Boxing Opinion: There will Never be Another like Bernard Hopkins

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- He did it in a dignified manner, very complimentary of his opponent and very supportive of him, too. Bernard Hopkins had no excuses -- not his age, not the judges, not the media.

Sergey Kovalev vanquished “The Alien” in a very convincing, very painful and, at times, very disturbing manner. “The Krusher” won a 12-round unanimous decision Nov. 8 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall to unify IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight belts.

Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) was so dominant that he won every round on the scorecards of judges Carlos Ortiz Jr. and Clark Sammartino, who both had it 120-107 for Kovalev, as well as judge Larry Layton, who scored the fight 120-106. It was the first time Kovalev had ever gone past eight rounds.

But the question hung there, and it had to be asked: Was this the last time we would see Hopkins, a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer and all-time great?

Kovalev gave 49-year-old Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) the worst beating of his career. He sent Hopkins down in the first round, had him teetering in the eighth, and he piled on the punishment in the 12th, which had some shuddering at ringside, yelling for referee David Fields to stop the fight.

“There’s no way [Hopkins] would have allowed any of us to throw in the towel,” said Hopkins’ trainer, Naazim Richardson. “I just made sure I apologized to his family, because I like to return my athletes the same way they’re brought to me. Bernard wanted to go out that way and prove he could take a shot. He didn’t hold. He went back at a world-class fighter with everything he could. That’s a real man there.”

Hopkins, a little bruised on his head and left eye, was very lucid after the fight. He gave props to Kovalev, calling the 31-year-old Russian the present and future of the light heavyweight division. When asked about his age, Hopkins said it wasn’t a factor, that he didn’t want to diminish Kovalev’s great night.

But there was also something tranquil about Hopkins, something a little different in how he almost seemed to accept this loss over the rare other setbacks that have dotted his career. Hopkins didn’t come right out and say he was finished, but there seemed to be a twinkle in eye that said, “I’ve done everything I could possibly do in boxing and I have nothing else to prove.”

Hopkins doesn’t.

Hopkins found out he may not have the arsenal to compete with today’s elite light heavyweights. Each time Hopkins tried to lay a trap, to get Kovalev to expend more energy than he would like, the Krusher stepped back, willing to be patient. Kovalev had Hopkins backpedaling from start to finish, and each time there was an exchange, Hopkins had no answer.

“Bernard is a tough opponent and very good at keeping the distance,” Kovalev said. “He’s a great in the boxing world, but I wanted to show my fans I could box and I did. He touched me with some good punches, he has some good form, but I knew I could go 12 rounds, when many people questioned that. I beat a legend.”

As Kovalev kept putting rounds in the bank, you kept waiting for Hopkins to pull off something, anything, like he used to. Only this time, there were no reserves. This time, his vast knowledge couldn’t relay information quick enough to his muscles and reflexes to get out of the way.

John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer who once worked with Hopkins, kept imploring his fighter to treat Hopkins like “the old man that he is.” But Jackson stepped back and thought for a moment after the fight. He reflected on all of the times he worked with Hopkins and his real, everlasting respect for the boxer.

“The man is a Hall of Famer and an all-time great, and this doesn’t change that,” Jackson said. “This was the beginning for Sergey against someone great, and maybe the end for Bernard, that’s up to him where he wants to go. But no one wants to see Bernard take punishment like that anymore. I know I don’t. The man means too much for boxing, in and outside the ring. There won’t be anyone like him again.”