Bernard Hopkins
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| Bernard Hopkins | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Bernard Hopkins |
| Nickname | The Executioner |
| Weight | Middleweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | January 15, 1965 |
| Birth place | Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 52 |
| Wins | 47 |
| Wins by KO | 32 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
Bernard Hopkins (born January 15, 1965) —nicknamed The Executioner— is a professional boxer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Going into his fight against Jermain Taylor in July of 2005, Hopkins was the undisputed holder of the championship belts from all 4 major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO). In addition, he was awarded the coveted linear Ring Belt after defeating Felix Trinidad in September 2001. On June 10, 2006 he defeated Antonio Tarver to become The Ring light heavyweight champion. His career record stands at 47 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no contest with 32 knockouts.
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[edit] Biography
Bernard Hopkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, growing up in the Raymond Rosen housing projects and later in Germantown, where he became involved in crime and gang activity at a young age. Today, he describes himself as a "thug" in his youth and regrets that it took a stint in prison for him to turn his life around.
Late in 1982, when Hopkins was in the 11th grade, he was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in the state penitentiary for "strong-arm robbery" (not armed robbery - beating people and taking their money). For fifty-six months, from 1984 through 1989, Hopkins was one of three thousand inmates in Graterford State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. While incarcerated, he decided to turn his life around.[1] Hopkins studied for and earned his high school diploma, and also began to take part in boxing again, which he had done off and on as a youth.
During four years and eight months in prison, Hopkins won the national penitentiary middleweight championship three times. He converted to Islam [2] during his incarceration and was paroled in 1988, as soon as he was eligible. His dedicated approach to the faith helped him build his successful monastic boxing career by instilling discipline in the once troubled young adult [3].
[edit] Professional career
He immediately joined the professional boxing ranks as a light heavyweight, losing his debut on October 11, 1988 in Atlantic City, New Jersey to a fighter named Clinton Mitchell. But he showed enough in the loss that respected trainer Bouie Fisher took him on. After a 16-month layoff he resumed his career as a middleweight, winning a unanimous decision over Greg Paige on February 22, 1990.
Between February 1990 and September 1992, Hopkins worked his way through the ranks of middleweight journeymen, scoring 20 wins without a loss. He won 15 of those fights by knockout, 11 coming in the first round.
That earned him an opportunity for his first title, the USBA regional middleweight belt. True to form, he knocked out fringe contender Wayne Powell in the first round on December 4, 1992 and moved into the list of top 10 contenders for a world title shot.
His first chance at a world title came on May 22, 1993 in Washington, DC, when he faced Roy Jones Jr. for the vacant IBF middleweight belt. Hopkins, who was still inexperienced against top fighters, nevertheless went the distance with Jones before losing a unanimous decision. Hopkins retained his world ranking and defended his USBA belt three further times while waiting for another world title shot.
[edit] Winning the IBF Middleweight Title
Jones abandoned the middleweight ranks in 1994, and the IBF came again knocking at Hopkins's door on December 17 of that year, matching him with Segundo Mercado in Mercado's hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Mercado knocked Hopkins down twice and built a big lead on the scorecards before Hopkins rallied late and earned a draw. The IBF called for a rematch, and on April 29, 1995, Hopkins became a world champion with his seventh-round technical knockout of Mercado in Landover, Maryland.
After winning the title, Hopkins followed the example of former world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler and followed a strict training regimen to always keep his weight close to the division limit of 160 pounds (73 kg). Meanwhile, he fought the toughest available competition and was soon considered by many as the best world middleweight titleholder. By the end of 2000, he had defended the IBF title 12 times without a loss, while beating such standouts as John David Jackson, Glencoffe Johnson, Simon Brown, and Antwun Echols. His second fight with Antwun Echols on December 1, 2000 was one of the strangest in boxing history, as Hopkins was the victim of a wrestling-like takedown in the 6th round which injured his right arm. The referee offered Hopkins the win as a result of disqualification, but Hopkins decided to fight on and eventually stopped Echols via TKO in the 10th round using mostly his left arm. This helped Hopkins gain the reputation of a true "old-school" fighter and was a testament to his toughness.
