By Jake Donovan
“Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years.”
From LL Cool J’s lips to the mainstream’s ears, a catchphrase was born at the same time the rapper’s career was revived. The opening lines to the smash hit “Mama Said Knock You Out” continues to be belted out by many an athlete, particularly boxers, long after the single was released in 1991, shortly after he dropped the album of the same name the year prior.
In boxing circles, the line is most often heard when a fighter is returning following a first and/or devastating loss. One loss does not a career ruin, suggests said boxer, usually insisting it was an off night and that they’re still the king of the world.
What they don’t realize – or perhaps just fail to acknowledge – is that everyone listening knows better. Much like we knew that it was a comeback for LL all those years ago, it is a comeback for those in pursuit of past glory.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. One in particular is Bernard Hopkins, the longest reigning middleweight titlist in boxing history and still hovering around the top of the lightweight and pound for pound rankings. He’s resided at the latter for nearly the entire decade, save for a brief spell in 2005 and for a few months earlier this year.
Strangely enough, his name is also appearing after the words “Comeback of the Year” in year-end awards from various media outlets, which begs the question:
Where the hell did he go in the first place?
The future first-ballot Hall of Famer hasn’t exactly been the poster child for ring activity at any point in his career. Sixteen ring appearances have been spray-painted from the start of Y2K through present day. By comparison, his 2008 campaign was busier than most, having fought twice in the year after logging only one bout in each of the prior two years.
Only once since then has he managed three fights in a single calendar year – 2005, which strangely enough was his statistical worst in two decades as a pro fighter.
A pair of controversial decision losses at the hands of Jermain Taylor left Hopkins at 1-2 for the year, one that began with his making an historic 20th defense of the version of the middleweight title he acquired a decade prior, as well as the 6th defense of the lineal crown.
The second Taylor loss came a month before his 40th birthday, which according to an earlier promise made to his dearly departed mother was supposed to mark the end of his career. It was a promise broken – not the first, and the next one he breaks won’t be the last – when he agreed to move up two weight classes to challenge top light heavyweight Antonio Tarver.
Few gave him any chance of winning, with most so-called experts falling in line with the 3-1 odds that favored Tarver, whose 2005 campaign consisted of decisive wins over familiar foes Glen Johnson (rematch) and Roy Jones Jr (third fight). As he’s done throughout his career, Hopkins proved the critics very, very wrong, scoring a 5th round knockdown (sort of) en route to not just a win, but an absolute wipeout midway through 2006.
The fight was his lone ring appearance, though should’ve been more than enough to warrant consideration for 2006’s Comeback of the Year. Consideration was all that he would be granted in the eyes of most, who instead went with Oleg Maskaev or Oscar de la Hoya.
Either selection was a bit puzzling: Maskaev was riding a ten-fight win streak heading into his August ’06 rematch with Hasim Rahman, once again scoring a come-from behind knockout, this time to win a portion of the heavyweight crown. The argument was that he came all the way back from being completely written off years ago, though a counter-argument could’ve been that in order to come back, you have to be there to begin with, which was never really the case at any point in Maskaev’s career.
The de la Hoya selection made a bit more sense, but only in financial terms. His May ’06 go with Ricardo Mayorga was one where he was heavily favored to win (even coming off of a 20-month layoff). Mayorga already played the same role against Felix Trinidad 19 months prior, and brought nothing to the table besides alphabet hardware and his big mouth.
HBO lead analyst Jim Lampley perfectly summed up the bout – and perhaps 2006 – with his call at the end of the night: “Boxing gets a much needed shot in the arm.” If a vote for Comeback of the Year was to be granted that night, it should’ve been for the sport itself more so than for de la Hoya.
Realistically, Hopkins was the best pick that year. As has been the case with oh so many awards shows in any medium, the best candidate isn’t always the winner, but can usually expect a make-up call somewhere down the road. Perhaps this is the reason his name is being mentioned for 2008’s Comeback of the Year.
By definition, a comeback has to constitute having actually previously went somewhere. When 2007 became 2008, Hopkins was still atop the light heavyweight division. As was the case in 2006, “The Executioner” fought just once in ’07, a decision win in a catchweight bout against Winky Wright in an ugly but effective performance.
At years start, Hopkins’ name was still high among most pound for pound lists, at the top of the light heavyweight division, and scheduled for an April showing against Joe Calzaghe. Not a single person regarded the Calzaghe fight as a comeback, since he didn’t go anywhere. The seeds for the fight were planted the December prior, with the now infamous “I’ll never lose to a white boy” quote clearly indicating that retirement was the furthest thing from his mind.
Yes he lost the fight – by split decision, after having dropped the Welshman in the opening seconds of the contest. Several ringside observers thought the old man did just enough to preserve his early lead and pull off the win against one of the sport’s very best.
So again, the question must be asked: where did he go?
Sure, his throwback performance against Kelly Pavlik six months later was a sobering reminder that the Philly pugilist is one of the very best to lace ‘em up. It was easily his best performance in years, perhaps since dismantling Felix Trinidad to lay claim to the lineal middleweight crown seven years prior.
But again, it was a performance that came on the heels of his narrowly losing to pound-for-pound entrant Joe Calzaghe, which came nine months after winning against another pound-for-pound entrant in Winky Wright.
In a vacuum, it doesn’t exactly compare to, say Vic Darchinyan recovering from a humiliating knockout loss a year prior to sit atop the junior bantamweight division, with three belts in tow. Nor can you claim it to be as grand a career reversal as Vitali Klitschko ending a 46-month injury-induced retirement from the ring to beat Samuel Peter into submission and end the year just one spot below his baby brother atop the heavyweight division.
A return to old glory is what the October evening represented, when Hopkins defied the odds and Father Time by completely shutting down Pavlik en route to a virtual shutout in Atlantic City. But a comeback it was not.
Not when where he’s at now is the same place he’s been for years.
Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
