Hopkins Makes Eastman Number Twenty; Will Taylor Be Twenty-One?

History’s Date With the Executioner

By David P. Greisman

Bernard Hopkins can do whatever he wants, however he wants, where and whenever he wants to whomever he wants. 

Hopkins, who moves to 46-2-1 with 32 knockouts and one no-contest, has acted as his own manager and promoter, steering himself away from exploitation until finally earning that mega payday (and subsequent partnership in Golden Boy Promotions) with Oscar De La Hoya.  He has thrown a monkey wrench into Don King’s planned crowning of Felix “Tito” Trinidad by knocking out the Puerto Rican and winning King’s middleweight tournament.

And he can join the pantheon of history by recording his twentieth title defense in the usual Hopkins manner: intelligent, cautious boxing that has less excitement than half of any one round in the (unmatchable) Gatti-Ward trilogy, but gets the job done in a stunningly efficient manner.  Although his style brought out the boo-birds at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, it also earned him a unanimous decision over a stifled and frustrated Howard Eastman.

Eastman (now 40-2 with 35 KOs), a transplanted Brit by way of the South American country of Guyana, was expected to be a true live dog, having gained his WBC #1 ranking by running off a streak of eight consecutive victories since dropping a tough majority decision to William Joppy back in November 2001.  Yet the Battersea Bomber was unable to capitalize on his second championship opportunity, not able either batter nor bomb his opponent, and in the end landing a paltry thirteen percent (82 of 609) of his punches.

Normally this is the point in the article where the writer recalls the play-by-play highlights of the bout, but this being the typical Hopkins fight, all that is truly necessary is a brief summation.

Both fighters started slow, and the crowd was already booing by the end of the first round, in which, by CompuBox estimate, a total of six punches were landed between them.  The next three rounds saw Eastman acting as the aggressor but landing rarely, with Hopkins setting the tone with the occasional jab and left hook.  The lead left hook would be Hopkins’ best weapon all night, as he seemingly landed it at will, and with specific punctuation in the fifth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth rounds.  When Eastman did land, it was one shot at a time, although a five-punch combination in round eight left Hopkins smiling and likely gave the UK resident his sole round on judge Lou Filippo’s 119-110 scorecard.

Judges Ken Morita of Japan and Belgian Daniel Van De Wiele had the respective final tallies of 116-112 and 117-111, but, really, all that is necessary to know is that Hopkins won, was never in danger, and made yet another contender look truly unworthy of taking his place at the throne when he retires, as he insisted he will, after this year.

One boxer who is being groomed by everyone, including HBO, as the heir apparent to Bernard Hopkins, is the Pride of Little Rock, Jermain Taylor.  On the televised undercard, Taylor (23-0 with 17 victories by way of knockout) walloped former sparring partner Daniel Edouard, defeating him via third-round TKO, setting up a possible showdown between the eager young gun and the wily, age-defying veteran.

Edouard, whose first loss brings his record to 16-1-2 (9), attempted to act the game spoiler from the beginning, changing styles and landing the occasional shot that would cause Taylor to move straight back.  Taylor, however, and as he has proven while gaining increased national exposure in recent matches against William Joppy and Raul Marquez, packs one hell of a punch, and after Edouard was staggered to the corner by a strong left hook, referee Ray Corona wisely stopped the onslaught 2:26 into the round, preventing the Haitian from being exposed to further punishment.

Taylor, 26, the bright bronze medalist from the 2000 Olympics, knows that he is, in essence, auditioning for a spot opposite the forty year-old champion, but it may be unwise to send him to the lion without first giving him a true (and better) test.

Still, with Trinidad fighting Ronald “Winky” Wright this May, and Hopkins wanting to finish his career with the trilogy of Taylor, Glencoffe Johnson and Trinidad (in that order), Jermain may receive his shot at being the middleweight king as soon as this summer.

If that is to be the case, the only question remains of just how well Taylor will perform when it is his head on the Executioner’s chopping block.