[mack]

Hopkins the greatest this side of 40
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

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.

[Thebomb]

i missed last nights bout...........F told me hopkins was quite aggressive for a change.....he sure is an excellent athlete, i fancy jones to outpoint calzahge.........a rematch between the two would be a massive seller if he does