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Boxing can be a lucrative sport to bet on. Just ask those who had the underdog Bernard Hopkins to win at +400 odds last night. The payout - a sweet $400 for every $100 bet at places like SBG Global.
The 43-year-old Hopkins used lightning quick combinations and a cagey, near-perfect defense to embarrass and confuse Kelly Pavlik in a 12-round non-title bout Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.
Hopkins, who dominated the middleweight class for a decade, made the 26-year-old Pavlik — the WBC and WBO middleweight champion — look slow and powerless in fighting at 170 pounds, 10 pounds over his weight class.
"I think this was my best performance, better than (Antonio) Tarver, better than (Felix) Trinidad, better than Oscar (De La Hoya), better than my 21 defenses," Hopkins said. "I am extremely happy."
Hopkins received winning scores of 119-106 from judge Alan Rubenstein, 117-109 from Barbara Perez and 118-108 from Steve Weisfeld.
In the end, walked over to the television cameras and glared, wondering how so many had predicted that Pavlik would knock him out for the first time in his career.
In hindsight, it's a wonder Pavlik was still standing at the end.
Hopkins praised Pavlik when the fight was over.
"I was a fan of yours before the fight and I am a fan of yours now," Hopkins told Pavlik in the corner. "You just need to get a little more slickness. You need to bend you knees more like your coach was telling you. Middleweight is your destiny."
For online bookmakers, the results were huge. Nearly all the betting action was going Pavlik’s way.
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Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