[edit] 2001 Middleweight Unification Tournament
The arrival of multiple-division champion Félix Trinidad into the middleweight ranks set off a series of unification fights between major titleholders. On April 14, 2001, Hopkins won a unanimous decision over WBC champion Keith Holmes in New York City. Then, on September 29, WBA champion Trinidad challenged Hopkins for all three belts in Madison Square Garden. During the publicity tour in the weeks leading up to the fight, both camps grew more contemptuous of the other. Tensions finally boiled over when during a stop in San Juan, Hopkins threw a Puerto Rican flag on the ground in front of several hundred Trinidad suporters. Hopkins later apologized, but the anticipation for the fight had reached a fever pitch, with both Trinidad and Hopkins impatient to prove their dominance in the middleweight division.
For the first time in many years, Hopkins was an underdog in the betting which led the confident Hopkins to place a $100,000 bet on himself to win the bout. He was on his way to a lopsided decision victory when, in the 12th and final round, he floored Trinidad and referee Steve Smoger called a halt to the fight after Trinidad's father entered the ring to stop the fight, as Hopkins had predicted. It was the first loss of Trinidad's career, and made Hopkins the first undisputed world middleweight champion since Marvin Hagler in 1987. The Ring magazine and the World Boxing Hall of Fame named Hopkins as the 2001 Fighter of the Year.
[edit] Undisputed Middleweight Champion
He defended the undisputed title five times. Hopkins bested Carl Daniels on February 2, 2002 by tenth-round technical knockout; Morrade Hakkar on March 29, 2003 by eighth-round TKO; William Joppy on December 13, 2003 by unanimous decision; and Robert Allen on June 5, 2004, also by unanimous decision.
In the biggest fight of his career, Hopkins fought six-division titleholder Oscar de la Hoya for the undisputed middleweight championship on September 18, 2004 in Las Vegas. Hopkins won the bout with a knockout in the ninth round. He said he ended the de la Hoya fight with a perfect punch to the liver, later describing it as "Chopped liver with Hopkins sauce".
Oscar de la Hoya soon thereafter invited Hopkins to join his boxing promotional firm, Golden Boy Promotions, as president of its new east coast chapter. Their alliance was announced publicly on November 20, 2004. Hopkins is expected to sign and guide the careers of young east coast fighters, including several from his hometown of Philadelphia.
Hopkins reached his stated goal of 20 title defenses on February 19, 2005 against Howard Eastman, the European middleweight champion.
[edit] Controversial Losses to Jermain Taylor
In his next fight on July 16, 2005, Hopkins, who had not been defeated since 1993, lost his undisputed middleweight title to the undefeated Jermain Taylor. Hopkins started slowly against his younger opponent, dropping the first four rounds. Hopkins was more active in the middle rounds, then dominated Taylor throughout the tenth and eleventh rounds, staggering him with a series of punches. The late rally was apparently not enough to overcome his inactivity in the first half of the fight, and Taylor won by a controversial split decision. Press row occupants scored the fight almost unanimously for Hopkins with 116-112 being the most common score. HBO Boxing analyst and "unofficial" ringside scorer Harold Lederman called the fight 115-113 in favor of Taylor.
Previous plans to step up to 175 pounds to face the consensus light-heavyweight champion, Antonio Tarver and rival Roy Jones Jr. were dashed after the loss to Taylor. Hopkins maintains that he was robbed due to a judge scoring the last round in favor of Taylor, but admitted that he did not finish Taylor when he had the chance. Critics stated that he started too slow and lost the fight in the early rounds despite Taylor missing most of his punches.
On December 3, 2005, Hopkins lost his rematch against Jermain Taylor by a unanimous, slightly less controversial, decision. All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for Taylor. Compubox statistics showed that Hopkins outlanded Taylor 130-124 in total punches and 101-60 in power punches.
[edit] Light Heavyweight
On June 10, 2006, Hopkins defeated Antonio Tarver in a completely one-sided fight by a unanimous decision to win Tarver's recognized Light Heavyweight Title. Hopkins knocked Tarver down in Round 5. Hopkins played to the crowd (made up mostly of Hopkins fans) throughout the fight including one moment, in round 10, where Hopkins turned his back to Tarver, raised his arms, and then turned back around and ran after Tarver, hitting him with a flurry of punches before the bell rang. Hopkins stated after the fight that he was:"done."[4] The Ring,however,has so far not withdrawn recognition of him. All three judges had him winning the bout 118-109.
