Bernard Hopkins has done more than enough in his 26-year career to earn induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame but at 49, he’s not finished fighting. What drives him to continue busting beaks comes from within. It’s no longer about money. It’s not about fame. Hopkins is motivated to fight on because of the challenge to do what mortals aren’t supposed to. He considers himself an alien, a being who’s out of this world, since no human is close to even duplicating his feats.
Once, Hopkins was known as the Executioner. He used to enter the ring wearing a mask similar to the face covers that several Lucha Libre wrestlers sport in Mexico. Since last year, Hopkins rebranded to call himself the Alien because “no earthling nearing 50 should have his ability.”
Hopkins turns 50 on Jan. 15 and unless Russian bully Sergey Kovalev changes his mind in their WBA/IBF/IBA/WBO lightheavyweight unification title bout in Atlantic City this morning (Manila time), plans to campaign beyond his imaginable years. In boxing history, there have been only a few fighters who saw action in their 50s and even 60s. Roberto Duran was 50 when he lost to Hector Camacho in his final bout in 2001. Former WBC lightwelterweight champion Saoul Mamby was 60 when he bowed out of the ring in a Cayman Islands tiff in 2008. Dewey Bozella was 52 when the ex-convict fought his one and only pro fight as a cruiserweight in a four-rounder in Los Angeles three years ago. Australian cruiserweight Dexter Dunworth was 53 when he called it quits as a boxer in 2008.
Hopkins is in the record books as the oldest world champion ever and the oldest to unify and defend a world championship. John Scully of Boxing News dubbed him the “Ageless Alien.” Scully wrote: “What he’s doing is unprecedented and win, lose or draw, he has solidified his place as, at the very least, the greatest post 40-year-old boxer in the history of our sport. Contrary to popular belief, neither Sugar Ray Robinson nor Willie Pep fought in a world title fight past the age of 40. Archie Moore, on the other hand, won four world title fights past the age of 40 without a defeat. Since turning 40, Bernard has beaten seven former or reigning world champions. A win over Kovalev would mark his 11th past the age of 40, more than Moore, Pep and Robinson combined.”
Kovalev, 31, was only five years old when Hopkins turned pro in 1988 at 23. Hopkins made his pro debut at a relatively late age because he spent nearly five years in prison at the Graterford State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania for nine felonies. Hopkins was sentenced to serve 18 years but the incarceration was reduced due to good behavior. His life leading to imprisonment was rough and at 13, he was stabbed thrice. But Prisoner No. Y4145 in Cell Block D was determined to straighten out and found boxing as his way back to sanity.
Kovalev is no pushover opponent for Hopkins. In 2011, he knocked out Roman Simakov in the seventh round of a WBC Asian Boxing Council lightheavyweight championship bout in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Three days later, Simakov died of injuries sustained in the fight. Kovalev has a 25-0-1 record, with 23 KOs. However, he isn’t invulnerable. Kovalev has been cut over the right eye twice in his last four outings. And in his most recent match in New Jersey last August, he went down in the first round before stopping Blake Caparello in the second canto. Six of Kovalev’s 23 KO wins came in the first round and he’s never gone beyond eight in his career. In contrast, Hopkins hasn’t scored a knockout since halting Oscar de la Hoya in 2004 and the Alien has gone the 12-round distance in 15 of his last 16 outings.
Hopkins’ record is 55-6-2, with 32 KOs. That’s a total of 63 fights. Manny Pacquiao has fought exactly the same number of fights and he’s only 35. So Hopkins has spaced out his bouts over a longer period of time. He has been floored only five times, twice by Jean Pascal, twice by Segundo Mercado and once by Antwun Echols. Hopkins has never been stopped and his only losses were on points to Clinton Mitchell, Roy Jones, Jermaine Taylor twice, Joe Calzaghe and Chad Dawson. Two of the defeats were by split decision and two by majority. Hopkins’ pro debut was spoiled by a four-round loss by majority verdict to Mitchell in Atlantic City where he battles Kovalev this morning.
Hopkins’ trainer Naazim Richardson was in Shane Mosley’s corner when the Sugar Man lost to Pacquiao. Like Hopkins, Richardson was jailed as a teener. He’s a stroke survivor and one of the best trainers in the business. Richardson said he expects Kovalev to push Hopkins to the limit.
“I respect Kovalev,” said Richardson. “He’s a monster, he’s real, as real as it gets. (Hopkins) runs to the most dangerous dude. It just does it for him. Maybe, that’s why he’s still here after all these years. I told him that Kovalev had killed a guy in the ring.”
Hopkins was 46 when he won the WBC lightheavyweight crown in 2011 or a year older than George Foreman when he knocked out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title in 1995. Hopkins will never eclipse Archie Moore’s record of fights as the Mongoose logged 219 in 27 years as a pro up to 1963. But Moore fought only until he was 46 and Hopkins is still going strong.
The Ring Magazine writer Norm Frauenheim said Kovalev poses a clear and present danger to Hopkins. “Time hasn’t stopped Hopkins,” he wrote. “But it will produce somebody who will. Is Sergey Kovalev that inevitable somebody? (Hopkins) fights on despite all of the familiar reasons not to. A husband and father, he’s made more money than he’ll ever need. He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame. By any conventional standard, he’s got it all, done it all, without serious injury. Bank account and brains are healthy yet he wants more in a pursuit as stubborn as it is fearless. That means new challenges. New dangers, too. It’s the danger that multiplies and at some point, creates the inevitable force that can’t be overcome by an accumulation of smarts.”
The danger that is Kovalev makes Hopkins’ fight this morning a must-watch.