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WHUPS THE CHAMP BIGTIME  Ancient Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins, 43, who dominated the middleweight division for a decade, pummels current world middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, 26, Saturday night on his way to a thorough whupping of the champ in a non-title fight at 170 pounds. |
Hopkins' demolition job
on Pavlik was a classic!
of TheColumnists.com
After beating up middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik for 12 punishing rounds Saturday night, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins turned to the HBO cameras and thanked Sen. Barack Obama, "the next president of the United States," for watching him administer that historic boxing lesson to Pavlik on TV.
If it weren't for that political endorsement, I would have thought Obama's rival for the presidency, 72-year-old Republican Sen. John McCain, would have enjoyed Hopkins' performance even more than Obama. After all, Hopkins' upset victory struck a blow for senior citizens all over the world because he proved without a scintilla of doubt that he could still do anything the younger man could do and do it faster, harder and with exceedingly more finesse.
Just look at the facts: Hopkins is already a boxing legend, so the people who jammed the arena in Atlantic City and tuned in by the millions to watch the bout on HBO Pay-Per-View television were mostly there to pay their respects to him as he came to the end of a remarkable career. I'm fairly confident of that because when Hopkins entered the ring, he was a 4 to 1 betting underdog against the fighter most fans figured was the next legend-in-progress.
At 43, Hopkins is 17 years older than Pavlik. And he has lost some very big bouts lately. True, Hopkins earned his legendary status by dominating the middleweight division for a decade, but he since has moved up to the 175-pounders, where he has had some very hard fights, including his recent points loss to Welshman Joe Calzaghe. The Pavlik bout figured to be the closer for his career because Pavlik is a furious puncher who entered the ring Saturday undefeated in 34 bouts with 30 victories by knockout.
Hopkins, a cautious counterpuncher, figured to start fast, but quickly fade under the relentless pounding of Pavlik. Many sportswriters and TV sports pundits even predicted Pavlik would do what no other opponent had ever done: knock Hopkins out. And when they finally stood face to face at the opening of Round One, I started to seriously believe in the possibility of that unthinkable conclusion. Pavlik looked bigger--he's 6 foot 2 compared to Hopkins' 6 foot 1--and even meaner than the aging ex-con who likes to wear an executioner's hood when he enters the ring.
But as soon as the bell rang, Pavlik must have thought recess was over and he was back in the front row at the Little Red Schoolhouse. Hopkins began to move like a 20-year-old, working in and out, messing with Pavlik's timing, never staying in any place where the hard-hitting Ohioan could find him with a punch. And while he moved, Hopkins popped Pavlik--not with creampuff jabs but with sharp, hard left hooks and right crosses to the head and body.
As I watched, I said to myself, "Wait a minute, Bernard isn't supposed to have hand speed like that!" To move like Hopkins did, darting in and out to deliver deft, short power punches, is the province of 26-year-olds like Pavlik, not guys in their 40s. But Hopkins continued to sharpshoot Pavlik, nullifying his jab with his movement and never staying in any one spot long enough for Pavlik to load up one of his devastating straight right hand knockout blows. When Pavlik did fire a volley, Hopkins pushed the punches aside most of the time. When Pavlik scored on target, Hopkins hardly blinked. His awesome jaw of steel was still rust-free.
Well, I figured, Hopkins can't keep this up. His legs will start to go by round eight and Pavlik will start catching him. But when I looked at my card at the close of 10 rounds, I had Hopkins winning them all. Okay, one was scored 9 to 9 because the ref took a point away from Hopkins for holding and hitting. But it already was his round, so Pavlik still didn't win a round on my card.
When the two fighters moved into the eleventh and twelfth rounds, Hopkins had been assured by his corner that Pavlik had to knock him out to win. The smart thing to do then was to cover up and dodge for six minutes. But Hopkins wanted no part of that. He proved he was even smarter than his cornermen. He knew Pavlik had taken a lot of hard shots and had lost his confidence, so Bernard started cranking up the action and went out to behead Pavlik with power punches.
By the end of 12, Pavlik's head had not bowed, but he surely knew he was one lucky dude to not have been born in the era when big fights went 15 rounds. He was teetering on the brink of total annihilation and even a 13th round might have been way too much.
And here's the impressive thing about Hopkins' total domination of his opponent: Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik is a superb fighter with tremendous power and heart. Hopkins never had a cakewalk. He had to keep moving and punching or it would have been a whole different story. What Pavlik got was a boxing lesson from one of the few fighters left in the world who can do it all--and demontrated it vividly on Pavlik's battered face and reddened ribcage.
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Bernard Hopkins, now a light-heavyweight and genuine ring legend, remains in tip-top condition at age 43. |
My final card: 119-107 Hopkins. The judges scored it 119-106, 118-108 and 117-109, all for Hopkins.
After the decision in this non-title bout, Hopkins walked along press row and scowled at every writer who had predicted his doom. Later, he told HBO's Larry Merchant he needed the press to be down on his chances because that made him all the more determined to show them all up.
What we saw Saturday night was a classic moment in boxing history. A great old man beat the hell out of a great young man and most definitely earned himself a lifetime slot in the Boxing Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Pavlik remains the middleweight champ, but perhaps he'll be more careful next time he tackles a living legend. If he's as smart as I think he is, he'll look closely at the tape of this fight and use some of the knowledge Hopkins administered to him in such a painful way.
As for Hopkins, he's far from through, This would be a great time to retire if he wants to secure his place forever in ring history, but Bernard loves to fight and he's sure to be looking forward to still another great money bout if Roy Jones, his old rival from middleweight days, beats Calzaghe in their upcoming superfight.
Hopkins couldn't have been more physically fit than he was Saturday night. He has watched his spending and is many times over a millionaire. He's a partner with Oscar De La Hoya in boxing'x Golden Boy Promotions, so he also reaps owner's points from his big fights. He just bought a 17,000 square foot mansion and one of his neighbors is Sen. Joe Biden, who might just be the next vice president of the U.S.
Unless he decides to run for Biden's Senate seat, I'm sure he'll find some pretty big challenges still to come in the boxing ring, a place where legitimate legends are always in heavy demand.
©2008 by Ron Miller. This column first posted Oct. 20, 2008.
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