6. Bernard Hopkins

Born: Jan 16, 1965

 

The defeat of Glen Johnson in 1997 represents the perfection of Bernard’s first stylings, namely those of an aggressively stalking box-puncher.  On his toes on the outside, Hopkins flashes in fast hard punches and when he falls in, it is not to neutralize or stall but to flesh out his offense with infighting ability all but unequaled for his era.  See him, on the bell for the ninth, make room for his own shots without giving up space for Johnson to retaliate.  Hopkins is a hurting, points-gathering machine that is using physical and technical advantages to defeat his opponent.  Look closely however, and you will see the genesis of the thinking style that would take him into the next decade and then the one after making him one of the few professionals to box in four.  His control of range and his uncanny ability to read the machinations that control the ebb and flow of offense and defense are already at work.  At 2:40 of the next he stands at range, hands up, flat-footed, he has dominated the round so far with stiff jabs and that is what Johnson expects, so Hopkins surprises him with a lead left hook to the body. Then he goes on walkabout, dancing on his toes, lashing out with a wide variety of punches against an unbeaten opponent that would one day be the champion at 175 lbs.

 

Hopkins had an offense in those days that in no way compromised his defense because he was able to move back into the defensive envelope as fast as any fighter I have ever seen.  If he felt something he didn’t like in the opponents offense, he would make a move, in or out, that would stymie that offense and this was the essence of his defining win over Felix Trinidad, crystalized in the one-handed parry and knockout punch he lands in the twelfth round to become the first man to stop Trinidad, too. 

 

I think it must now be agreed that Hopkins is the man who has done the most to keep time at bay in the boxing ring.  When he says “the clock has worked in my favour,” what Hopkins means is that he has had the opportunity to gather information about the nature of himself and of boxing whilst iron discipline keeps total disintegration of his physical assets at bay; the result is as astonishing a career as has been seen in the modern era............And he still is going!