By Tom Donelson
Poor Bernard Hopkins! Forced to fight Morrade Hakkar as one of those mandatory fights in 2002, Hopkins spent the entire eight rounds trying to catch the elusive Frenchman. Hakkar’s only real goal was to survive, and he managed to go through the first round without throwing a single punch!! He ran, ran, and ran, but eventually, the ring became smaller as Hopkins caught his man and pummeled the inferior fighter. Hakkar had no real punch and not much of a championship chin either. How he was rated that high still remains a mystery; and this fight did not enhance Hopkins’ career.
Hopkins was one of those fighters who never seemed to be satisfied, plus he was always complaining about something. Hopkins’ real problem through most of his career was fighting in a division that was not deep or talented compared to the past. His only real big fights were a loss to Roy Jones, Jr. a decade ago, his upset victory over Tito Trinidad, his domination of Oscar De La Hoya and his loss to Jermain Taylor. The Trinidad fight established Hopkins as a great middleweight. Since Jones left the middleweight, Hopkins dominated that division, but no one really knew how good he was until he beat Keith Holmes and Trinidad in Don King’s elimination search for the best middleweight in 2001. Trinidad, who was the overwhelming favorite, was given a boxing lesson. Hopkins obliterated Trinidad in the bout and sent the Puerto Rican into retirement. Hopkins was an excellent technician with good power and consistent in every fight. He just wins.
His coming out party happened as he faced Trinidad. Before this fight, Hopkins won a tough ugly fight against Keith Holmes with Trinidad just coming off a knock out victory over William Joppy in his first middleweight fight. Trinidad was the middleweight version of Joe Louis, who just pressured his fight with exquisite boxing skills. The man could box and avoid punches while keeping the ability to knock you out with either hand. A heavy favorite, Trinidad was determined to add Hopkins to his resume, and certainly Hopkins managed to get under Trinidad’s skin. Hopkins consistently insulted the young Puerto Rican and even on one occasion, trashed the Puerto Rican flag. For Hopkins, this fight meant his chance to get the recognition that he felt was denied to him. Since his rise to the title, Hopkins fought most of the better middleweights and beat them. Except no one seemed to care!
So Hopkins provided Trinidad a boxing lesson. He moved in and out, fighting at angles and snapping jabs to the head and hooks to the body. He broke Trinidad down and even won a portion of the Madison Square Garden fans over- fans, who were overwhelmingly for Trinidad. Hopkins relished the fact that the crowd hated him but by the eighth round, even the most diehard Trinidad fan developed grudging respect for Hopkins.
Hopkins took all of or most of the early rounds; then in the eighth he simply took over the fight. Boxing, moving and mostly frustrating Trinidad up to this point, Hopkins sat down on his punches. He hit with more authority, and in the beginning of the round Hopkins crashed a right hand cross on Trinidad’s face. Trinidad kept throwing punches and missing. He was looking for the one punch to end the fight but with Hopkins, he was not going to get it. In the twelfth round, Hopkins ended all the suspense as he knocked Tito Trinidad down. Trinidad’s father who doubled as Trinidad’s trainer, threw in the towel and Hopkins’ vindication finally arrived.
Hopkins was always fighting promoters and basically managed his own career, not always successfully. Hopkins has earned a good deal of money but there are some who say that he should have made more. The problem with Hopkins was that he was not a man with charisma, and he has basically wiped out his division. Like Roy Jones, Jr. in the light heavyweight, there were no big names or fights left in his division. Hopkins first choice meant challenging super middleweights, but that meant he had to go Europe and there were no big money fights there. The only real money was in the junior middleweights, and he started calling Oscar De La Hoya out, knowing full well this was the fight worth millions. So Hopkins was stuck, waiting for one of those junior middleweights to move up so he could earn some money. In the meantime, he kept beating what was left of the middleweight division for peanuts.
