Hopkins a Young 45: Weekend Review, Ratings Update
By Cliff Rold
A few years back, there was a run on Chuck Norris jokes with punch lines like “When Chuck Norris crosses the street, cars look both ways.”
Boxing now can begin accumulating the equivalent. Here’s a start:
The fountain of youth drinks from Bernard Hopkins.
What else can be said after the latest in a career full of odds-defying, calendar rejecting performances from Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO)? The 45-year old just won’t go away and, despite some occasional ugly outings, a night like Saturday is a reminder as to why no one should want him to.
Greatness is a joy to behold.
Hopkins has it. Still.
No, the decision on Saturday was not a bad one; this scribe had it even ultimately. Still, consider the context. A man Hopkins’s age, coming off the floor twice against Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KO), and winning at least seven of the nine final rounds, is astounding. Scored on rounds, a draw was fine but, holistically, Hopkins kicked a 28-year old legitimate World Champion’s tail.
Damn.
Pascal-Hopkins was not the only outstanding fight on Saturday. Overseas, German fight fans were also treated to a raucous crowd and title fight at Cruiserweight, Marco Huck (31-1, 23 KO) barely skating by against the rugged Denis Lebedev (21-1, 16 KO). Maybe there are two rematches needed?
Let’s go to the report cards.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Pascal A; Hopkins B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Pascal B+; Hopkins B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Pascal B-; Hopkins A/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Pascal A; Hopkins A/Post: B; A
Pre-Fight: Speed – Huck B+; Lebedev B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Huck B; Lebedev B/Post: B; B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Huck B; Lebedev B-/Post: B-; B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Huck B; Lebedev B/Post: B+; B+
Various distractions prevented a fair scoring of the Huck-Lebedev fight on Sunday morning YouTubing but it looked like Lebedev did enough to shade the contest. The southpaw’s big lefts hands, and smart hooks to the body, wore on a Huck who got off to a good start. It was certainly close and competitive and, if reports of Huck suffering cracked ribs early are correct, he gets extra credit for pushing through to the end against a steady body attack.
Lebedev gets credit for cracking them, and various other parts of Huck.
That said, let’s also give praise to yet another solid year at Cruiserweight. Those who whine and kvetch about the lack of quality big men are missing a division that just won’t go away in terms of quality fights and fighters over the last ten years. It might not resonate in the U.S. but, for those who live in the German and Eastern European markets, this is a fistic golden era and the big men who count are (mostly) all theirs.
That leaves plenty for the rest of the world.
Canada and the U.S. can certainly enjoy what they are seeing at Light Heavyweight. Put aside the scoring drama on Saturday. Jean Pascal deserves some credit for entertainment value. Sure, Hopkins forced the fight Saturday, but there are some guys who just consistently end up in scraps and Pascal is one of them. Carl Froch, Adrian Diaconu twice, Chad Dawson and now Hopkins; it’s clear Pascal is less than perfect but that’s what makes his career fun to follow.
If he loses a bit in terms of the intangibles he showed Saturday it is because of those flaws. Beginning after the third round, Pascal increasingly struggled for answers and, in too many rounds, chose getting on his bike without much thought to it besides “don’t get hit.” To his credit, he responded in rounds ten, eleven, and twelve with hard shots when forced, particularly in the final round when it was Pascal landing the meaningful blows in the closing minute of the contest. No matter; Pascal needs technical help that may not come in time to keep his crown.
Whether he’s in a rematch with Hopkins or Chad Dawson next out, Pascal is going to be fairly seen as the underdog.
Hopkins was the underdog Saturday and made a mockery of it. He always does. There’s just no one else like him in boxing. In almost two decades of watching him, Hopkins has been seen the loser in only two contests by these eyes and both of those (the first Roy Jones fight and the Joe Calzaghe fight) were against fellow future Hall of Famers.
He’ll probably go down in history as greater than the both of them too.
Enjoy him while he lasts…even if it could be awhile. After all, waiting for the age of Hopkins to end has yet to bear fruit. Maybe the last date of the Mayan calendar isn’t Armageddon; maybe it’s the day Hopkins finally gets old.
That still gives us until 2012.
Report Card Picks 2010: 39-17
Ratings Impact
Hopkins performed better against Pascal than Chad Dawson and jumps to the number one contender’s slot. Regardless, contractual obligations probably mean Pascal-Dawson II comes first.
Everyone else drops a slot at 175 lbs., including a Tavoris Cloud whose knockout rate has dropped precipitously since his competition level has jumped. In the long run, that will be a good thing for Cloud.
Lebedev improves at Cruiserweight, moving up a slot, and at Jr. Flyweight, Ulises Solis moves to the number two slot after a draw against Luis Lazarte that would have been the weekend’s biggest controversy if the two men involved were even twenty pounds larger.
Those results and more are reflected in this week’s ratings update.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com