Boxing fans are cynics by nature; we want to believe the
worst because well…we see the worst most of the time. When we make the decision
to sit down and watch a fighter we consider the match-up and that fighters past
history in the ring because ultimately most of us have lives to lead. Veteran
fighters not only give us the perception they will handle themselves
consistently, they also give us the guarantee that will see a skill set they’ve
honed over the course of a lifetime in Boxing. Predictability drives ratings,
and those who have been around for a long time who have been schizophrenic in behavior
will never be Ratings Kingpins-so if they want to stick around the alternative
is political power. At the Barclays Center Bernard Hopkins will enter the ring
against Tavoris Cloud at the age of 48 to try and make history and I’m not that
sure what we’ll get. For you see Hopkins is a unique study in schizophrenia in
the ring, and I’m not complimenting him on his profound completeness as a
fighter-I’m pointing out that like most great “pure” actors his performances tend
to be all over the place. I do see a Co Star (Cloud) who can bring out the virtuosity
in the old man; shorter, basic, looking for the KO but you never know when
Father Time starts working on a mind steeled in the Cellblock so many years
ago.
And the instinct to survive sets in.
Bernard Hopkins like any great old warrior has taken the
liberty to moving the goalpost whenever he sees fit. Like Holyfield he tells
anyone who will listen that he’ll leave when someone beats him up, but the
catch is he’s so skilled he can make even fights he’s losing muddy unwatchable
eyesores. He will wait all day long to throw counter shots, clinch, inexplicably
find himself in some of the most bizarre falls and spills and leave the ring
with his role as elite fighter and compelling figure intact. Hopkins like most
Hall of Famers can boast a highlight reel of destruction but he can also boast
a highlight reel of obstruction, Saturday night he will add to one depending on
what Father Time and Tavoris Cloud decide to do. Chad Dawson fell to Bernard’s
Fistic Filibuster twice if you ask me, psyched into losing his cool in the
first fight and psyched into imposing his clear dominance fully in the second
bout. He’s brilliantly nerve-wracking in that way, he can make you marvel at
his deep reservoir of Boxing IQ (See Both Pascal Bouts) or leave you
anticipating just what he will say about the god-awful thing you just
witnessed. Even his “Revenge” against a washed up Roy Jones turned into a foul
fest, only Hopkins in rare form can reduce a harmless Jones, a career “good guy”
into a dirty fighter. He can give you a Master class like the Thesis he authored
against Antonio Tarver in 2006 or the Winky Wright calamity, which felt like a
traffic jam that ends with your car getting dinged.
Like Rand Paul on the floor of Congress earlier this week
Hopkins can make 36 minutes feel like an hour and a half with constant anti
fistic tactics. When he’s made up his mind to divert and impede the process of
a fight to give off the illusion of skill we’re all in for a long night. One
can forgive Ishe Smith and Cornelius Bundrage because the skill they exhibited
was honestly all they had; Bundrage makes everyone look that way because he’s
an honest fighter with a remedial skill set. Hopkins can fight, but you have to
make him, and nobody outside of Andre Ward is skilled enough to make him and
therein lays his platform-you can’t beat him up. He’s like that when promoting
a fight, he takes his resume and filibuster’s, threatens and implies violence
until you believe him. If you don’t believe him he’ll say something that will
make you run to your laptop to editorialize on his ill words-but rarely a “fight”.
Hopefully I’m wrong Saturday and we see the old Philly
Bernard perfectly comfortable with making putting an ass-whipping on a strong aggressive
kid like Cloud. If not, I’ll take check in early and tune in for the post fight
interview In the morning because it will be more entertaining than watching
Hopkins use his experience to do everything but fight.
Not a Word on This Fight in relation to this time in Boxing
History
I find it suspicious that the PED cloud is thicker than it’s
ever been in our sport and yet we are all eyes in on a 48 year old Light
Heavyweight. The “haves” clearly seem to have the money and access to stay
clean while the middle class fighters are getting popped with positive results
as of late. Bernard Hopkins and his Promotional Firm are members or Boxing’s
Aristocracy and yet we are supposed to believe the mythology and narrative surrounding
the legend. Hey, it’s clear the man is a monolith of clean living and blue collar
work ethic but I also believe he likes money and will lose a portion of his
identity once this ride is over. I still don’t believe how naïve we can be
about PED’s considering the number of us who run to the GNC…merely to look good
when we take our shirts off! These are competitive men, and I’ll say this AGAIN
the average age of Boxing’s Top Ten Pound for Pound Ranked fighters is 37!
Remember it was only a few weeks ago that Michael Jordan put out hints that he
has a "team" of people “exploring” what it would take to get him down to 218 lbs., and your crazy if you don’t think part of that “list” would include Germany- a
place Hopkins can afford to go. I blinked on my skepticism about Adrian
Peterson's Robotic performance this past year and left my post in the chamber only to see Ray Lewis’s old ass bring
Deer Antler to the Super Bowl so I won’t hesitate anymore. I don’t believe Kobe is on
Mamba Juice and "Hard Work and Dedication" won’t see Floyd Mayweather through the
end of this Showtime/CBS deal. If Hopkins brings out a performance for the ages
and looks like the Hopkins who took Trinidad apart 12 years ago will you fight?
Or will you sit by numbly and accept Boxing’s Filibuster.
Evolution is something that allows us to pat ourselves on the back, because it's natural to want to believe the time your living in is when man is at his optimum-it's a YOU thing. We should change our egotistical mindset from "Bigger, Faster,Stronger" to "Richer, Slicker, and Greedier".
