By Cliff Rold
Take one certain, 45-year old future Hall of Famer and add a talented but flawed new champion making his first defense as the universally recognized king. It’s the recipe this weekend in Quebec as Bernard Hopkins (51-5, 32 KO) challenges Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO) for the WBC belt Pascal has held since June 2009 and the then-vacant lineal and Ring Magazine honors he earned by defeating Chad Dawson in August of this year.
Hopkins didn’t seem to want a thing to do with Dawson. He jumped at the chance to face the 28-year old Pascal.
In the immortal words of Max Schmeling, does Hopkins “see something?”
We’ll all see this weekend. There is precedence. If Hopkins pulls it off, he wouldn’t be the first 45-year old to travel this road. The recipe in the ring this weekend isn’t much different from what would end up one of the most surprising fistic feel-good stories of the 1990s.
On November 5, 1994, Michael Moorer entered the ring for his first defense of the Heavyweight crown he won from Evander Holyfield. Moorer entered the Holyfield contest an underdog. When questions of heart (and/or shoulder) problems emerged for Holyfield after Moorer came off the floor for the upset decision his full legitimacy, as champion, remained to be determined for much of the public.
It also remained to be determined for a former World Champion who had not fought in more than a year, that being a decision loss to Tommy Morrison. Foreman thought Holyfield beat Moorer. Moreover, Foreman had seen Moorer seriously hurt multiple times in the lead to his title win. He pushed to get the shot and Team Moorer took what promised to be a profile-building payday.
Foreman lost nine rounds. He landed the right big right hand in round ten.
“And new…”
Those are the words Hopkins is looking for one more time this weekend. He’s seen, going in, as more live than Foreman was in 1994 and that’s only one way it’s not a perfect parallel to the Foreman feat.
Moorer was always a little soft around the middle at Heavyweight; Pascal doesn’t look to have much body fat on him. Hopkins isn’t a huge hitter and Pascal has a dependable beard. Pascal lacks the refined boxing ability of Moorer and, at 28, is two years older.
There is one important parallel though making this weekend ripe with historical possibility: Hopkins is closer to 46 than Foreman was and, with a win, sets the new bar for geriatric claims to world championships.
Does anyone betting against Hopkins feel safe?
It isn’t always pretty but Hopkins has played miracle worker often enough to make it foolish to write him off.
Hopkins was considered an afterthought in 2001 when the Middleweight unification tournament was set up as an unofficial “Tito Invitational.” So certain was promoter Don King of a Felix Trinidad in the September final that, legend has it, a special commemorative trophy for the winner was already inscribed with Trinidad’s name.
No one can be sure because the trophy was never seen in the ring that night. Hopkins systematically broke down and stopped Trinidad to validate his lengthy tenure atop Middleweight.
After two debatable losses to Jermain Taylor in 2005 for the honors at 160, the then-40 year old Hopkins elected to rise to Light Heavyweight and challenge Antonio Tarver for the Ring Magazine belt. There was skepticism in some corners about his chances. Hopkins won just about every second of the fight for his most impressive performance since Trinidad.
Then there was his 2008 campaign.
Hopkins lost his Light Heavyweight belt in April on a split decision against Joe Calzaghe, fading in the second half after an early knockdown and resorting to flops on invisible fouls as the rounds wore on. At 43, it was worth wondering if he had the legs for a full night anymore. The choice to immediately face a much younger, undefeated, reigning Middleweight champion (even at a 170 lb. catchweight) in Kelly Pavlik seemed, at best, misguided.
Hopkins beat Pavlik like he stole something, standing along the ring apron after the fight, glaring down at a press row daring enough to doubt him. He was ready with slices of crow for all.
A lengthy vacation, pedestrian comeback opponent, and ugly rivalry outing with Roy Jones later and here we are again. Only, this time, few seem to be biting. Oh, sure, there are those predicting a Pascal win, but the conviction isn’t what it was for those who saw Hopkins a sure loser for Trinidad, for Tarver, for Pavlik.
The aged wonder will have to overcome a lot to make history. He’s on hostile turf. Pascal has a marked advantage in hand speed. If Hopkins slows the fight down, makes it ugly, he could struggle to get the decision. Pascal, with his bursts of offense, could steal frames.
It’s a tricky fight.
Hopkins is a tricky customer.
All that can be said without wavering is this: Hopkins is a great one. It’s up to Pascal to make “is” into “was” and so far all we know of the exciting, Canadian adopted, Haitian-born champion is that he’s good.
If Hopkins still has greatness left in him, good is not likely to be good enough.
Weekly Ledger
But wait, there’s more…
Perez-Hernandez Gem on Solo: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=33742
The Bantam Tourney Begins: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=33774
Weekend – 118 & 140: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=33822
Ratings Update: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings
Picks of the Week: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=33833
Cliff’s Notes…
Missed it in the Picks of the Week, but the Marco Huck-Denis Lebedev fight at Cruiserweight this weekend is as must-see as anything on the slate. Huck has shown tremendous growth since his lone loss to Steve Cunningham. Lebedev is likely his toughest test since. Cruiserweight is where most of the exciting big men in continental Europe reside right now…The replacement of Jorge Barrios with Francisco Lorenzo takes some of the fun out of Erik Morales’s latest comeback fight. Whatever. Just make the Marquez fight already…Pacquiao-Mosley is a terrible idea. Mosley didn’t have the gas to fight more than two serious rounds against Mayweather and looked like an old man against the limited Sergio Mora. Those who defend this by saying, “Well, why was it okay for Mayweather to fight Mosley?” are ridiculous. Why? Because no one had seen how bad Mosley looked against Mayweather and Mora yet. Call it like it is: if this comes off, it’s officially “Money” Pacquiao.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com