Sunday 22 May 2011

Hopkins makes history yet again with latest age-dfying victory

The record will reflect that 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins became the oldest world champion in boxing history Saturday night, thoroughly dominating Jean Pascal for the light heavyweight title in a unanimous decision.
But the agate type will only tell half the story.
Hopkins not only outpointed, outboxed and outthought the younger champion, but he pulled it off with nearly every intangible breaking against him.
He did it in Pascal's hometown, before a hostile sellout crowd of 17,560 at Montreal's Bell Centre, where many observers thought it'd be nearly impossible for him to win a decision.
He did it despite not one, but two potentially fatal missed knockdown calls by referee Ian John-Lewis, who failed to see when Pascal's glove brushed the canvas in the ninth and 10th rounds.
And he did it all f
ighting against type: eschewing the measured and cautious defensive approach that's become his post-millennial calling card for a more exciting
, attacking style.
The whole night was vintage Hopkins: from the black executioner's mask he wore during the ringwalk (to his own version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way"), to the penitentiary stare during the final instructions, to the slippery and artful defense that's been the foundation of the Philadelphia icon's improbable Hall of Fame career.
Yes, the scores were close: Rey Denesco of the Philippines had Hopkins winning comfortably (116-112), while Italy's Guido Cavalleri (115-113) and Thailand's Anek Hontongkam (115-114) had it much closer.
But Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) was clearly the better fighter, just as many had thought when the two battled to a controversial majority draw on Dec. 18 in Quebec City. He outlanded Pascal, 131 to 70, and imposed his will on the Haitian-born Pascal more effectively as the fight progressed.
This was Hopkins' masterpiece and it's difficult to see him ever topping it. Tactics, conditioning, ring generalship, mental fortitude: he was superior in every category. And it came less than a year after many fans and pundits wrote Hopkins off after a pair of fully deserved but hardly impressive wins over Enrique Ornelas and a faded Roy Jones Jr.
Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KOs) was simply out of his depth against the slicker challenger.
The first two rounds saw Hopkins sitting back, waiting for the champ's sporadic but consistent bumrushes. Hopkins landed the first big shot of the fight in the third, snapping Pascal's head back with a well-timed right hand. But the challenger -- gladly engaging in a young man's fight -- absorbed an even bigger shot near the end of the fourth, prompting a change in tactics from Hopkins and corner man Naazim Richardson.
From the fifth round on, it was all Hopkins. As Pascal began to spend an excessive amount of time on the stool between rounds, Hopkins made sure to probe the mental weakness, doing push-ups during the delay before the seventh. Minutes later, chants of "B-Hop! B-Hop!" could be heard throughout the pro-Pascal crowd.
Just like their first meeting, Hopkins dominated the latter half of the fight and pulled Pascal in on a rope. In the ninth, Hopkins connected with a quick right hand that wobbled the champ, whose glove brushed the canvas as he righted himself. But John-Lewis didn't rule it a knockdown. A similar but less obvious call was missed in the 10th.
Pascal went down swinging in the final round, knowing he likely needed at least a knockdown to retain his titles. But Hopkins absorbed the champion's best shot and made it to the finish line, where the verdict was merely a formality.
Hopkins is an original -- an unforgettable personality in a sport with no shortage of characters. Who else can name-check Tina Turner and Graterford State Prison during a post-fight interview?
He spent most of his career under the radar, even as he racked up a record 20 straight middleweight title defenses. He didn't cross over into the mainstream until beating Felix Trinidad in 2001, when he was considered too old to upset the flashy Puerto Rican. He didn't make a seven-figure purse until stopping Oscar De La Hoya in 2004.
Hopkins had already locked up first-ballot Hall of Fame status before his 40th birthday. Since then, he's surpassed Foreman and Archie Moore as the greatest quadragenarian fighter in history.
He's fought 11 times since turning 40, including: a unanimous decision over Howard Eastman in a division-record 20th consecutive middleweight title defense; two razor-thin decision losses to then-up-and-coming Jermain Taylor, who was 13 years his junior; a lopsided unanimous decision over Antonio Tarver for the Ring light heavyweight title; another lopsided decision over fellow pound-for-pounder Winky Wright; a controversial decision loss to Joe Calzaghe; a points whitewash of middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik that derailed his career.
Now it's a victory over Pascal to become a champion yet again.
And he's not done yet.
Saturday marked the first of Hopkins' three-fight deal with HBO. Next up is a long-awaited showdown with Chad Dawson, the former light heavyweight titlist who won Saturday's undercard.
"I would love to beat [Lucian] Bute after Chad Dawson, and then I will go on to something bigger and better," Hopkins said. "I will not retire until I get close to 50, that's about four or five years from now."
George Foreman was 45 years and 299 days when he knocked out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title in 1994. Hopkins was 192 days older Saturday in Montreal.
Foreman watched on HBO from his home in Houston as Hopkins eclipsed his record.
"I was on the edge of my seat every round. It was such an exciting fight," Foreman said. "Bernard was the better athlete, the smarter fighter and in the better condition. Now that 46 has done it, next a 47, 48, 49 and 50 will do it. And if somebody does it at 60 then I'll have to get back in there. Look, Hopkins is doing push ups. What great conditioning. And he did it in Pascal's hometown. Isn't that something? He was just so much better. I'm happy for Hopkins and I'm happy for mature athletes."
While the whole night felt like the punctuation of a panoramic 23-year career, Hopkins insisted his best is yet to come.
"If you thought tonight was something you ain't seen nothing," Hopkins said. "There's a lot of fight left in me."

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