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Bernard Hopkins is the all-time greatest fighter beyond age 40
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – There was a time in boxing history that calling a man the best fighter over 40 was about as much of a compliment as calling one the world’s best 300-pound sprinter.
Bernard Hopkins, though, is seriously rewriting that equation.
The 43-year-old ex-middleweight champion not only schooled the 26-year-old current champion Saturday in a non-title 170-pound bout at Boardwalk Hall in the grandest performance of a Hall of Fame career, he also established himself as the finest post-40 fighter in history.
Hopkins won all 12 rounds over Kelly Pavlik on judge Alan Rubenstein’s card, took 11 of 12 according to Steve Weisfeld and 10 of 12 in Barbara Perez’s view in what even Hopkins grudgingly admitted was his finest hour.
For years, Hopkins would crow about his Sept. 29, 2001, victory in Madison Square Garden over Felix Trinidad, largely because it was so unexpected. Promoter Don King’s hype machine had built Trinidad into an invincible being and few gave Hopkins a chance.
Even King, who knows boxing exceptionally well and knew full well the challenge Hopkins presented his money-maker, fell into the trap. He had Trinidad’s name engraved onto the Sugar Ray Robinson Trophy, which was emblematic of the winner of the Middleweight Championship Series he held in 2001, before the finale was contested.
When Hopkins stopped Trinidad in the 12th round, he walked toward the ropes at the end of the fight, crossed his arms and stared at media members with a defiant, “I told you so,” look. On Saturday, he did the same.
“I’m tired of proving to the same naysayers, who motivate me,” Hopkins said after his third victory over a top-five opponent since he’s turned 40. “Don’t you guys know you motivate me? I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I hollered across … ‘What do I have to do, kill someone?’ I believe I’m the most underrated fighter when it comes to defense, when it comes to offense, when it comes to my heart. In my heart, I fought like I had to prove something.”
Hopkins blunted Pavlik’s power, which was perhaps not all that surprising. He has done that to dozens of power punchers throughout his career. But what was jaw-dropping was the way he took the fight to Pavlik from the opening bell. He raked Pavlik with combinations and snapped his head back repeatedly with right hands.
The key came down to two of Hopkins’ old standbys, discipline and hard work. He pored over tapes of Pavlik and discovered a flaw in the way Pavlik moved his feet. And then he disciplined himself to take advantage of it, even if it didn’t work early.
Hopkins noticed that both Jermain Taylor and Edison Miranda kept moving the wrong way, into range for Pavlik’s right. Hopkins watched Pavlik’s feet and the way he adjusted them and realized, he couldn’t go the opposite way nearly as well or nearly as easily.
He spent much of his camp working on that move.
“If you noticed, I spent the night going to my right, which is his left, and he couldn’t handle it,” Hopkins said. “His footing couldn’t adjust going that way. I had to be patient and I had to be consistent to not deviate from going that way even if it didn’t work on that split-second or in that minute. He couldn’t throw across his chest with the right hand.
“I feel I’m still a boxing student. I study tapes from old to new to today. I learned that from my old trainer, Bouie Fisher, who trained me for many years. I watched his footing and I watched his moves and I knew I would stay on that side when I need to and it’s going to throw him off because he cannot punch across his body and be effective. “
Hopkins said he’s so fanatical about watching tapes he watches while he’s in his car. He watched tapes of Antonio Margarito’s victory last year of Miguel Cotto, wanting to watch a fighter pressuring another, expecting Pavlik to employ that strategy on him.
Hopkins’ greatness, though, is such that he has an answer for any strategy anyone may employ. George Foreman won the heavyweight championship when he was 45. Archie Moore captured the light heavyweight belt when he was days shy of his 43rd birthday.
But neither man had the sustained success against high-level opponents that Hopkins has had. Since turning 40, Hopkins is 4-3, but his four wins have been over Howard Eastman, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright and Pavlik. Tarver, Wright and Pavlik were all consensus top-five pound-for-pound when Hopkins routed them.
