The Light-Heavyweight Boxing Championship will be on the line when the Bernard Hopkins vs Winky Wright fight takes place at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Saturday July 21st on Pay-Per View. BetUs.com has posted boxing odds for this fight slightly favoring Wright at -150.
Both of these fighters are master boxers who have perfected the sweet science in their own respective styles. Hopkins, 47-4-1, 32 KO's, is a Philadelphia boxing disciple who can do it all: Box from the ouside, slug and maul you inside or counterpunch effectively while being unhittable. Wright, 51-3-1, 25 KO's, is defensive specialist who has perfected a high guard, flatfooted, catch and counterpunch technique that has made him a top 5 Pound-4-Pound fighter at 160 Lbs. Both of these boxers have cocksure attitudes that most top pound-4-pound fighters of their caliber adopt.
Set at a catchweight of 170 lbs. Hopkins is the bigger man physically . Winky has fought most of his career at 154 lbs. while Hopkins fought at 175 lbs. in his last fight when he dominated former Light-Heavyweight Champ Antonio Tarver to win the title. B-Hop looked very strong and powerful at 175 despite having fought all of his previous fights at 160. Standing at a rangy 6'1" Bernard also holds a 3" height and reach advantage in this face-off. Wright has youth on his side however, being 7 years younger than Hopkins,42. While Hopkins is probably the youngest 42 year old one will find, Winky is in his prime.
Wright is a very well conditioned athlete who will be looking to outwork the "old man" Hopkins over the set 12 round distance. Wright displays a hard, accurate Jab that is better than B-Hop's. If Winky can keep Hopkins at the end of his Jab he has a good chance of outboxing the aging champ. Hopkins has never been considered a one punch KO artist but in this fight he will have advantages in both punching power and punch resistance. Bernard likes to work the body with livershots from both gloved meat cleavers, sapping opponents of their legs and desire. Winky with his upright stationary style is open for punches downstairs. Wright's been floored from punches to the face and has never been tagged by a Light-Heavyweight in a live bout. How will he react?
Hopkins has never been knocked off his feet and probably never will. Winky works the body well himself but has nowhere near the pop that Bernard has. Hopkins is the definition of old-school tough guy boxer. I doubt that he will be cautious of Wright's average power and will probably be willing to mix it up and break Winky down. I don't see either one of these defensive artists getting caught with enough big punches to get KO'd, however I do think that the ageless champ Hopkins will be able to use his body attcak, lateral movement and size advantages to outpoint the southpaw Wright over 12 rounds.
Sportsbook.com has posted the best odds for a Hopkins win on this fight at +120
Winky Wright -150
Bernard Hopkins +120
Boxing Prediction: Bernard Hopkins 3 units