Till De La Hoya challenged him for the title! After losing to Shane Mosley in a controversial decision that saw De La Hoya dominating most if not all of the first eight rounds, De La Hoya wanted one big fight to put an exclamation point on his career. Hopkins and De La Hoya agreed to fight, but before the big event, De La Hoya wanted a tune up and a chance to gain a “paper title” by fighting Felix Sturm. On June 5th, De La Hoya and Hopkins appeared in a double header with the goal that both men would have a “belt,” and would then have the big showdown in September.
The fight was anti-climactic itself. De La Hoya came out strong and boxed effectively for the first six rounds. Hopkins showed why he was one of boxing’s smartest fighters. While most experts felt that Hopkins had to dominate the early rounds and take control, Hopkins allowed De La Hoya to take some of the early rounds hoping to entice De La Hoya into a pitched battle. Hopkins did not want to chase De La Hoya, but wanted the warrior in De La Hoya to take over. As the fight progressed, De La Hoya became braver and then Hopkins' power started to take hold. In the seventh and eighth rounds, Hopkins dominated with sharp punches. Hopkins’ jab found its target and his body shot slowed De La Hoya. In the ninth, Hopkins nailed De La Hoya with a shot to the liver and De La Hoya went down. Unable to get up and paralyzed from the punch, De La Hoya could only pound the canvas out of frustration.
After the fight, Hopkins joined forces with De La Hoya and De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Productions. When De La Hoya decided to leave Top Rank and Bob Arum, Bernard Hopkins agreed to become part of the operation. After years of making questionable decisions, Hopkins hit pay dirt by making eight figure paydays and becoming part of a boxing corporation with no money down. Hopkins was perfectly willing to allow De La Hoya to gather a larger payday despite being the true champion. Hopkins knew that this was his big payday and this fight established his greatness. No money could buy that, and $10 million plus was more than enough to assuage his pride.
Hopkins went on to defeat Howard Eastman in a bout that resembled a chess match as he forced the Englishman to come to him. Eastman found himself out boxed by the master as Hopkins accuracy nailed the incoming Eastman. This was a prelude to his battle against Jermain Taylor.
Jermain Taylor faced his first big test in the veteran Hopkins and Bernard's strategy was similar to the same plan he executed in the De La Hoya and Eastman. Box and force the opponent to come to him. Then counter. Hopkins felt that the moment would overwhelm Taylor but for Hopkins, timing was everything.
As the fight began, Hopkins moved side to side as Taylor attempted to dominate the action with his jab. For the first eight rounds, Taylor was putting rounds in his pocket and Hopkins waited for the youngster to tire out. The ninth round, Hopkins eked out the round as he rallied at the end. This was a precursor for what was to follow. Hopkins, using his feared right hand counter, attacked Taylor. Taylor jab failed to hit its target and suddenly, the young Arkansan became the target of Hopkins accurate punches. With a minute left in round 10, Hopkins nailed Taylor with a right. Taylor reeled into the ropes and Hopkins nailed Taylor with combinations.
Hopkins followed up with his success in the tenth with several combinations as he took more control of the fight in the eleventh. With one round left, Taylor’s trainer Pat Burns extolled his young charge to go and take the final round. Burns implored Taylor to let his hands go. For the first minute and half, Taylor movement and jab gave him a slight advantage. Hopkins took the round with yet another right hand that once again sent Taylor sprawling into the ropes. From this point, Hopkins took the round but he still lost the decision. He gave away too many rounds in the beginning and he could not make it up in the end. A split decision ended his reign as middleweight king but his stock continued to go up. At the age of 40, he fought a young hungry fighter to nearly a draw in a fight that he should have won. If Hopkins had started to pressure Taylor a round or two earlier, Hopkins would have won. Instead, he lost a close and controversial split decision. Boxing writer Frank Lotierzo observed that even in defeat, Hopkins still looked like the better fighter. He just ran out of time to finish the job.
Hopkins most notable accomplishment is not just what he did in the ring but outside. Like Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman, Hopkins took control of his career. He was his own boss and very few fighters can ever make that claim. Hopkins was not one of boxing beloved figure but he didn’t really care what others thought of him. What he cared about was winning. He never allowed others to dictate his style in the ring and his career outside the ring. And at the end of his career, he finally received the recognition as one of Boxing’s great.