His three losses were back-to-back decisions to Taylor and an April split decision loss to Joe Calzaghe. No matter how one saw them, all three could have gone either way.
There are a lot of people who don’t like a lot of things about Bernard Hopkins.
But the man can fight, as he proved to Kelly Pavlik on Saturday night. Pavlik couldn’t have been beaten much worse had three guys mugged him in the back with clubs.
A 2009 rematch with Roy Jones Jr. beckons, if Jones gets past Calzaghe on Nov. 8. Then, perhaps, retirement beckons.
He isn’t going to retire until he convinces the skeptics. He hasn’t had to convince me, because I have been a believer for many years.
And if he couldn’t win the skeptics over after his effort on Saturday, well, they’re not worth winning over.
But if you need further convincing, ask those men who have walked out of the ring after fighting Hopkins. They’ll tell you all you need to know about the man.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – There was a time in boxing history that calling a man the best fighter over 40 was about as much of a compliment as calling one the world’s best 300-pound sprinter.
Bernard Hopkins, though, is seriously rewriting that equation.
The 43-year-old ex-middleweight champion not only schooled the 26-year-old current champion Saturday in a non-title 170-pound bout at Boardwalk Hall in the grandest performance of a Hall of Fame career, he also established himself as the finest post-40 fighter in history.
Hopkins won all 12 rounds over Kelly Pavlik on judge Alan Rubenstein’s card, took 11 of 12 according to Steve Weisfeld and 10 of 12 in Barbara Perez’s view in what even Hopkins grudgingly admitted was his finest hour.
For years, Hopkins would crow about his Sept. 29, 2001, victory in Madison Square Garden over Felix Trinidad, largely because it was so unexpected. Promoter Don King’s hype machine had built Trinidad into an invincible being and few gave Hopkins a chance.
Even King, who knows boxing exceptionally well and knew full well the challenge Hopkins presented his money-maker, fell into the trap. He had Trinidad’s name engraved onto the Sugar Ray Robinson Trophy, which was emblematic of the winner of the Middleweight Championship Series he held in 2001, before the finale was contested.
When Hopkins stopped Trinidad in the 12th round, he walked toward the ropes at the end of the fight, crossed his arms and stared at media members with a defiant, “I told you so,” look. On Saturday, he did the same.
“I’m tired of proving to the same naysayers, who motivate me,” Hopkins said after his third victory over a top-five opponent since he’s turned 40. “Don’t you guys know you motivate me? I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I hollered across … ‘What do I have to do, kill someone?’ I believe I’m the most underrated fighter when it comes to defense, when it comes to offense, when it comes to my heart. In my heart, I fought like I had to prove something.”
Hopkins blunted Pavlik’s power, which was perhaps not all that surprising. He has done that to dozens of power punchers throughout his career. But what was jaw-dropping was the way he took the fight to Pavlik from the opening bell. He raked Pavlik with combinations and snapped his head back repeatedly with right hands.
The key came down to two of Hopkins’ old standbys, discipline and hard work. He pored over tapes of Pavlik and discovered a flaw in the way Pavlik moved his feet. And then he disciplined himself to take advantage of it, even if it didn’t work early.
Hopkins noticed that both Jermain Taylor and Edison Miranda kept moving the wrong way, into range for Pavlik’s right. Hopkins watched Pavlik’s feet and the way he adjusted them and realized, he couldn’t go the opposite way nearly as well or nearly as easily.
He spent much of his camp working on that move.
“If you noticed, I spent the night going to my right, which is his left, and he couldn’t handle it,” Hopkins said. “His footing couldn’t adjust going that way. I had to be patient and I had to be consistent to not deviate from going that way even if it didn’t work on that split-second or in that minute. He couldn’t throw across his chest with the right hand.
“I feel I’m still a boxing student. I study tapes from old to new to today. I learned that from my old trainer, Bouie Fisher, who trained me for many years. I watched his footing and I watched his moves and I knew I would stay on that side when I need to and it’s going to throw him off because he cannot punch across his body and be effective. “
Hopkins said he’s so fanatical about watching tapes he watches while he’s in his car. He watched tapes of Antonio Margarito’s victory last year of Miguel Cotto, wanting to watch a fighter pressuring another, expecting Pavlik to employ that strategy on him.
