Its always tough when someone special starts to ignore you – but its even tougher to pretend you don’t mind.
For most of us, [time] is special, and if we have the proper view of it, it always will be. Athletes (particularly the great ones) do not always feel this way, and they’ll sometimes decide to challenge time; feeling as if they can ignore it, while pretending it won’t mind.
It does.
Not long ago, I watched a documentary on the incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson. It was as poignant as it was compelling, particularly toward the end, as it chronicled his fistic demise and full descension into poverty. What stood out to me was a reflection on his final fight on the night of November 10th, 1965 against Joey Archer.
At 44, Robinson, robbed of the many wonderful gifts the fight Gods had bestowed upon him long ago; was being pounded and knocked down by the powder punching and forgettable Archer, while losing every minute of every round. Going into that fight- no one really picked him to win, and would no longer care if he’d lost.
Nearly 49 years later (and almost exactly to the day), a 49 year-old fighter by the name of Bernard Hopkins entered the ring to face a “Krusher” in WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Robbed of the many wonderful gifts the fight Gods had bestowed upon him long ago; Hopkins was knocked down and pounded by the power punching Kovalev, while losing almost every minute of every round. Going into that fight last week – no one really picked him to lose, and actually did care that he’d lost.
If Robinson is the greatest fighter to have ever lived (and he is), then Hopkins has to be at least the bravest, and in the discussion as among the very best ever to lace up a pair of gloves.
I read a column by a respected fight aficionado that stated Hopkins cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Robinson – but I beg to differ. In his prime, Robinson was breathtaking for sure, but Hopkins did things that would have made the original Sugar Ray hold his breath with mouth wide open.
At the same 44 years of age Robinson was while losing badly to Archer in his final fight, Hopkins was a decided underdog who embarrassed an undefeated former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. I went to that fight, and I’ll never forget Hopkins glaring at nearly every member of the assembled press still at ringside afterwards.
It was a polarizing moment and I have a polaroid of it in my scrapbook.
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For the hell of it, I went to Philadelphia to watch Bernard’s very next fight, a December 2009 clinic, where he put a complete paint job on a very good fighter in Enrique Ornelas. It was basically a warm up fight for Roy Jones Jr., and one he’d made available on free TV. Robinson would’ve never done something like this, and as stated earlier, was in no position to.
Who would’ve ever thought that Hopkins (who lost to an apex version of an all-world Jones before becoming one of the best middleweight champions in history), would wind up being held in higher esteem than Jones, while beating him in a rematch and at the bargaining table?
It was enough to make me smile while watching Hopkins figure out a way to survive Kovalev and listening to Roy Jones essentially cheer on Hopkins as part of the HBO broadcast team.
“Why are you smiling?” asked my red-headed wifey Racheal, face contorted like I’d forgotten to DVR her favorite show (I like.. did actually). “It looks like he’s losing as bad as you said he would. Way to go honey.”
My eyes never left the screen and I didn’t even respond. Besides, its hard to imagine her really appreciating what I was thinking, but perhaps you might.
Right around the 4th round, I found myself reflecting on Hopkins’ title winning rematch against Jean Pascal at 46, after being robbed via draw in the first match. It defied all knowledge and reason, but I started seeing things in Hopkins physically that told me his flirtation with science and physics were about to explode in his face.
I didn’t pick him to beat Chad Dawson.
I thought Hopkins bailed out of the first fight, and fought an incredibly smart fight in defeat the 2nd time around. Physiologically, he had no business in the ring with a prime Dawson on both occasions. To me, it was like (and don’t you dare think I’m comparing him to Ali) the same 44 year old Robinson challenging a 1965 version of Cassius Clay. Hopkins is probably the smartest fighter in the history of the sport.
His return bout performance with Dawson, all things being equal, was simply remarkable. I did pick him to beat Tavoris Cloud exactly as he beat him, just as I favored him to best Karo Murat and Beibut Shumenov.
His economy, uncanny calm ring demeanor and composure; combined with an out-of- this-world ring IQ in a body that will wind up in “Area 51”, are all reasons why I’ll actually pick him to beat Adonis “Superman” Stevenson should they meet in 2015..
Bernard Hopkins, the Malcolm X of the game and former “Executioner”, is indeed “The Alien”.
