It was sad to see Bernard Hopkins, a fighter who has battled the boxing establishment, its promotional and managerial cartels and the perceived wisdom that tried to dictate to him for twenty years finished by one of the sports unshakeable truths; nobody leaves the sport on their own terms. Bernard has spent the past decade [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Bernard Hopkins’
Boxing: Nobody gets out on their own terms, not even Hopkins
Posted in Boxing, Fight Reports, Mike Tyson, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Boxing, Chad Dawson, Dawson, HBO, Hopkins, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones on October 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Old school, new school? Cleverly and Bellew spat
Posted in Boxing, tagged Amir Khan, Bernard Hopkins, James Degale, Lennox Lewis, Manny Pacquiao, Nathan Cleverly, Tony Bellew, World Boxing Organization on May 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For those of a certain antiquity, the increasingly ubiquitous press conference rumpus between world-class Light-Heavyweight contender Nathan Cleverly and champion of the Commonwealth Tony Bellew will have proven distasteful. Others of more recent vintage will be torn. Nurtured as we were on the polarised demeanours of the ever urbane Lennox Lewis, the pantomime charm of Frank Bruno and the caustic atmosphere of all things [...]
What a tangled web we weave: Tarver and Fury
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Ali, Antonio Tarver, Bernard Hopkins, Boxing, Tyson Fury on March 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
There is a hierarchy to everything. Whether it be a pack of wolves, heavyweights or journalists. No demographic or social organism exists without either a class system or a distinct pyramid of significance or achievement. In the wild, the theory of evolution demands this hierarchy is structured upon one simple principle. ‘Survival of the fittest’. [...]
Boxing: Sakio Bika, a ghost from Calzaghe’s past returns to the fore
Posted in Boxing, Contender Series, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, HBO, Joe Calzaghe, Sakio Bika, Super-Middleweight on July 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Debate about the substance of Joe Calzaghe’s career will enthrall boxing fans for decades to come, his standing will ebb and flow with the passage of time and in all likelihood forever divide opinion thus – he was an all-time great who dominated his division for 10 years or, alternatively, he was a great fighter [...]
Holding out for a hero, is a new dawn really here?
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales, evander holyfield, James Toney, Joe Calzaghe, Kelly Pavlik, Oscar DeLaHoya, Roy Jones Jnr. on November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There was a time recently when boxing fans were entitled to wonder if a next generation of top-level fighters were ever going to emerge. The class of the 90′s hung on. Reflecting the ageing demographic tag which was readily hung on the sport as it struggled for relevance among the emergence of UFC and amid [...]
You know the game is up when you’re dressed as Captain Hook
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Shop, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, evander holyfield, Jeff Lacy, Joe Calzaghe, Light Heavyweight, Mike McCullum, Roy Jones Jnr., Virgil Hill on July 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I don’t wish to demean Roy Jones Jnr, one of the finest fighters of his, or any, generation, but the publicity shots circulated today showing the once pound for pound king of the sport dressed as Captain Hook, the infamous pirate from the Peter Pan stories made me laugh out loud. I have to wonder [...]
Adamek to ride shot Gunn
Posted in Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Bobby Gunn, cruiserweight, enzo maccarinelli, IBF, Roy Jones Jnr., Tomasz Adamek on July 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Bobby Gunn is a curious phenomenon. No other fighter, whether christened Floyd, Bernard or Oscar has engendered the type of readership and commentary that articles about the Celtic Warrior have. I suppose that might say as much about the sporadic readership of this gloomy corner of the blogosphere as any significance Gunn actually holds for [...]
Froch rolling with the big guns
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, Bernard Hopkins, CARL FROCH, ITV, Jermain Taylor, Joe Calzaghe, Mick Hennessy, Mikkel Kessler, Super-Middleweight, wbc, WBO on July 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Originally, the news Carl Froch was to feature in a six man round robin over two years on American network Showtime was met with little more than pithy sarcasm at BoxingWriter towers but now, two days later, it seems the proposed Froch, Taylor, Kessler, Abraham, Dirrell and Ward tournament is genuine and will begin with [...]
“Deep water and hope he can swim”. Yada, yada, yada; Jermain Taylor leans on cliche
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, CARL FROCH, Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Kelly Pavlik, Showtime, Super-Middleweight, wbc on March 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m excited about the WBC Super-Middleweight contest between Nottingham’s Carl Froch and Arkansas’ Jermain Taylor, it pitches two fighters together who are in their respective primes. It doesn’t rely on nostalgia, nor does it feature a network favourite and a cherry picked opponent. It isn’t quite the choice Froch has framed it to be, pursuing [...]
Tarver granted stay of execution; Dawson injured
Posted in Boxing, Fight Previews, Shop, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Glen Johnson, HBO, Joe Calzaghe, Light Heavyweight, Roy Jones Jnr. on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It would be remiss of me to overlook the timeless performances of Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley in recent months before deploring the matchmakers and executives who compiled and approved the Chad Dawson v Antonio Tarver sequel. Perhaps Tarver’s sojourn to the Rocky Balboa film set has infected the romantics among the powerbrokers, who refuse [...]
A Muscovite’s view of the Executioner’s song
Posted in Andrew Mullinder, Boxing, Fight Reports, Sports, tagged archie moore, Bernard Hopkins, carlos monzon, Jermain Taylor, Joe Calzaghe, Kelly Pavlik, marvin hagler, Middleweight, Roy Jones on October 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
It doesn’t matter where you sit. It doesn’t matter from where you viewed Saturday’s spectacle, Bernard Hopkins victory over Kelly Pavlik is arguably one of the most complete boxing clinics since, Barrera schooled Naseem Hamed perhaps? Andrew Mullinder captures the major emerging points from the fight in his regular summary from the chilly confines of [...]
Venerable Manuel Medina fights on
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, IBF, James Toney, Manuel Medina, Mexican Boxing, Super Featherweight, wbc on August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
For all the criticism I aim at the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield for their unwillingness to accept the passing of time and talent and for all the disappointment I feel hearing Marco Antonio Barrera and Chris Byrd are set to return to action it conversely provides great comfort to learn plucky veteran Manuel Medina is still performing close [...]
Mayweather, Lennox, Hamed, Hopkins; you can never win.
Posted in Boxing, Mike Tyson, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Featherweight, Floyd Mayweather, Kelly Pavlik, Lennox Lewis, Prince Naseem Hamed, Welterweight on July 25, 2008 | 3 Comments »
A few disparate references got me thinking this week. First it was the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, brought into sharper focus by this weekend’s Welterweight face off between Cotto and Margarito, then it was a YouTube compilation of Prince Naseem getting battered from pillar to post with super slow-mo’s to make the former Featherweight king [...]
Calzaghe gets his trophy opponent
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Calzaghe v Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Light Heavyweight Boxing on January 25, 2008 | 1 Comment »
It has been a long time coming. Years in the wilderness of WBO mandatories, late replacements and injury induced postponements left Joe Calzaghe close to “pound for pound” obscurity. Despite an unbeaten record, a dazzling fighting style and acceptance as the premier fighter at 168 pounds it required victories over Jeff Lacy, when decapitation was widely predicted by the American [...]
Archive: Is the Rocky road boxing’s only path to redemption?
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Contender Series, Ricky Hatton, Sports, TSS.com Archive, tagged Ali, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe, Joe Louis, Rocky, Rocky Balboa on November 16, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Archive: 20/10/2006 The recent renaissance of interest in boxing has been palpable. Stirred by the success of Joe Calzaghe, David Haye and the impending super fight between Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather the recently beleaguered and oft discarded sport of boxing is back on the sports pages, back on the television and back in the consciousness [...]
Standing room only; the Calzaghe bandwagon
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Reports, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, Calzaghe, Calzaghe v Kessler, HBO Boxing, Roy Jones, Super-Middleweight, Unification on November 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The only thing quicker than Joe Calzaghe’s fists on Saturday night, aside from how quickly one could predict the outcome of the entire under card, was the alacrity post-fight pundits demonstrated hoisting the Welshmen from ‘over-protected’, ‘unfulfilled veteran’ to ‘all-time great’. I cannot extract myself entirely from the criticism of such unsavoury haste having maligned [...]
Archive: The Final Curtain – Tyson, Holyfield & Jones Jnr.
Posted in Boxing, British Boxing, Mike Tyson, Sports, TSS.com Archive, tagged Bernard Hopkins, danny williams, evander holyfield, James Toney, Jermain Taylor, Joe Calzaghe, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jnr., Virgil Hill, Winky Wright on May 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I penned this article toward the end of 2004 for thesweetscience.com, intended to be the first to provide obituary on the careers of three of the modern era’s finest fighters it now seems premature as only Iron Mike has listened to his body and given up trying to fool opponents and fans that he can [...]
Hopkins Returns. Did he ever leave?
Posted in Boxing, Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton, Sports, tagged Bernard Hopkins, George Foreman, Joe Calzaghe, marvin hagler, Middleweight, PPV, Roy Jones on November 30, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Boxing needs personalities. And never more so than in the beleaguered heavyweight division. Yesterday’s announcement, and the worst kept secret in boxing, that former middleweight great and presently consensus Light-Heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins plans to return in the blue ribbon weight class didn’t cause the gasps of disbelief the ‘Executioner’ appears to crave.

