SONAHR: ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – November 9, 2014 – WBO light-heavyweight champion Sergei Kovalev beat the hell out of a 49-year-old man in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Saturday. But the Russian?s victim wasn?t just any 49-year-old, soon to be 50-year-old leather-pusher. It was Bernard Hopkins, the IBF/WBA ?super? light-heavyweight champion, the modern-day Ageless Archie Moore, the oldest man ever to wear a major world championship crown, the man who was able to stay ahead on points in his stubborn battle against Father Time.
The scorecards tell the tale and the scale of the rout. None of the three judges saw fit to award Hopkins even one of the 12 rounds. And this was in Atlantic City, which is practically the hometown of Hopkins, who lives in nearby Philadelphia.
Kovalev served notice as to what was coming when he decked Hopkins in the first round. Although Hopkins did not go down again over the remainder of the bout, he was, for all intents and purposes, finished as a champion ? and very possibly as a fighter ? from that moment forward. Kovalev, who was previously considered to be primarily a puncher, was able to do to Hopkins what ?B-Hop? has done to so many of his foils, from Antonio Tarver to Beibut Shumenov: he nullified Hopkins?s style, leaving Hopkins with nothing to fall back on but the heart that enabled him to survive his pre-boxing days in the streets and prison.
The traps Hopkins usually sets for his unwary foes were never sprung. The subtle tricks he usually plays fell flat. The discreet rule-breaking (a sly elbow here, a clandestine head-butt there) that usually upsets his opponents? composure did nothing for him. On Saturday, Hopkins found himself up against someone who knew the ins-and-outs of ringcraft just as well as he did and was, yes, 18 years younger.
Of late, Hopkins has taken to calling himself ?The Alien,? due to his seemingly other-worldly ability to take advantage of his immense experience without suffering significant erosion of his skills over the passage of the years. Yet he did not ?grow old overnight? in that Atlantic City ring. He got trounced by an opponent who was savvy enough to render Bernard?s bag of tricks as empty as the promises of a politician after election day.
It?s a tribute to Hopkins?s courage that he lasted the distance against a nemesis who not only had his number, but hit the jackpot. Even in his most recent losses ? to Chad Dawson and Joe Calzaghe ? Hopkins was at least in the fight. This time, he was in the ring, but not in the fight.
Yet rather than simply cover up and try to hold on until the final bell, Hopkins went after Kovalev in last round, hoping against hope to land something that would make a difference. He couldn?t do it. But at least he tried.
Sergey Kovalev did not dominate an old man on Saturday. He dominated a phenomenon. That makes Kovalev something of a phenomenon in his own right.
As for Hopkins, he has nothing left to prove as a fighter. But he can still contribute to the sport, if he wants. He has been called the last of the ?old-school? boxers. But he doesn?t have to be. If he has the patience and inclination to become a trainer, he can impart those ?old-school? skills to generations of ringsters to come. In that way, his legacy will live on long after he hangs up his gloves.
