He did it again.
Bernard Hopkins, at 46 years old, became the oldest man to ever win a championship in boxing history, outpointing Jean Pascal and taking the younger man to school throughout the fight. Hopkins won on scores of 115-114, 115-113 and 116-112. Bernard Hopkins won the Bad Left Hook card, 117-112.
Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO) is the legitimate light heavyweight champion for a second time, following his years of domination in the middleweight division. Pascal, as Hopkins said, fought fairly well for about four rounds, but after that it was all Bernard Hopkins. The Philadelphia legend simply dominated the remainder of the fight, sans a 12th round when Pascal did hurt Hopkins.
Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO) just is not good enough for Bernard Hopkins, and over their two fights, I think that played out. The first fight was close, but I felt Hopkins won. The second fight was really not close, and luckily this time, Hopkins got the cards he very richly deserved.
Hopkins also complimented Pascal after the fight, though he did try to give him some advice. You may recall that he did the same thing in 2008 against Kelly Pavlik, and Pavlik has really never been the same. This was also Hopkins' best performance, by far, since that fight. The flaws in Pascal's game are obvious, and he badly needs to correct them if he's going to maintain his status as a legitimate top light heavyweight.
Hopkins also says he has no plans to retire, and has two opponents in mind: Chad Dawson first, and Lucian Bute second. Pascal asked for a third fight, and honestly I don't think it would be the worst thing, but Dawson is in line next, and you can expect that fight later this year. Hopkins is 46, and probably doesn't see any need to fight Pascal again.
Congratulations to Bernard Hopkins. Tonight, he made history, and we all got to see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment