Hopkins bout mirrors Pacquiao’s

SACRAMENTO—The first of two bouts hyped intriguing by HBO happens this weekend.

Ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins faces unbeaten light heavyweight boxing titlist Sergey Kovalev at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Saturday Nov. 8 (Sunday Nov. 9 in PH).

Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 K0s), the 31-year old Russian WBO champion, will be looking to unify the belts against Hopkins, (55-6-2, 32 KOs), a boxing legend and a future Hall of Famer who turns 50 two months from now.

Already the sport’s oldest world champion of all time, Hopkins comfortably outpointed Beibut Shumenov, a Kazakhstan fighter who is 19 years younger, to retain his IBF and WBA world titles in April. Bernard’s aim is to defy Father Time but Kovalev stands in his path.

In a way, the Hopkins-Kovalev fight on HBO pay-per-view mirrors that of the upstart-legend matchup between Chris Algieri and Filipino ring supernova Manny Pacquiao. That fight will be broadcast next by the PPV giant on Nov. 22 (Nov. 23 in PH) from Macau, China.

Like Kovalev, who will strive to beat a cunning and experienced fighter like Hopkins, Algieri (19-0,  8 KOs), wants to reshape the boxing landscape at the expense of the fighting Filipino congressman (56-5-2, 38 KOs).

Hopkins, like Algieri, is a careful tactician and defense specialist. Kovalev, like Pacquiao, is a relentless stalker with an in-your-face style.

But unlike Pacquiao, 35, who is heavily favored against the movie-star handsome Algieri, 30, a New Yorker with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Hopkins is an underdog against Kovalev, the perpetual punching machine.

Boxing experts are at their wits’ end analyzing how Algieri can upset Pacquiao, who is not expected to generate a PPV blockbuster for this fight away from the bright lights of boxing’s world central—Las Vegas.

The Hopkins-Kovalev fight marks the return of big-time boxing to the Jersey Shores. The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut is the bastion of support for Algieri for his life-changing bout with Pacquiao two weeks from now.

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Two Filipino-Canadians in Vancouver, British Columbia, are planning a sports agency they hope would someday manage a roster of clients in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Rey Fortaleza, the ex-Olympic boxer and media pioneer in that city’s Fil-Canadian community, and his partner, former college coach Josefino “Jojo” Lodovica, said the agency would serve as a one-stop shop for North American standouts with Filipino blood targeting the PBA.

Recruiting talent is one thing but preparing them for the next level will set their agency apart, says the Bacolod- born Lodovica. “We will not only act as agents negotiating contracts with our players, we’ll also make sure they are playing at 100-percent capacity.”

“I know a bit about player development,” said Lodovica, who coached basketball at Kwantlen College in Richmond, British Columbia. “I will train recruits personally.”

“For example, we want perimeter players to not only go to the basket but also to shoot from long range. And I’m not talking just from the 3-point line but 3 to 5 steps back,” explained Jojo.

More on the planned agency in a subsequent column.