May 21, 2011 By: Marc Livitz ? Austin, TX.
First off, please allow me to inform you that this piece was written (or at least conceived) prior to the Hopkins/Pascal fight this past weekend. I?ll jump to that portion in a moment. My jaw is still a bit fatigued after the chin-wagging produced by B-Hop?s maestro-like performance in Montreal. His output was such a far cry from the ?win by attrition? approach he had taken as a middleweight. By his own admission, he acknowledges the fact that he must now come forward, engage the action and press for confrontation. I must say that I miss the Hopkins of old somewhat. I do miss the brilliant displays of blockade and attack shown during his unfathomable decade-long string of title defenses. However, the revamped version will do just fine, especially if we still have a extra quatrain?s number of years to keep him in the ring.
Here?s the part from earlier. I wasn?t going to predict or even discuss Hopkins-Pascal II. Rather, I simply wanted to discuss how he has left an indelible mark on the sport of boxing, not so much as a fighter, but as a boxer. We as boxing buffs don?t always get a slugfest. It may perturb some of us. One of the ways technology may have hurt us is when we ?DVR? a fight. We have to play the waiting game until we can watch and once again as we play the matchup on our TV. I?ve had to watch a few fights this way. Bernard Hopkins? fights can make us cringe in the early going. His reluctance to immediately fire sometimes stretches into the first third of the fight. I think I?ve come up with a term for this approach.
I remember sitting across the desk from more than one academic counselor at various times during my younger years. More than one called me a ?Smart Slacker?. I almost want to slap this tag on boxers like Bernard Hopkins. He knows full well, beyond any doubt what he?s doing. He understands the game and what needs to be done. Is procrastination an American trait? Probably not. Sometimes boxers wait too long to turn on their best game and they occasionally run out of time. Hopkins is handling ?Father Time? better than many who are half his age. Call the grains of sand undefeated, but most of us would love to sock them in the liver just a few more times before we hang it up. Not many of us get a 13th round.
Marvin Hagler understood that his effort had to do the talking. Don?t rely on the judges. Montreal in recent years has been guilty of having the worst case of beer goggles when it comes to fight judges and referees. Bute-Andrade I may have been the only time I?ve wanted to actually throw something at the TV. Lucian took ?hold onto the handrail? a bit too literally. I?d toss in Taylor/Chavez I as well, but I was at a friend?s house. B-Hop can no longer leave the decision in the hands of the three scorecard scribblers. I?d hoped for a smash-and-grab on the 21st. We got it.
I?ll sorely miss Bernard Hopkins whenever he calls it quits for good. I actually giggle at some of the incendiary comments he makes. I enjoy his monthly input to Ring Magazine of his boxing & fitness pointers. Boxing has no one ?official? league ala? the NBA. Jerry West is the logo for that group of athletes. I?d love to see B-Hop?s old-school fighting stance one day be outlined as the symbol for boxing. The stance taken by so many of his pugilistic forefathers. I?ll never forget his performance against Tito Trinidad and of course the controversy that preceded it. I?m a drummer for a band here in Austin during my spare time, but I?ll never have the wrist action on the kit that Don King has for waving a flag. Good times.
Salud, B-Hop!
