The big news for this coming weekend in most boxing circles is Saturday’s Atlantic City showdown at Light Heavyweight between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev. Hopkins, at 49 years old and a fighter whose legacy is already carved in granite, faces a headhunter the likes of which he has not seen in years. The books have Hopkins as the underdog at (+220) with Kovalev paying back (-260). Because the legendary Hopkins is involved, there is a ton of talk out there about this fight, and many people have the opinion that Hopkins has bitten off more than he can chew against the aggressive Kovalev, who has 23 KOs in 26 fights. One insider who wanted to remain anonymous said he thought Kovalev would win but was staying away from betting. He elaborated, “A lot of fighters and fight people are coming out for Hopkins. Tim Bradley, Oscar. It’s hard to say if they are being truthful, or if they are just trying to be respectful of Hopkins and his place among them. But don’t let that confuse you, I think even they have to see the writing on the wall.” If Hopkins is able to pull off a victory and put the first defeat on the record of Kovalev, he will have added a chapter to his legacy that in later years may be looked back on as his greatest achievement as he looks to become the first World Champion at 50 years old. In an extremely interesting welterweight clash, Aregentine Luis Carlos Abregu is favored (-300) over Brooklyn’s Sadam Ali (+240). Ali represented the USA in the Olympics back in 2008, and he is a perfect (20-0) in his career thus far. Abreu is a very experienced (36-1), with his lone loss coming via Unanimous Decision against Timothy Bradley back in 2010. Since then he has gone (7-0) and added a WBC Silver title to his resume. Abregu has been calling out all of the top names in the division for a while now, and Ali was looking for a stern test and a step up fight. In Abreu, Ali may be facing a bit more than he is ready for, as the Argentine has 29 KOs in his 36 wins and he is on record as stating he considers himself the best fighter in the country. With the likes of Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse and Sergio Martinez all hailing from the land of the pampas, Abreu has set his bar extremely high. Ali gets to show he is ready for the next level in the step up fight he was asking for. Undefeated Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov is a massive (-2000) favorite over Darnell Wilson (+1100). Wilson, known as ‘The Ding a Ling Man’, is an epxerienced trial horse and a good way for Glazkov to bank some rounds. Glazkov is an undefeated (18-0-1), and his last two wins, over veterans Tomas Adamek and Derric Rossy have seen his ranking jump. With Wilson, who is 10 years older than Glazkov at 40 years old, we are unlikely to find that Glazkov’s handlers chose poorly, as Glazkov is slated for bigger and better things in what was once boxing’s glamour weight class.