Hopkins’ greatness, though, is such that he has an answer for any strategy anyone may employ. George Foreman won the heavyweight championship when he was 45. Archie Moore captured the light heavyweight belt when he was days shy of his 43rd birthday.
But neither man had the sustained success against high-level opponents that Hopkins has had. Since turning 40, Hopkins is 4-3, but his four wins have been over Howard Eastman, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright and Pavlik. Tarver, Wright and Pavlik were all consensus top-five pound-for-pound when Hopkins routed them.
His three losses were back-to-back decisions to Taylor and an April split decision loss to Joe Calzaghe. No matter how one saw them, all three could have gone either way.
There are a lot of people who don’t like a lot of things about Bernard Hopkins.
But the man can fight, as he proved to Kelly Pavlik on Saturday night. Pavlik couldn’t have been beaten much worse had three guys mugged him in the back with clubs.
A 2009 rematch with Roy Jones Jr. beckons, if Jones gets past Calzaghe on Nov. 8. Then, perhaps, retirement beckons.
He isn’t going to retire until he convinces the skeptics. He hasn’t had to convince me, because I have been a believer for many years.
And if he couldn’t win the skeptics over after his effort on Saturday, well, they’re not worth winning over.
But if you need further convincing, ask those men who have walked out of the ring after fighting Hopkins. They’ll tell you all you need to know about the man.
Bernard Hopkins: “Roy Jones Jr. Will Be My Final Fight”
By Mark Vester
Speaking with BoxingScene.com’s Jose “OnFire” Aguirre, Bernard Hopkins, at age 43, says that he is finally starting to get tired of fighting. The only thing that can motivate him to fight again is facing the winner of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Joe Calzaghe, scheduled for November 8.
The future of another Hopkins fight is riding on the shoulders of Jones. Calzaghe, who won a close decision over Hopkins in April, has no interest in a rematch with Bernard and he doesn’t plan on fighting beyond the Jones encounter. If Calzaghe beats Jones, last weekend’s astonishing win over Kelly Pavlik may become the final ring performance by Hopkins. It also depends on how Calzaghe wins. If Joe wins a close decision and Jones puts on a good performance, a rematch with Hopkins may still be possible.
“I'm really getting tired of proving myself and I've used that for the fire for many years. That means it's like one foot out and one foot in, and the only thing that can motivate me is the winner between Joe and Roy. It's the only thing I see to where people will spend their money on and to get interested in,” Hopkins said. “On that, I'll be motivated but after that, there is nothing else - win, lose or draw.”
“There is nothing else that can motivate Bernard Hopkins. I want to show that I can beat Joe Calzaghe and that I can beat Roy Jones Jr. If I can get that opportunity, then I can ride off into the sunset because there will be nothing else to prove. And I know that I'll probably be the underdog in those fights.”
Hopkins would tell BoxingScene that in preparation for the fight with Pavlik, he studied Marvin Hagler's three-round war with Thomas Hearns. He studied Hagler’s technique of taking away the long reach of Hearns and used the same tactic against Pavlik.
"I knew I had a little bit more speed than him. Not by being in the ring, but by watching tapes. I said 'wow, this guy got long arms'. I watched the Tommy Hearns vs. Marvin Hagler tape. When I saw Hagler was on the outside in the first round, he got caught with a right hand that split him [on the head], but when he got inside - he took away the long reach and that's what I did with Kelly Pavlik,” Hopkins said.
“He got such long arms. Jermain Taylor stayed outside. Edison Miranda stayed outside. But, if you go halfway to his elbow, not enough to smother my punches, but enough to where I take away his reach - then he has to pull his arms back so far to either protect himself or get a shot in with me. He's too lanky, he's too slim and he's too long to be mobile like that. So once I got my foot and went in and then went out, without wasting energy - that just rattled him.
