Here is boxing writer Keith Idec’s inside look at the sport:
FEATURED FIGHT: Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC) can become the oldest fighter in boxing history to win a recognized world title if the seemingly ageless Philadelphia native beats Canada’s Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KOs) in their fight for Pascal’s WBC and The Ring light heavyweight titles Dec. 18 in Quebec City (Showtime). Hopkins will be 45 years and 11 months old when he opposes Pascal, nearly two months older than George Foreman was when Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer to win the IBF heavyweight title in November 1994 in Las Vegas.
LOCAL LOOK: The Garden State School of Boxing in Paterson won the team championship at the recently concluded New Jersey Diamond Gloves Tournament. In its first year of existence, the gym founded by Westwood’s Alex Davila and Clifton’s Frank Toledo Sr. produced five total champions in the open and novice divisions.
THE FINAL BELL: Oscar De La Hoya called the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight “a mismatch” Wednesday while attending a news conference for the Hopkins-Pascal fight in Manhattan. While it’s tiresome to continually call out “The Golden Boy” on his hypocrisy, wasn’t it just two years ago that he was th