This fight was of particular importance to Hopkins. Besides retiring with a win and a title, he "beat the man who beat the man"; Tarver having beaten Roy Jones, the only professional fighter other than Jermain Taylor and Clinton Mitchell to beat Hopkins. In an attempt to discredit Hopkins critics say that Tarver turned up a sub-par performance because of his involvement in the movie Rocky Balboa. Before the fight, Hopkins made a statement on what he called "yo-yo diet", i.e. when a boxer allows his weight to fluctuate too much, resulting in a necessity to do "extra things" (sauna, diet, etc) to lose weight before a fight. This strains the body and many have fallen victim to it. "Strain kills," he said.[5] He also said that what had set him apart from other boxers is his strict discipline in training, as he would fight on a given Saturday, and be back in the gym the following Tuesday.
For this particular fight, Hopkins turned to famed fitness guru Mackie Shilstone to prepare him for his move up in weight to Tarver. In the past, Shilstone worked with thousands of athletes, including several boxers, to map out fitness and nutrition programs. He was instrumental in helping two fighters move up in weight to pull off upsets. Shilstone oversaw Michael Spinks' transformation from light-heavyweight champion to heavyweight champion when he upset Larry Holmes in 1985. Coincidentally, in 2003, Roy Jones Jr. turned to Shilstone, who helped him become the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in more than 100 years by beating John Ruiz. Shilstone was also in Jones corner during his knock out loss to Tarver .
[edit] Future
On September 18, 2006, various boxing web sites, including SecondsOut, reported that Hopkins was considering a heavyweight title fight with Oleg Maskaev in June 2007. Hopkins begun initial consultations with Mackie Shilstone, the revered sports fitness expert, to determine whether or not it would be feasible for Hopkins to build a heavyweight physique capable of competing with the much larger Maskaev [6]. However, YahooSports reported that rather than fight Maskaev, Hopkins has decided to challenge Winky Wright on July 21.
[edit] Return in 2007
Bernard Hopkins agreed to return to the ring to face Middleweight champion Ronald "Winky" Wright on July 21, 2007. An announcement has not yet been scheduled, and contracts have not yet been signed. The fight may take place in New York City or Las Vegas. Winky Wright is highly ranked in the pound for pound lists and the fight is billed by most as a defensive and technical battle. Roy Jones declined a bout .
[edit] Record
- Amateur boxing: 95-4
- Professional boxing: 47-4-1-1 (32 KO)
[edit] Trivia
- Hopkins' only appearances as a light heavyweight were in his first and last bouts.
- Hopkins had a cameo role in the Beanie Sigel film State Property 2.
- Hopkins' nephew Demetrius Hopkins is a rising boxing prospect in the light welterweight division.
- Hopkins' bout with Félix Trinidad at New York City's Madison Square Garden was originally scheduled for September 15, 2001, but was postponed for two weeks because of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Vacated by Reggie Johnson |
USBA World Middleweight Champion December 4, 1992-1994 |
Succeeded by Vacancy filled by Robert Allen |
| Preceded by Vacated by Roy Jones Jr. |
IBF World Middleweight Champion April 29, 1995–July 16, 2005 |
Succeeded by Jermain Taylor |
| Preceded by Keith Holmes |
WBC World Middleweight Champion April 14, 2001–July 16, 2005 |
|
| Preceded by Félix Trinidad |
WBA World Middleweight Champion September 29, 2001–July 16, 2005 |
|
| Preceded by Oscar de la Hoya |
WBO World Middleweight Champion September 18, 2004–July 16, 2005 |
|
| Preceded by Antonio Tarver |
The Ring World Light Heavyweight Champion June 10, 2006-present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Roy Jones Jr. |
Pound for pound #1 boxer ("The Ring) 2004-2005 |
Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. |
| Preceded by Felix Trinidad |
Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 2001 |
Succeeded by Vernon Forrest |
