By Gav Duthie: Who would have thought that when Bernard Hopkins lost his first professional fight in 1988 that he would still be boxing 27 years later. ‘The Alien’ has confirmed there will be one last sequel as he plans another fight to cement his legacy. The 50 year old legend doesn’t want to go out with a loss to Sergey Kovalev but is not planning an easy fight for his swan-song. What are the possible options for Hopkins and how would they improve his legacy.
Here’s my top 5 fights in order of preference from Hopkins point of view of legacy and his ability to win.
1. Gennady Golovkin
Despite operating in the light heavyweight division for almost 10 years now Bernard Hopkins is still the most successful middleweight of all time. GGG hasn’t fought anywhere near the same calibre of opponents (Trinidad, De La Hoya) but he is catching up with Hopkins on successful defences. This is the biggest fight I can think of to improve Hopkins career legacy and I think it is winnable for him. Golovkin is smaller than Kovalev, would likely not be able to stop Hopkins and he gets hit a lot. The Alien is such a good inside fighter he could possibly win on points.
2. James DeGale
Seeing as Hopkins jumped the Super Middleweight division altogether a great way to cement his legacy would be to win a title in this division. Andre Ward would obviously be the biggest fight but I doubt he could beat him. James ‘Chunky’ DeGale is making a name for himself as Olympic champion and after narrowly defeating Andre Dirrell but would still see Hopkins as a big scalp. This would be a tough fight but DeGale can often take his foot off the gas during rounds which could allow Hopkins in.
3. Fedor Chudinov
Chudinov is another route he could go down to win a super middleweight title. This would likely be an easier option for Hopkins but not as lucrative. Chudinov has only fought 13 times but has good amateur experience. Hopkins is great at exposing inexperienced fighters with his spoiling tactics as he recently did with Beibut Chuminov.
4. Adonis Stevenson
These final two are massive fights but ultimately I don’t think Hopkins can win them at this stage of his career. Stevenson is a huge puncher and his boxing skills are underrated. It should be noted that Stevenson is no spring chicken either, he started his career late and the form he is showing age 37 lives up to his Superman tag. He is not particularly bigger than Hopkins but is very strong. I would give Hopkins a chance here but my money would be on the Haitian.
5. Andre Ward
31 year old Ward is probably the closest you can get to Hopkins in terms of style. Ward is 19 years Hopkins junior and knows all the same tricks that the old man does. Ward would likely expose Hopkins faults as you would expect from a 50 year old. His timing and precision is likely too good for Hopkins and would dominate and win on points. From a marketing point of view most fans would also expect it to be a poor show in terms of action so it doesn’t really make sense from any perspective. Of course a win over Ward would mean more than any of the other fighters but its a big ask.
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