How many times do we have to write off Bernard Hopkins before we learn we were wrong? The general consensus, after his most recent fight against Roy Jones Jr., is that Hopkins has finally shown his age and should retire from the sport at age 45. Let us not forget that after his April 2008 bout with Joe Calzaghe, in which he lost a debatable split decision, many boxing experts and fans called for the same thing. They felt Hopkins was suffering from stamina problems and had to fake low blows against the Welshman in order to finish the fight.
Six months later, in October of 2008, Hopkins took to school the previously unbeaten Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik in a fight which many people not only predicted he would lose, but that he would possibly suffer the first knockout of his career. Freddie Roach, who had trained Hopkins for his fights with Calzaghe and Ronald "Winky" Wright, decided that he would not train him for the Pavlik fight as he felt Hopkins shouldn't be fighting anymore, particularly after seeing him walk to the wrong corner on a few occasions against Calzaghe. Despite all this, Hopkins defied the odds and turned the clock back and it seems that Kelly Pavlik is no longer the same fighter he was before facing "The Executioner".
In June 2006, Hopkins stepped up to light heavyweight from middleweight, where he had fought the majority of his career, to face Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver. Again, the consensus going into this fight was that Hopkins, at age 41, was way past his best and the bigger Tarver would emerge victorious. Hopkins again defied the critics, using his own ring smarts, combined with the physical conditioning that he had worked on with renowned trainer Macky Shilstone. Hopkins even managed to score a technical knockdown against Tarver on his way to a comfortable unanimous decision win.
We are now again faced with many in the boxing game calling for an end to Hopkins' career before he ends up being hurt in the ring. Hopkins, however, said during a recent radio interview that he hopes to land a fight with WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. On the face of it, the idea of a man who fought the majority of his career at middleweight now taking on a heavyweight, like David Haye, seems like suicide. Nevertheless, we should not be so quick to write Hopkins off. Yes, he could be nearly 46 years old by the time that possible fight occurs, but how many times previously has this man been written off for attempting to bite off more than he can chew? David Haye is bigger, stronger, faster and punches harder than Hopkins, but Haye has been beaten before, losing against then 40-year-old Carl Thompson, and has shown stamina issues on more than one occasion. Frankly, I thought he looked quite tired at the end of his last bout with John Ruiz, although as he stated in his post-fight interview, he was unable to spar for the last month of training due to a cut.
Nothing motivates Hopkins more than proving the critics wrong and this latest question mark over his future in the ring will only serve to give him even more motivation for yet another fight against another big name. He has said so on numerous occasions and his staredown at the media after defeating Kelly Pavlik spoke louder than any words could. If anyone can defy the odds one more time, surely it's the defensive master, counter-punching ring genius that is Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: FightHype would like to welcome the talents of Ben Jacobs to the team.]