Bernard Hopkins once again proved that brains and not brawn win prize fights after making a nonchalant 20th middleweight title defence against Britain’s Howard Eastman in Los Angeles.
Hopkins was a pure boxing mechanic in LA, as he absorbed Eastman’s early onslaught before taking over the fight and winning largely as he liked.
As expected Eastman was big, strong and brave, but when it came to the crunch the world’s second best middleweight was out-thought and outboxed by a master craftsman who, even at the venerable age of 40, shows no signs of losing his footing atop of of the middleweight mountain.
Those who had the temerity to boo the action at ringside need to have a word with themselves.
Indeed, they should be thankful for having witnessed a master go about his work first hand.
And wasn’t Hopkins masterful?
‘B-Hop’ patiently picked Eastan apart, mixing up classy combinations with spiteful single shots.
The Philadelphian has an almost uncanny ability to make his man miss by millimeters, and it must be so disheartening for an opponent to be so close yet so far away in there.
Eastman dropped a unanimous 119-110, 117-111, 116-112 points verdict on the night, but can feel rightly proud that he stood and mixed it with one of the most fearsome fighting machines of the last 20 years.
The most striking thing about ‘Nard’s display was just how easy it all looked from the fifth round onwards.
Despite his age and the fact he was facing his most dangerous rival at 160lbs, Hopkins won at a canter and was virtually unmarked when the dust settled.
At this rate, I wouldn’t put it past him to go on and break Joe Louis’s record of 25 title defences.
Whatever he decides to do, he can do so safe in the knowledge that he remains our top dog in the pound-for-pound stakes.
Troubled fistic genius Floyd Mayweather is up there with Hopkins in terms of skill and ability, but I am not sure he has the same degree of hunger as the man who once served five years in Graterford Maximum Security Prison and had to break bread with murderers and rapists on a daily basis.
As Hopkins himself will tell you: “I’m a dangerous guy. I destroy careers. I ruin other people’s dreams”.
Howard Eastman found that out to his cost on Saturday.
On the same bill Hopkins’ heir apparanet Jermaine ‘Bad Intentions’ Taylor lived up to his ring moniker by smashing Daniel Edouard to defeat inside three rounds.
Taylor is still very raw, but the 23-0 (17) banger from Little Rock does look to be the future of the middleweight division.
Earlier in the month Zab Judah defied the fists of Cory Spinks and 20,000 screaming fans to become undisputed welterweight champion – and prove he remains a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
‘Super’ Judah, an immensely talented fighter who had failed to deliver in his two career-defining ‘superfights’ going in (against Kostya Tszyu and Spinks first time round).
Yet the Brooklyn stylist gained sweet revenge for his unanimous points defeat in Las Vegas by stopping his man in nine.
The win isn’t enough to see Judah reinstated in our latest ‘pound-for-pound’ ratings, but if he keeps up such a high level of performance against similar calibre opposition in future, there is no doubt a return to the upper echelons of the list is inevitable.
Looking ahead, Erik Morales’ super-featherweight showdown with murderous punching Fillipino Manny Pacquiao looks one not to be missed.
The pair meet March 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with Pacquiao no doubt hoping to show he should be higher than 10 on our current list.
Fireworks look guarenteed.
Sportinglife.com Pound-for-Pound World Top Ten:
1= – Bernard Hopkins
1= – Floyd Mayweather
3 – Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright
4 – Kostya Tszyu
5 – Juan Manuel Marquez
6 – James Toney
6 – Erik Morales
8 – Marco Antonio Barrera
9 – Felix Trinidad
10 – Manny Pacquiao
