Bernard Hopkins Is Brutally Honest

Saturday night's Manny Pacquaio vs. Ricky Hatton fight is a co-promotion between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. Pacquaio is a Top Rank fighter, while Hatton fights for Golden Boy. Bernard Hopkins is the president of the east coast chapter of Golden Boy Promotions.

So naturally, "B-Hop" is predicting an easy victory for Hatton, right? Wrong.

"I see this fight being a really, really exciting fight," Hopkins said on a recent episode of ESPN's Friday Night Fights (seen below), "but I see Pacquaio pulling off all the speed, side angles and Ricky Hatton is not going to know when to fight a different style at the right time. And I think that's when Pacquaio has been his best at ... It's going to be an exciting fight, while it lasts."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall a promoter ever picking against one of his fighters. After all, the promoter's job is to, you know, promote his fighter.

And just in case he wasn't the clear the first time, Hopkins later added, "I don't think (Hatton) can box better than Pacquaio."

Hopkins has always been known for speaking his mind and we all know that he will forever be more of a boxer at heart than a promoter. When he first joined Friday Night Fights in January as an analyst, I questioned whether or not he would remain objective when discussing Golden Boy fighters. So, kudos to him for not sticking to the script by picking his own guy when he believes otherwise. I just question if that makes sense from a business standpoint.