tired and got himself smacked out in the 10th.
Rocky is the ONLY name of recognition on Richard's resume. In the 6 years he has been pro
and the 25 fights he has been in, he averages only 3.3 rounds a bout and has been past 7
rounds on only 2 occasions. Experience wise, this is totally one-sided.
Roy was a silver medallist in the Seoul Olympics in 88, former 3 time world amateur
champion, has held championship belts in 3 weight classes, has been in 16 world
championship fights and hits hard from EVERY angle!
I expect Roy to fight a smart fight. He'll jab his way to the mid rounds then zero in for
the KO. Richard would make a grave mistake by trying to apply pressure or trading with
Roy. That would only expedite the inevitable.
Jones inside 7
May 13 - Same card as
above, not televised.
Angel Manfredy vs. Jerry Cooper
(Light Weights)
Angel Mafredy fights again! He was in my last predictions. He banged out Sean Simmons,
some replacement for Anthony Martinez, but it ended up as I expected. Like Gainer, Angel
needs some convincing wins to get back in world title contention. He faces unheralded,
unranked and unknown Jerry Copper. The same dude Floyd Mayweather stopped inside 1 round?
The question is can Angel do it sooner? I don't believe so, I suspect it will take Angel 3
times longer.
Manfredy inside 3
Derrick "Smoke" Gainer vs. Santos Rebolledo
(Super Feather Weights)
This will be an easy night for Derrick. Fresh off his premature stoppage loss to Diego
Corrales this past Mar, he needs big dominating wins with exclamation points to get back
into world title contention also. In comes Santos. This won't be a cake walk for Smoke.
Santos is ranked #7 by the IBF. Though not half the tomato can Angel is facing, this club
fighter will put up a fight. He owns a 10 round decision to former IBF fw champ Tom
Johnson. Smoke will have to earn it, but the Roy Jones prodigy will end it inside of 7
stanzas.
Gainer inside 7
In Retrospect:
Bernard Hopkins vs. Syd Vanderpool
Almost as expected. I expected Bernard to stop this upstart, but Bernard showed great
poise and patience in this defense. He wasn't looking to load up the 1 shot, he was
executing well placed combinations and exhibiting maturity and world class skill in his
11th title defense. Syd, as expected, started fast and was doubling Bernard's punch
output. That was the first round. From the second round on, it was all Bernard. Another
great 12 round title fight in the books. Bernard pulled out every trick in this fight. In
the post fight interview, Bernard called out every champ in the 154 to 175 pound range. He
even called out Roy Jones.
I personally would like to see Bernard in with Tito or Oscar. We'll see who has the sack
to face the Executioner.
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Richard Hall
Almost as expected. I didn't expect Hall to have the granite chin he had. He proved that
he can take a punch . . . or is Roy Jones not as powerful at light heavy then he was at
middle? It started at about 90 seconds into the fight when Roy landed a huge left right
combo that had Hall on the canvas. Then with about 30 seconds left in the round, Roy
landed a right hook that had Hall down for the second time. This was to tell the tale of
how the rest of the fight will look. Roy loaded up some serious power shots, flip topping
Hall's head, but hall kept coming forward. Hall was a heavy bag for 11 rounds until Jones
was speed bagging Halls skull and Hall dropped his hands. At 1:41 of round 11, referee
Wayne Kelly called a halt to the bout with Hall arguing the entire time.
Jones demonstrated his supreme hand speed, stellar conditioning and his pin point
precision punching. What a great championship fight! Hall gave a gallant effort in his
title bid, and although unknown prior to this bout, he leaves impressing all that saw. Now
what Roy has to do is unify the titles with the WBO belt. Dariusz Michalczewski has been
waiting. Roy states he wants to fight the best . . . at (41-0, 36 KOs), and holder of the
WBO belt . . . there you go Roy!
Angel Manfredy vs. Jerry Cooper
Exactly as expected. Angel get in with a chinless nobody and stops him at 2:13 of round
one. What Angel needs to do is get in with ranked opposition instead of padding his record
with KO's against hobos! Angel has skill and tools. Use them effectively!
Derrick "Smoke" Gainer vs. Santos Rebolledo
Change of venue. Derrick fought Sean Fletcher and beat him by decision. This was an IBF
eliminator. I expect to see big thing from Smoke. I would like to see a rematch with Diego
Corrales. That was a lame stoppage. I'll keep an eye on the Roy Jones prodigy.
