Bernard Hopkins doesn’t want to fight Ward, targeting Bute instead

By Boxing News - 12/12/2011 - Comments

Image: Bernard Hopkins doesn't want to fight Ward, targeting Bute insteadBy Dan Ambrose: 46-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-6-1, 32 KO’s) looked horrible in his last fight against Chad Dawson, falling over his back and hitting the canvas in the 2nd round. Hopkins says his left shoulder was injured during the fall, and some boxing fans believe him, while others think Hopkins took a dive to escape a beating.

Whatever the case, Hopkins still holds his WBC title after the World Boxing Council voted and ruled the result a technical draw. Instead of facing Dawson next to try and prove himself or WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward, Hopkins wants IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute.

Hopkins told Ringtv “I would never fight Andre Ward. I would never fight him because one of my favorite shows was Kung Fu. And the master never fought the student, and the student understood that he would never challenge the master.”

Hopkins is really dating himself here because that show was on in the early 70s, and not too many boxing fans are aware of what he’s talking about here. Ward kind of patterns his fighting style after Hopkins, who he’s mentioned in the past as one of his role models. You kind of give Hopkins a pass for not wanting to fight him, because it would be kind of strange for him to face a guy that fights almost identical to him. I’d pick Ward to win that fight if it ever happened. But I also think Hopkins is too long in the tooth to beat Bute either.

Hopkins has been fighting light heavyweight for too long and he’s too up there in age for him to take on a younger, faster guy like Bute. I know Hopkins likes the idea of facing Bute because the fight would likely take place in Canada in front of 10,000 Canadian boxing fans, but Hopkins would lose. He’s about to turn 47 in January and it’s unclear how much time he has left in his career.

If his performance against Dawson is any indication, I don’t think Hopkins has much time at all left. He looked as if he’d aged considerable from his last fight against Jean Pascal last May to the fight with Dawson in October. If a Bute fight can be made, Hopkins will be even older by the time he gets in the ring and it won’t even be a fight. Bute is so much better than Hopkins right now and I think we might see another injury occur from Hopkins. It’s not worth it.



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