Hopkins Is No Stranger to Rematches

By Kieran Mulvaney

Jean Pascal, Bernard Hopkins - Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland

When Bernard Hopkins faces Chad Dawson on HBO World Championship Boxing on Saturday, it will be the seventh occasion on which he has fought the same opponent a second time. Of the previous six, one came soon after an initial encounter that Hopkins had comfortably won; one came many years after a bout he had clearly lost; one was an immediate rematch of a fight that cost him the middleweight title; two followed draws; and one, like Saturday’s fight with Dawson, succeeded a bad-tempered grudge match that ended in a bizarre no-contest.

Hopkins is renowned as a cerebral and adaptable boxer, and ring smarts and adaptability have played a key role in The Executioner’s remarkable rematch record of 5 wins and 1 defeat. He’ll aim to improve that against Dawson.

Here’s how events unfolded in his previous second chances:

Roy Jones, Jr. (L12, May 22 1993; W12 April 3 2010)

The first encounter was the inaugural title tilt for both future Hall-of-Famers; despite the excellence of their subsequent careers, the middleweight bout was unremarkable. Their second battle, which didn’t take place until Hopkins was 45 and Jones was effectively shot, was unwatchable, but it enabled Hopkins to secure his long-desired revenge.

Segundo Mercado (D12 December 17 1994; TKO7 April 29 1995)

In his next attempt to win the middleweight crown, Hopkins struggled to adapt to the altitude in Mercado’s native Ecuador and was floored twice before escaping with a draw. In the rematch, closer to home turf in Maryland, Hopkins left no doubt, and stopped Mercado to begin his lengthy championship reign. 

Robert Allen (NC  August 28 1998; TKO7 February 6 1999)

Hopkins’ seventh title defense was an ugly affair; in a bizarre finish, referee Mills Lane pulled the two men apart from a clinch with such force that Hopkins fell through the ropes and onto the floor, twisting his ankle and forcing a no-contest decision. In the aftermath, Allen taunted Hopkins, claiming he had quit; a focused and enraged Hopkins dominated his opponent in the rematch. (The two men fought a third time in 2004, with Hopkins winning convincingly on points.) 

Antwun Echols (W12 December 12 1999; TKO10 December 1 2000)

Hopkins won the first meeting comfortably enough, but Echols’ power rocked the champ once or twice along the way. The rematch was a foul-fest that was highlighted, if that’s the word, by Echols essentially body-slamming Hopkins to the canvas and injuring the Philadelphian’s shoulder in round 6, an act that resulted in the challenger being penalized two points; after a timeout, Hopkins elected to continue, ultimately stopping Echols with a barrage against the ropes in the 10^th.

Jermain Taylor (L12 July 16 2005; L12 December 3 2005)

After a record 20 successful defenses of his middleweight title, Hopkins started slowly against the younger Taylor, who built up a big early points lead. Hopkins dominated down the stretch, but Taylor held on to secure a close and controversial split decision. The rematch unfolded much the same way: this time Hopkins stepped up the pressure slightly earlier, but an eleventh-round rally was enough for Taylor to secure another very narrow points win – the only rematch to date from which Hopkins has not emerged victorious. 

Jean Pascal (D12 December 18 2010; W12 May 21 2011)

As with Taylor, Hopkins fell behind early against light-heavyweight titlist Pascal, his cause not aided by two knockdowns, including one that the veteran insisted resulted from a punch behind the head. Once again, Hopkins was rampant down the stretch, but the early points hole was so deep that he could only secure a majority draw. Pascal started the rematch brightly enough, but this time Hopkins took charge earlier, ultimately dominating Pascal physically and psychologically and becoming the oldest boxer to win a major world title. 

Boxing's Best Of 2011

By Eric Raskin

The 12 Days of Christmas are fun and all, but for fight fans, the end of 2011 is all about seven days of boxing. From December 26-29, HBO will replay the seven most memorable boxing matches of the year, including Fight of the Year candidates, history-makers and record-breakers, featuring some of the biggest superstars in the sport.

One thing all seven fights had in common was that they featured at least one combatant with something serious to prove (which is a not-uncommon ingredient in fights that turn out to be as great in the ring as they appear on paper). We’ll break down the action of all seven fights, with a little help from HBO commentator Max Kellerman.

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Bernard Hopkins Makes History at 46

Photo: Ed Mullholland

The younger man sat on the stool, milking every possible second of rest between rounds. Seeing it, the older man leaped to his feet, walked a few feet from his corner, and began doing push-ups.

The crowd roared in appreciation, as it did throughout the night, from the moment Bernard Hopkins entered the ring to a tape of him singing his own version of “My Way” – accompanied by a trio of picture-perfect backing singers – to the reading of the scores and the official acknowledgment that he had achieved boxing history, becoming the oldest fighter to win a title.

Jean Pascal was the Montreal fighter, and the Montreal crowd yearned for him to win. It roared its deafening approval whenever the defending 28-year-old light heavyweight champion threw a flurry of punches or landed a hard right to Hopkins’ jaw. But it cheered and applauded in acknowledgment, and with ever greater enthusiasm as the night progressed, when Hopkins asserted control, made Pascal miss, or stunned the hometown favorite – as on several occasions he did – by feinting with the left and then landing a hard right hand over the top.

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Jean Pascal vs. Bernard Hopkins: Weigh-In

by  Kieran Mulvaney

Photo: Ed Mulholland

Maybe it all started with the belt.

At the end of the final pre-fight press conference before the first in-ring encounter between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal, the plan was for the two men to pose with Pascal’s WBC light-heavyweight belt. Instead, Hopkins took it for himself, and when the champion made a move to snatch it, he moved it behind his back, like a teenager tormenting his kid brother with a game of keep-away. Pascal lost his cool, Hopkins goaded him with undoubtedly barbed comments, there was pushing and shoving and a net result in which Hopkins, not for the first time, appeared to have burrowed his way into an opponent’s head.

Since then, the tension has only increased. Their confrontation in the ring left neither man defeated, but each feeling deprived of victory. In the buildup to the rematch, Pascal unexpectedly and suddenly suggested Hopkins’ fistic longevity had to be the result of artificial enhancement, screaming at him repeatedly to “take the test.” At the weigh-in for Saturday’s rematch, in a crowded ballroom at the Sheraton hotel near the Bell Centre where the fight will take place, the apparent dislike escalated further, each man in the other’s face, exchanging insults, continuing to strain forward and hurl epithets even as handlers pulled them away.

The crowd, largely pro-Pascal, of course loved it.

Levity returned, along with Hopkins, about an hour later. The former champion, having surprisingly weighed in four ounces over the 175 lb limit, returned now and logged a couple of ounces under. Asked how he had shed the extra weight, he smiled his famous gap-toothed smile.

“I told you I was full of s**t,” he joked.

In a Montreal Gym, It's the Same Old Bernard Hopkins

by Kieran Mulvaney

The city was humid, and the gym, like boxing gyms the world over, stifling. Whether because this city has become a boxing hotbed – which indeed it has – or because of the imminent arrival of a famous guest, the gym was packed.  The gathered journalists were ushered to a far corner, and the guest’s arrival a few minutes afterward was marked by a drop in background noise as those who were working out briefly stopped skipping ropes and pounding heavybags to take the measure of the future Hall-of-Famer now in their midst.

He marched in, head down, hands already wrapped, offering the faint hint of a nod as he recognized one of the waiting journalistic throng. He did not smile, did not offer a hand.

Bernard Hopkins did not want to be there.

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