Roy is not the fighter he once was but what i was looking for is if he still had that distance speed. Meaning being able to land shots from distance weather it was the lunging upercut or the straight right hand from 5 feet away.
The upercut from distance is no longer quick enough to hit the target against elite fighters, but Roy's straight right hand which sets up his combos is still there and i thought that was the quickest he had looked from distance then he has looked in years last night when he did that. There were 3 or 4 occassions where Roy was like 8 feet away from Hopkins and connected with the sraight right from distance and it set up his other pot shots which was like 8th or 9th round. He was building up a little confidence and rythym.
Here's my point. When Roy sits down and watches this fight he's going to think to himself Hopkins was more shot and slowing down more that he might have originally thought. Roy blew this fight because he is afraid of what might come back if he misses just like Ray Leonard said when he was older, but i dont think Hopkins is quick enough to make Roy pay with a big shot when Roy attempts that straight right. Everytime Roy fented and unleashed the straight right it landed and put him in position for other punches. The problem was he didnt do it often enough.
Hopkins was prepared for Roy's upercut, but not the straight right hand which Roy could have landed from round 1 and would have set up his other shots. Hold Hopkins when Bernard gets him on the ropes, circle off the ropes to get it back to the middle of the ring, fent and straight right hand which would set up everything else. It was there for Roy but just like Tarver 3 he was afraid to pull the trigger.
The upercut from distance is no longer quick enough to hit the target against elite fighters, but Roy's straight right hand which sets up his combos is still there and i thought that was the quickest he had looked from distance then he has looked in years last night when he did that. There were 3 or 4 occassions where Roy was like 8 feet away from Hopkins and connected with the sraight right from distance and it set up his other pot shots which was like 8th or 9th round. He was building up a little confidence and rythym.
Here's my point. When Roy sits down and watches this fight he's going to think to himself Hopkins was more shot and slowing down more that he might have originally thought. Roy blew this fight because he is afraid of what might come back if he misses just like Ray Leonard said when he was older, but i dont think Hopkins is quick enough to make Roy pay with a big shot when Roy attempts that straight right. Everytime Roy fented and unleashed the straight right it landed and put him in position for other punches. The problem was he didnt do it often enough.
Hopkins was prepared for Roy's upercut, but not the straight right hand which Roy could have landed from round 1 and would have set up his other shots. Hold Hopkins when Bernard gets him on the ropes, circle off the ropes to get it back to the middle of the ring, fent and straight right hand which would set up everything else. It was there for Roy but just like Tarver 3 he was afraid to pull the trigger.
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