Hopkins Rearranges the Race: BoxingScene Pound for Pound Top Ten
By Cliff Rold
With the latest feather in the cap of an exceptional career, former World Middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins enhanced his place as a rare living legend still able to do things to extend his legend. The way he did it, by not only defeating the current Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in a non-title catchweight bout on October 18th, but by defeating him in each of the individual twelve rounds, may well have been the greatest win ever for a fighter aged 43.
There is a proven wisdom in the game’s elder observers ever warning not to rate a man’s career before it’s over. New developments in the form of big wins have a way of recasting perspective. Such is the case with Hopkins. The win over Pavlik not only enhances his legacy; it puts a whole new spin on his last four bouts…leading to the question of how the spin affects the pound for pound race.
Let’s consult the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound ratings in the wake of Hopkins-Pavlik.
