FIGHT NIGHT COMES TO SPORTSBOOK.COM
Saturday night is Fight Night with world class matches in the Ring and in the Octagon.
In the boxing ring, Kelly Pavlik puts his 34-0 record (30KO’s) on the line when he faces old school Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins in a 170 pound, non-title fight from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Pavlik is listed as a heavy -400 favorite at Sportsbook.com while Hopkins checks in at +300.
Pavlik is a 26-year-old middleweight champion who possesses good power with both hands. He’s a durable fighter with an exceptional chin and he knows how to capitalize on his opponent’s mistakes.
Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KO’s) is 43 years-old, and he had a 10-year reign as middleweight champion. His most recent fight was a split-decision defeat by Joe Calzaghe in April. He is still in very good shape despite his advanced age.
Hopkins is a solid all-around fighter who will try to get inside on Pavlik. He has never been knocked out and he’s going to want to pace himself to have this go the distance and hopefully win on points.
“He’s a veteran fighter, but we’re not going to change anything,” said Pavlik. “We don’t ever go in planning for a knockout. We train hard for eight weeks and want to win every round for 12 rounds. If a knockout happens, though, it’d be awesome. Hopkins is a big-name, dangerous guy, and, yeah, we definitely want one.”
The MMA match that everyone is talking about is UFC 89 this Saturday, taking place across the pond in Birmingham, England.
‘The Count’ Michael Bisping (16-1) is fighting in the main event, a middleweight matchup against Chris Leben (18-4). This is a free televised event on Spike TV and the winner will likely become contender for middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s belt.
Bisping is a -215 favorite and he will have the crowd on his side as a native of England. You can also expect some fireworks for this match as they both like to fight standing up despite being well-rounded MMA fighters.
But despite their penchant for warfare, there seems to be a mutual respect for one another.
“Chris Leben, for me, I think he represents probably my toughest fight so far. He’s very experienced which counts for a lot,” Bisping said. “He hits hard. He’s fought some good guys, and he’s beat some real good guys.”
Leben was equally respectful with his comments:
“Michael’s a star over here and it’s an honor to fight him over here,” he said. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I like being the bad guy; I really do.”
We’ll see if Leben can send the crowd home unhappy this Saturday night.
One more note, MMA fans are also stoked about light heavyweight Brandon Vera (9-2) against Keith Jardine (13-4-1). Vera is a -185 favorite.
