Roughly two months shy of his 50th birthday, Bernard Hopkins entered the ring against Sergey Kovalev more interested in the WBO, IBF and WBA than in AARP.
But Hopkins couldn?t close the deal, with all three judges in Atlantic City, N.J., giving Kovalev all three rounds Saturday night in their light heavyweight title unification bout. Lawrence Layton scored it 120-106; Carlos Ortiz Jr. and Clark Sammartino had it 120-107; Yahoo Sports gave Hopkins the seventh on a scorecard that was 119-108 in Kovalev?s favor; ESPN scored it 120-107 for Kovalev. It was the kind of finish that brought Hopkins? future in the sport into question. He wasn?t as certain as his promoter, Oscar de la Hoya, who said he would drop a division and seek a middleweight fight with Gennady Golovkin,
?It?s 50-50 right now,? he said (via Yahoo). ?I really don?t want to say anything. Everybody will have a long time to talk about my career. It?s been 50-50 the last nine years. I?d done what I had to do.?
Hopkins surrendered his WBA and IBF 175-pound titles to Kovalev, who already had the WBO belt.
He was a really tough opponent.? Kovalev said. ?He is very good at keeping distance. I really respect him for the fight, but he needs to stop his career, because he?s already done a lot in the boxing world and he needs to give an opportunity to younger fighters to be champions. I?m next.?
On Saturday night, Hopkins never really threatened.
?I wanted to show I could box,? Kovalev said, ?and I did.?
Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 knockouts) landed 166 of 585 punches, Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) managed to land only 65 of 196. Yahoo?s Kevin Iole noted that it was a gutsy move by Hopkins to face a hard hitter, but he is, after all, 49:
It wasn?t the night that Hopkins wanted it to be, but he had no excuses. He fought an unbeaten fighter who had been roaring through his opposition, compiling a 25-0-1 mark with 23 stoppages entering the bout.
Hopkins hoped to be able to control the pace, frustrate Kovalev and land the counters, but Kovalev?s shrewd plan negated that strategy and there was no Plan B for Hopkins.
?He did just what I knew he?d do,? said Kovalev trainer John David Jackson, who was stopped by Hopkins in a 1997 middleweight title bout. ?He was the teacher tonight.?
Hopkins surprised many when he challenged Kovalev, but he has faced a slew of elite opposition in his career and at 49, knew he couldn?t get motivated to fight B-leaguers.
He gambled that he could regain the magic for one more night, but it was not to be. It?s not like he looked old and slow; he was beaten by a smart fighter who had a better plan on this night.
