Not only was Hopkins not injured, though, he routed Tarver in stunningly one-sided fashion. Few expected that, least of all Tarver.
?Hopkins is very, very good at what he does,? said Tarver, who is becoming an elite boxing analyst for Showtime. ?He?s not the most fluid, stylistic boxer you?ve ever seen, but he?s one of the most cagey, cagey guys you?d ever want to fight. He?s seen more styles ? and solved more styles ? than anybody. He gets in situations where you think he has no chance, and somehow, he figures it out and comes out on top.?
Hopkins is a slight 7-5 underdog again, this time as a 46-year-old, when he puts his Ring and World Boxing Council light heavyweight belts on the line Saturday against 29-year-old Chad Dawson in the main event of an HBO Pay-Per-View card at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Tarver, who also lost two decisions to Dawson in light heavyweight title matches in Las Vegas, said he?d be shocked if boxing?s oldest champion ever is able to pull off another upset.
Tarver, who won a minor cruiserweight title in February by dominating and then stopping Danny Green in Australia, said the combination of Hopkins? age and Dawson?s youth, speed and boxing skill should result in a Dawson victory.
Hopkins is coming off a brilliant performance in a victory over Jean Pascal to win the WBC belt in May, the same Pascal who took the title from Dawson in 2010.
That performance, and a draw with Pascal in December, may have obscured the fact that Hopkins is in decline, he noted. Tarver noted that prior to meeting Pascal, Hopkins faced Jones in a bout that was widely panned. Both men were urged to retire after that April 3, 2010, bout in Las Vegas that Hopkins won by a lackluster 12-round decision.
?When you look at the Roy Jones fight Hopkins had, it wasn?t thrilling, it wasn?t exciting and nothing really happened in that fight,? Tarver said. ?They waltzed around and they both looked like old men. But when you saw Hopkins against Pascal, he looked like a different fighter, for whatever reason.?
