By Lyle Fitzsimmons
Bernard Hopkins and I go way back.
It’s not as if we’re Facebook friends or anything – and I notice that I have yet to be invited to swim laps with him as he goes through his pool-centric fight-prep routine in Philadelphia – but I’ve banged enough keys about the guy over the years to at least feel like we ought to exchange Christmas cards.
When I was a sports reporter at a newspaper in suburban Philly, Hopkins was a (supposedly) aging middleweight champion set up to be the sacrificial lamb for Don King and Felix Trinidad in the finale of a tournament whose climax was set for Sept. 15, 2001 at Madison Square Garden.
The fight was pushed back for obvious reasons, but I still recall arriving in midtown Manhattan that night sure I was going to witness a torch-passing. I settled into my seat alongside, of all people, former New York Jets defensive back Johnny Sample, and waited for my mid-rounds TKO forecast to unfold.
Instead, I got a lesson from a 64-year-old ex-Super Bowl champion.
“Don't forget, he's in there with a man tonight,” Sample said vociferously, contrasting Hopkins’ trademark sturdiness with the relative ease in which Trinidad's previous foes had fallen. “Bernard's been through the wars. Bernard's had a hard life. That's going to matter in there. Wait and see.”
I nodded politely, while secretly thinking my table mate had made a few too many hard tackles.
By the end of the night, of course, the old-timer was proven clairvoyant.
As for me, I only made the mistake once more.
Though I picked him to whip Antonio Tarver and lose to Joe Calzaghe, my streak was halted when Hopkins met Kelly Pavlik – another big, strong and young foe I was sure would make him feel his age.
B-Hop was 43, after all, and there’s no way a 43-year-old can beat a 26-year-old, especially one who was a legit middleweight/super middleweight and not the puffed-up welter hiding in Trinidad’s body.
Ummm, yeah… about that.
Anyway, as I peeled off a $20 bill and handed it to my pal Marquis Richardson as he left my apartment in Gainesville that night, I made a solemn vow that I’ve carried with me to this day:
I don’t care if his opponent is named Floyd, Manny or Wladimir, I’ll never pick against Bernard again.
And I’ll stand by it on Nov. 8, too.
Even though he’s in there with a 175-pound KO machine. Even though that machine hasn’t lost in 26 pro fights. And even though that machine – who’s KO’d 23 of those 26 opponents – was exactly 5 years, 6 months and 9 days old when Hopkins made debut foe Clinton Mitchell an all-time trivia answer in 1988.
He may outbox him. He may out-foul him. He may go old-school Ric Flair, distract the ref and have Naazim Richardson wallop the guy with a chair before he applies the figure-four leg lock. But one way or the other – so help me Ismayl Sillakh, Cedric Agnew and Blake Caparello – he’ll get it done.
The boys at VegasInsider.com don’t buy it and have installed said monster as a better-than 2-to-1 pick to end the middle-aged nonsense two months and a week before Hopkins turns 50. And sure enough, the kid looked positively beastly when HBO unveiled its first 24/7 preview episode on Saturday.
But they don’t know what I know.
And so help me Johnny Sample, we won’t get fooled again.
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
WEDNESDAY
WBC bantamweight title – Tokyo, Japan
Shinsuke Yamanaka (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (No. 1 contender/No. 9 IWBR)
Yamanaka (21-0-2, 16 KO): Seventh title defense; Five straight wins by stoppage (38 total rounds)
Rungvisai (37-5-1, 16 KO): Fifth title fight (2-2); Held WBC title at 115 pounds (2011-12, one defense)
Fitzbitz says: It’s not quite on GGG level, but Yamanaka’s heard the final bell just once since 2008, stopping 14 of his last 15 opponents. His foe’s 2014 opponents have 74 losses. Yamanaka in 9
SATURDAY
Vacant IBF bantamweight title – Monte Carlo, Monaco
Randy Caballero (No. 1 contender/No. 23 IWBR) vs. Stuart Hall (No. 3 contender/No. 37 IWBR)
Caballero (21-0, 13 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside United States (1-0, 1 KO)
Hall (16-3-2, 7 KO): Fourth title fight (1-1-1); Previously held IBF title (2013-14, one defense)
Fitzbitz says: Hall’s a tricky and tough competitor, but we’ll lean toward the American here because of his age (24 vs. 34) and momentum (five straight KO wins vs. loss in last fight). Cabellero by decision
IBO/WBA strawweight/mini-flyweight titles – Monte Carlo, Monaco
Hekkie Budler (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Xiong Zhao Zhong (No. 5 IBO contender/No. 5 IWBR)
Budler (26-1, 9 KO): Seventh IBO title defense; Held IBO title at 108 pounds (2010-11, one defense)
Zhong (24-5-1, 14 KO): Sixth title fight (3-2); Held WBC title (2012-14, two defenses)
Fitzbitz says: The two-belted champ is on a nine-fight roll and is looking to establish 105-pound supremacy, and faces an opponent here who historically doesn’t travel well. Budler by decision
SUNDAY
IBO flyweight title – Durban, South Africa
Moruti Mthalane (champion/No. 11 IWBR) vs. Odilon Zaleta (No. 14 contender/No. 21 IWBR)
Mthalane (30-2, 20 KO): First title defense; Held IBF title (2009-12, four defenses)
Zaleta (15-4, 8 KO): Second title fight (0-1); Third fight outside Mexico (0-2)
Fitzbitz says: Do the math. Mthalane has held two world title belts and hasn’t lost a fight since he met a guy named Donaire in 2008. Meanwhile, Zaleta hasn’t won a fight since 2012. Mthalane in 7
Last week's picks: 2-0 (WIN: Golovkin, Walters)
2014 picks record: 72-24 (75.0 percent)
Overall picks record: 619-218 (73.9 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
