A little more than two months before he turns 50 years old, Bernard Hopkins will slip through the ropes at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on Nov. 8 to face Sergey Kovalev in a bout for three of the four major light heavyweight titles.
Making it to the fight with his senses and wits intact, perhaps sharper than ever, is perhaps the wily Hopkins’ greatest accomplishment. There are few more amazing stories in sports than a 50-year-old man competing, and winning, against the best boxers in the world.
Hopkins was born in 1965, the same birth year as an astounding number of the greatest athletes of our generation. Among those, NFL wide receiver Cris Carter retired in 2002. Ex-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, NFL cornerback Rod Woodson and NBA center David Robinson all retired in 2003. Hockey legend Mario Lemieux hung up the skates for good in 2006. In 2007, Craig Biggio, a member of MLB’s 3,000-hit club, retired. And in 2008, Michael Jordan sidekick Scott Pippen ended his marvelous career.
Still, Hopkins endures, competing at the highest level at his sport, weeks before he’s eligible for membership in the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
But Hopkins has had a career filled with highlights. What follows is one man’s choices as the five greatest moments in Hopkins’ fabulous career:
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Bernard Hopkins (L) and one-time foe Oscar De La Hoya. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) 5. Hopkins defeats Winky Wright on July 21, 2007 — In his six previous bouts, Wright had defeated Shane Mosley twice, Felix Trinidad, Sam Soliman and Ike Quartey and fought to a disputed draw with Jermain Taylor in a bout most thought he won. He was a slick boxer, but he couldn’t match Hopkins, who pulled away down the stretch to post the impressive unanimous decision.
4. Hopkins crushes previously unbeaten Kelly Pavlik on Oct. 18, 2008 — Hopkins thrived throughout his career on doing things people told him he could not do. This was another case. Pavlik was 34-0 and had knocked out Jermain Taylor to win the middleweight title. But it was no contest as Hopkins easily outboxed the younger man.
3. Hopkins defeats Jean Pascal on May 21, 2011, to become the oldest man ever to hold a major boxing title — Pascal was nearly 18 years younger than Hopkins and had been on a good roll but he was a bit part to history on this night. Hopkins surpassed George Foreman to become, at 46-plus, the oldest man to win a boxing title. In between rounds, Hopkins went into his corner and did push-ups in a bid to psyche Pascal out. He didn’t need to, though, because his boxing ability did that for him.
2. Hopkins decisions Antonio Tarver after jumping to light heavywieght on June 6, 2006 — This bout was to be Hopkins’ last. He’d promised his mother, Shirley, he wouldn’t fight after 40. And so, after losing back-to-back disappointing decisions to Jermain Taylor in middleweight title bouts, Hopkins opted to try to go out with a bang. He agreed to face Tarver, whom many regarded as the second-best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, in a light heavyweight fight. Once again, Hopkins confounded the experts who thought he was too slow, too small or too something and easily handled Tarver. He won 10 of the 12 rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.
1. Hopkins TKOs Felix Trinidad for the undisputed middleweight championship on Sept. 29, 2001 — No matter what Hopkins’ accomplishes in his career, it won’t be able to top this moment. Hopkins was nearly 37 years old and perceived to be on the way out when he took on Trinidad, the popular Puerto Rican star who had become one of the most feared punchers in boxing. Fighting at New York’s Madison Square Garden just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hopkins was brilliant in outboxing Trinidad and scoring a 12th-round stoppage. He was never better than he was on this night.