“And I stayed away from his strong hand. I went away from his right. I went my left, which is his right, so when he threw the punch he had to reach across his body and then I could counter him.”
By Mark Vester
Speaking with BoxingScene.com’s Jose “OnFire” Aguirre, Bernard Hopkins, at age 43, says that he is finally starting to get tired of fighting. The only thing that can motivate him to fight again is facing the winner of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Joe Calzaghe, scheduled for November 8.
The future of another Hopkins fight is riding on the shoulders of Jones. Calzaghe, who won a close decision over Hopkins in April, has no interest in a rematch with Bernard and he doesn’t plan on fighting beyond the Jones encounter. If Calzaghe beats Jones, last weekend’s astonishing win over Kelly Pavlik may become the final ring performance by Hopkins. It also depends on how Calzaghe wins. If Joe wins a close decision and Jones puts on a good performance, a rematch with Hopkins may still be possible.
“I'm really getting tired of proving myself and I've used that for the fire for many years. That means it's like one foot out and one foot in, and the only thing that can motivate me is the winner between Joe and Roy. It's the only thing I see to where people will spend their money on and to get interested in,” Hopkins said. “On that, I'll be motivated but after that, there is nothing else - win, lose or draw.”
“There is nothing else that can motivate Bernard Hopkins. I want to show that I can beat Joe Calzaghe and that I can beat Roy Jones Jr. If I can get that opportunity, then I can ride off into the sunset because there will be nothing else to prove. And I know that I'll probably be the underdog in those fights.”
Hopkins would tell BoxingScene that in preparation for the fight with Pavlik, he studied Marvin Hagler's three-round war with Thomas Hearns. He studied Hagler’s technique of taking away the long reach of Hearns and used the same tactic against Pavlik.
"I knew I had a little bit more speed than him. Not by being in the ring, but by watching tapes. I said 'wow, this guy got long arms'. I watched the Tommy Hearns vs. Marvin Hagler tape. When I saw Hagler was on the outside in the first round, he got caught with a right hand that split him [on the head], but when he got inside - he took away the long reach and that's what I did with Kelly Pavlik,” Hopkins said.
“He got such long arms. Jermain Taylor stayed outside. Edison Miranda stayed outside. But, if you go halfway to his elbow, not enough to smother my punches, but enough to where I take away his reach - then he has to pull his arms back so far to either protect himself or get a shot in with me. He's too lanky, he's too slim and he's too long to be mobile like that. So once I got my foot and went in and then went out, without wasting energy - that just rattled him.
“And I stayed away from his strong hand. I went away from his right. I went my left, which is his right, so when he threw the punch he had to reach across his body and then I could counter him.”
^^You talkin about Pavlik's trainer, Jack Leow? I dunno man, that guy is shit. Pavlik needs to fire his ass. Every round he kept telling pavlik he needs to "double up on the jab" but obviously it wasn't working for shit. He had NO plan B for pavlik. I think he was pissed off that hopkins was trying to knock him out in the final minute of the round, I'm guessing.
But yeah, that was definitely one of the greatest performances by bhop. It's up there with the Trinidad fight imo. I'm still kinda in shock that a 43 year old man could look that good.
But yeah, that was definitely one of the greatest performances by bhop. It's up there with the Trinidad fight imo. I'm still kinda in shock that a 43 year old man could look that good.
I think in his last 3 losses, the busier guy simply got the nod. In none of the 3 of those fights did the *official winner* land the cleaner, harder shots, IMO.
I think judges get too caught up in workrate and forget that when it really comes down to it, the boxer that inflicts the most damage on the other should be the victor.
I think judges get too caught up in workrate and forget that when it really comes down to it, the boxer that inflicts the most damage on the other should be the victor.
Agreed^^^ I only caught one good left hand from Calzaghe that landed flush on Hopkins... Hopkins even scored a knockdown in that fight. If Hopkins would have taken more risks like he did against Pavlik, he would have knocked Calzaghe out. I didn't know Hopkins could put together combo's like he was doing... I didn't know he had it in him.
