If you tuned in last night to see Bernard Hopkins versus Jean Pascal, you were treated to quite a treat. The fight for the first 3 rounds had the much younger 28 year old Pascal knocking down and pretty much over powering the aging legend.
However in the next 9 rounds that would follow, the crafty 45 year old Hopkins was in control by dictating the pace of how this fight would be fought. The final verdict was scored a draw, thus robbing Hopkins from the hard work that he put in by taming the younger fighter.
I scored it for Hopkins 114-112 but my eyes as you know didn?t count, the judges at ringside scored it a majority draw. Only drawing I saw was Hopkins drawing yet again another masterpiece.
In fact, a few days before the fight I typed that old man Hopkins is coming with paint brushes in hand looking to paint another masterpiece.
After the fight, a angry but calm Hopkins said this:?I?m a bit different. I said promoting this fight that you all were going to see something that you haven?t seen from Bernard Hopkins. I got hit with shots, I took them. I got hit in the back of the hit, they called it a knockdown. I believe I hit him with a short right hand, they called it a slip. But I ain?t complaining. It?s a Canadian referee, okay. You all seen it. A masterpiece. Taking the young guy to school. You saw a 45 year old come to Canada and get a draw. Just say the knockdowns were legitimate. I still get a draw in Canada. Don?t miss the facts. I come to his home town and suppose I get knocked down once or twice or whatever they said, I come to Canada and get a draw??
I also mentioned that Hopkins knows that the key in all this is to change the rhythm on Pascal. Well that is exactly what Hopkins did do last night. Pascal was wanting to fight at a heavy metal pace and Hopkins threw in a re-mix in there mixing classical and jazz. Pascal could have still fought through and could have won more rounds on pure energy but Hopkins mentally broke down Pascal and forced him to think a lot more than he wanted to. This is never good for a fighter like Pascal who fights in rhythm, he wants to keep staying at a certain pace so a slight change of station on him rattles him.
It was very imperative for Pascal to annoy Hopkins, annoy him the way a herd of flies can annoy. But as I mentioned, Hopkins was old enough to know that he would have to eat crap just to get to the flies. Bernard Hopkins did just that, Hopkins ate shots early to be able to time and control Pascal?s shots later. At the end of the day even if the living legend did win the result in the record books will read that Hopkins/Pascal fought to a majority draw, and that my friends may just be enough for the artist to place his paint brushes down once and for all.
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