Going into his bout with Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, boxing experts stood sharply divided on whether Bernard Hopkins could outsmart and outbox his feared, but unproven, power-punching opponent. Amazingly, the 49-year-old Hopkins’ age was widely overlooked as an impediment since the ageless wonder beat another 31-year-old titlist, Beibut Shumenov, in April. Hopkins had made a career out of making easy work of younger boxing bullies through a mix of mental toughness, brilliant defense and the innate ability to pull of every dirty trick in the book without being caught. So it was no surprise when respected boxing writers such as Dan Rafael of ESPN, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News picked the graybeard to emerge victorious.
Boy were they wrong.
Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KO) dropped the iron-chinned Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KO) with the first solidly landed punch in the fight. After that, the pupil took over the role of professor. Following the first-round knockdown, Kovalev intelligently stalked Hopkins all night long. He used a consistent jab to keep Hopkins at a distance and unleashed hooks along with his vaunted right hand to make Hopkins think twice about employing his normal rough, inside fighting strategy. Without his inside game, Hopkins had to rely on his movement in order to try to frustrate his opponent. However, John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer, did a phenomenal job in preparing his charge to cut off the ring. None of Master Hopkins’ usual traps and escapes worked at all. Instead Hopkins often looked like a trapped animal, back against the ropes, as the hunter closed in for the kill.
Kovalev did something that Father Time has repeatedly failed to do when it comes to Hopkins. He made him look vulnerable. In addition to first-round knockdown, Kovalev hurt Hopkins numerous times throughout the fight. In the twelfth and final round, after an ill-advised taunt by Hopkins, Kovalev beat, battered and bruised the old man viciously. Hopkins staggered around the ring for the last minute of the fight, absorbing flush shots from one of the most powerful punchers in the sport. At times he appeared out on his feet, held up by nothing but willpower and legend.
Some will chalk up Hopkins’ loss to age, but in reality much of Hopkins’ success has been due to the fact that he has fought like an old man since he was in his 30s. His uber-conservative punch output has made him equal parts boring and brilliant. Hopkins always possessed the innate ability to take away his opponent’s greatest weapon and slow the fighting pace down to a crawl. He almost always relied on his supreme defense and deft counter-punching to rack up the victories. However, Kovalev was simply too strong, too patient and too smart for Hopkins to ever get into the fight.
Many are now calling for the soon-to-be-AARP-eligible fighter to hang up the gloves. Why shouldn’t he? Just one month shy of his 50th birthday, Hopkins has achieved everything a fighter can wish for. He owns the middleweight record for most consecutive title defenses (20) and is the oldest fighter to ever win a world title. He has earned millions of dollars over his storied career and has beaten ring legends such as Felix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya and Antonio Tarver.
Still, it’s hard to imagine Hopkins being comfortable walking away from the fight game after such a one-sided loss. Hopkins has made a career of doing things on his own terms and stubbornly, refusing to give in to others. That’s why Hopkins is talking about taking one last fight before calling it a career. He wants to walk away a winner. Just don’t expect him to fight Joe the Plumber, Larry the Electrician or any other bum in his last bout. Hard Nard will find a solid opponent, most likely a titleholder to fight at 50 years old. He will likely move down to super-middleweight (168 lbs.) for his last bout. If that holds to be true, his options for a new shiny strap would have to go through Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Andre Dirrell or Arthur Abraham.
Hopkins has already gone on record saying he will never fight Andre Ward. That’s probably a smart decision as Ward is universally lauded as the #2 pound for pound fighter in the world. Froch is another powerful and active fighter that could give Hopkins trouble, though he’s more vulnerable than Kovalev on the defensive end. That leaves Dirrell and Abraham. Both would like be interested in a high profile fight versus Hopkins (and the lucrative payday it would bring). Of the two, Abraham’s style is likely more in Hopkins’ wheelhouse. Abraham is a powerful but limited fighter who was exposed in the Super Six middleweight tournament a few years back. He has flaws that Hopkins can expose. Hopkins’ last great feat as a fighter may be to lure Abraham in the ring. If he does so, he’ll likely retire as a champion at 50 years old. Maybe he’ll hold the fight in Canastota, New York so he can literally walk out of the ring and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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