Graceless Hopkins damaging his own legacy

Everyone knew Bernard Hopkins had a big mouth, but few suspected his had so little class. Prior to his defeat to Joe Calzaghe, Hopkins felt the need to remind everyone at every opportunity that he was a legend. Maybe so, but he will never really be loved and proved to be a very poor loser in Las Vegas.

Hopkins claimed he beat Calzaghe, Hopkins claimed he made Calzaghe look amateurish. Hopkins never said well done, he showed no love or respect, the chip on his shoulder is so big he even refused to touch gloves (a rule of the sport) before the final round. So if Hopkins refuses to show any respect, why should anyone give him the respect he feels he deserves?

This graceless display of sour grapes came from a man who spent much of last Wednesday's press conference telling two young Golden Boy fighters what they needed to get to the top. This came from a man who is a partner in Golden Boy and will be, presumably, involved in promoting many big fights.

So what was the lesson to the young fighters? Maybe it was be mean, be rude, have the world hate you. That, Bernard, does not do much for pay-per-views sales.

Typically he trashed the world beyond American shores, claiming he would not have got the decision if it had been the same fight in Wales. Well, no. You would have lost that too.

He also made endless references to how he was unmarked. Yet the main mark on Calzaghe's face was a small cut on his nose, caused when Hopkins knocked him down. Any other mark was caused by the constant Hopkins head butts, among the variety of fouls he committed, including holding, holding and hitting, punching low on the blind side of the referee and feigning injury. It is a wonder what he old pals from D-Block in Graterford that he constantly brought up would have thought as Hopkins rolled around the floor trying to buy a few seconds after being tapped on the waistband.

I hope this is the end for Hopkins, although it would end on a sour note.

Hopkins and several American journalists seemed angry that Calzaghe suggested the first-round knockdown had been caused by a slip - a remark that was clearly a joke. But then Americans famously don't do irony.

Freddie Roach, Hopkins's classy trainer, did not buy the suggestions of one reporter that the judges would have been swayed by the pro-Wales crowd in the US, saying it was Calzaghe's aggression that was probably winning the rounds.

"If you have a close, close round you normally give it to the aggressor,” Roach said. “I thought Bernard landed some good counter-punches on the inside, but they got smothered and weren’t really noticeable. I was telling him to press the issue more, but he was not able to do that. I’d love to see him retire. He’s had a great career.He has nothing to be ashamed of.”

Comments

[Cathal]

I thought Hopkins won the fight.

[Nik Wheatley]

Totally agree with Thomas. The fight was incredibly difficult to score, not because the action was so close, so much as if one of them doesn't want to fight there is only so much the opponent can do - especially if he knows that every time he goes in to try and fight the other guy will whack him (with some venom). I don't know whether Calzaghe's performance was a stinker or whether there is anything else he could reasonably have done in the circumstances. I do know that in those strange rounds I felt compelled to award it to the guy who was actually trying to make a fight of it and scored it 115-113 overall. Here's hoping for better next time.

[Thomas]

I've read a couple of these comments and I find the debate over who won facinating. Personally, I feel Calzaghe won 115 - 113. I feel he deserved to win simply due to the fact that without Calzaghe coming forwards and trying to force the issue, it would not have been a fight. Hopkins made hardly any effort to fight and in all honesty, is this what we as fight fans want to see? By awarding Hopkins the fight, it would have been condoning a negative style of boxing. While I have no problems with counter punchers, I think fighters should be encouraged to at least try to make a fight a spectacle, rather than hiding on the ropes like Hopkins. It is good for boxing as a whole as much as anything. I also think people are allowing the knockdown to cloud their thoughts on the whole who won issue.

[Dave Amos]

Watching the fight live I had it very close without having actually put pen to paper and scored it properly. A text message to a friend stranded without any way of knowing what was going on said simply 'I think he's going to lose.'

I of course meant Calzaghe, possibly because I'd honestly expected this to be a walk in the park. Hopkins' age surely meant he'd gas under the Calzaghe pressure, (he did), but I didn't think the pressure from Joe was anywhere near as effective as I thought it would be.

Either way, settling down later in the day to review the fight, I ended up scoring it 114-113 Calzaghe. Hopkins can whinge and moan, but he didn't do enough to convince anyone he won it as clearly as he seems to think. Yes it was close, but of this year's big fights Chad Dawson vs Glen Johnson and Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez II were probably more deserving of the loser getting the nod. And that's without mentioning Paul Mallignaggi vs Herman Ngoudjo, not a big fight all things considered, but a robbery.

[Ron Lewis]

Very surprised at your remarks, John. Of the few people I spoke to who thought Hopkins won, no one had it for him by more than a round, while I met quite a few people who had it to Calzaghe by a landslide.
Did you score it, or are those just your feelings about how it went? The reality is, scoring should be about scoring punches landed, not just potential threat. In the US they favour the aggressor too, so a counter-puncher has to stay busy. Hopkins wasn't very busy. Calzaghe swept nearly all the middle rounds. It was a real heart-in-mouth night for Calzaghe fans, so I can understand some feeling things weren't going as well as they were, but I still disagree.

[john]

I thought Hopkins edged the fight. He knocked Calzaghe down and controlled at least half the fight. I would give Calzaghe the last four rounds at most, not enough to win a decision.