Why Wont Anybody Fight Hopkins?

By Boxing News - 07/04/2009 - Comments

hop44547By Liam Santiago: After giving Kelly Pavlik a boxing lesson over twelve rounds, Bernard Hopkins should have a queue of the worlds top fighters waiting to fight him. Sadly, this is not the case. Even at the late boxing age of 44, Hopkins is still proving too much of a risk for the young up-coming boxers today. His unique tricky style, along with a granite chin, fearful power and a great desire to win make him one of the best pound for pound fighters around today.

Some raters have him as number one in the world, in front of Manny Pacquiao, such as BoxRec. However, the romantic idea of beating the best pound for pound fighter, as there is with Pacquiao, sadly does not also work for Hopkins. There are more choices out there for him than ever such as Carl Froch, Chad Dawson and Mikkel Kessler.

When the fight between Hopkins and Pavlik was arranged, it was supposed to be an easy one for Pavlik just to keep him ticking over. Pavlik was unbeaten and ranked somewhere in the top ten pound for pound best but when he met Hopkins he was in a completely different league. He was schooled. Hopkins beat him to every punch and managed to take away his right hand, his most powerful asset. This might have been his best achievement but it certainly wasn’t his only one. In 2001 he knocked-out unbeaten Felix Trinidad and went on to do the same to Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, which takes a lot of doing. Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright have also recently tasted defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia warrior. However, in April 2008, Hopkins tasted a bitter, unconvincing defeat by split decision to Joe Calzaghe. Hopkins knocked the Welshman down in the first round and boxed well through the fight but Calzaghe did enough to edge it. Even though he suffered defeat to Calzaghe, the fact that he came so close to beating the legend proves Hopkins undoubted talent.

As a British boxing fan and writer many will find it hard to understand why I would write such a positive article on Hopkins, who isn’t really respected in Britain at all. But however cocky he seems, or however arrogant, it can’t be denied how talented he is, how hard to beat he is and how much courage he displays by fighting the very best even at the age of 44, which can’t be said for all fighters including Calzaghe.

After these huge wins, or close wins, surely Hopkins deserves one last fight against one of the ‘up-comers’. Chad Dawson would be the obvious option but he seems to prefer a pointless rematch with Glen Johnson. It is a common fact in boxing that Dawson struggles to sell a lot of tickets and gain a large fan base, this is one of the main reasons why. Who wants to see him fight Johnson again? Even his few die-hard fans would struggle to stay awake through this one while Bad Chad outpoints the Jamaican for the second time. The same thing happened with his last fight, another rematch with Antonio Tarver. Why fight him again. But Tarver’s in the past, the main issue now is why fight Johnson again when the best pound for pound fighter in the world (arguably) is in your division without a fight? Will this fight ever happen? I very much doubt it. If Dawson is not ready for an old 44 year old Hopkins now, he never will be.

British undefeated world champion, Carl Froch is also an option for Hopkins. Froch did look set to fight Lucian Bute but Bute now looks set for a rematch with Librado Andrade. Froch also has other options, he may want Kessler and it is well known he wants to tempt Calzaghe out of retirement. Unlike Dawson, Froch displays a 100% desire to fight the best. To come to America for the first time in his last fight and knock Jermaine Taylor out the way he did was fantastic. He has a huge heart, a granite chin and great power but again I don’t think he could beat Hopkins. He has a good chance but I think he would come up short. However, Froch has shown no real desire to want to fight Hopkins, instead he has shown intrest in Pavlik, the man who was took to school by BHop. Instead of going after Pavlik, why not go for the man who beat him?

It might be a long shot but if he can come up with the money he might tempt Joe Calzaghe out of retirement. Calzaghe stated recently he would return to the ring for a stupid amount of £10 million. Although Calzaghe beat him, it was unconvincing, Joe was knocked down and one of the judges had Hopkins as a winner. I personally thought Calzaghe won but it was close. Will there be a rematch? Only if Calzaghe believes he has quit and left un-finished business. Why not have one last fight in Cardiff to settle everything. After all, it’s not a question of Joe being past it now as Hopkins is six years his senior. This fight happening is very unlikely but if Joe has anything left to prove, it is against Hopkins.

Mikkel Kessler’s name can also be thrown into the mix. Having only tasted defeat to Calzaghe, Kessler has all the credentials, on paper, to beat Hopkins, granite chin, power and heart. Again the fight is unlikely due to Kessler either fighting his mandatorys or the ‘up-comers’. Another fight for Hopkins in Roy Jones Jnr in a very late rematch. Although both are legends of the ring the bout would not have all the hype and glory of these others.

In my eyes the only person out there that can beat Hopkins today has just retired. Joe Calzaghe. Almost certainly, the two will not fight again but Hopkins can take pride in how close he came to beating the Welsh Legend. Hopkins may not be the most exiting fighter in the world, and he may lose his temper and make a fool of himself in pre fight footage (ask Steve Bunce), but at 44 he has certainly cemented his name in boxing history. Something that other fighters will not do if they keep ducking the best. The fight I really want to see for Hopkins, and I’m sure many boxing fans will agree with me is Hopkins vs Froch.



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