41-year-old Bernard Hopkins, perhaps one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in recent history, is calling it a career.
When you talk about pound-for-pound champions, there are several that jump into mind. The original was "Sugar" Ray Robinson. Never a large enough man to be able to work up to the heavier ranks, Robinson was one of the most revered fighters of his time. He was such a textbook fighter, with speed and uncanny power that could damage any opponent at any given point in any fight. His fights with Jake "Raging Bull" Lamotta were legendary.
The next pound-for-pound champ was another "Sugar Ray", some 30 years later in Sugar Ray Leaonard. Leonard won America's heart in the 1976 Summer Olympics with his flashy style en route to a gold medal. He had classic fights with Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns and Roberto "The Hands of Stone" Duran, forcing the mighty Panamanian to coin the famous "No Mas!" phrase when he could take the punishment from Leonard no longer.
Leonard finished off a Hall-of -Fame career when he rose from the ranks of the welterweights to fight the undisputed middleweight champ, "Marvelous Marvin" Hagler. In what was a close, if not questionable decision, Leonard had done what everyone said that he couldn't: jump up in weight class and beat the most dominant champion of the era.
Roy Jones, Jr. would be next on the list of boxers who dominated one or more weight classes. Jones was a fantastic fighter, with a ripped, muscular body, speed, power, and a tremendous ego. But like Muhammad Ali had done decades earlier, Jones won the fans over by proving that he could back up what he said.
Jones captured his first belt, the IBF Middleweight title, in May of 1993. The following year he beat James Toney to take the IBF Super-Middleweight belt.
In November of 1996 he jumped up to win the interim WBC Light heavyweight title by defeating Mike McCallum. He lost that belt in March of 1997, but regained it later that year by beating the man that beat him, Montell Griffin. Public opinion said that Jones would win the fight easily because the only reason that he lost the first fight was for hitting Griffin when he was down, disqualifying Jones and handing him his first defeat as a boxer.
In November of 1998, Jones not only defended the WBC title but added to it the WBA Light-Heavyweight crown. In June of the following year he again added to his collection, as he picked up the IBF title, giving him three different light-heavyweight championships.
Then on March 1, 2003, with the unified belts still intact, Jones jumped up again, this time to heavyweight, and he beat champion John Ruiz to claim the WBA Heavyweight Title.
Which leads us to Hopkins. He regained the IBF Middleweight in January of 1996 and held it until April of 2001, when he added the WBC Middleweight crown to his list. Five months later he would unify the middleweight title by knocking out Felix Trinidad in the 12th round. Hopkins successfully defended all three belts until July 2005, the first time that he lost to Jermain Taylor.
Bernard Hopkins went out on the high note that he promised that he would when he beat Antonio Tarver on June 10 to capture the IBO and NBA Light Heavyweight Championships. At 41, Bernard Hopkins was still schooling them till the end. Pound-for-pound one of the greatest fighters ever? I think so.
When you talk about pound-for-pound champions, there are several that jump into mind. The original was "Sugar" Ray Robinson. Never a large enough man to be able to work up to the heavier ranks, Robinson was one of the most revered fighters of his time. He was such a textbook fighter, with speed and uncanny power that could damage any opponent at any given point in any fight. His fights with Jake "Raging Bull" Lamotta were legendary.
The next pound-for-pound champ was another "Sugar Ray", some 30 years later in Sugar Ray Leaonard. Leonard won America's heart in the 1976 Summer Olympics with his flashy style en route to a gold medal. He had classic fights with Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns and Roberto "The Hands of Stone" Duran, forcing the mighty Panamanian to coin the famous "No Mas!" phrase when he could take the punishment from Leonard no longer.
Leonard finished off a Hall-of -Fame career when he rose from the ranks of the welterweights to fight the undisputed middleweight champ, "Marvelous Marvin" Hagler. In what was a close, if not questionable decision, Leonard had done what everyone said that he couldn't: jump up in weight class and beat the most dominant champion of the era.
Roy Jones, Jr. would be next on the list of boxers who dominated one or more weight classes. Jones was a fantastic fighter, with a ripped, muscular body, speed, power, and a tremendous ego. But like Muhammad Ali had done decades earlier, Jones won the fans over by proving that he could back up what he said.
Jones captured his first belt, the IBF Middleweight title, in May of 1993. The following year he beat James Toney to take the IBF Super-Middleweight belt.
In November of 1996 he jumped up to win the interim WBC Light heavyweight title by defeating Mike McCallum. He lost that belt in March of 1997, but regained it later that year by beating the man that beat him, Montell Griffin. Public opinion said that Jones would win the fight easily because the only reason that he lost the first fight was for hitting Griffin when he was down, disqualifying Jones and handing him his first defeat as a boxer.
In November of 1998, Jones not only defended the WBC title but added to it the WBA Light-Heavyweight crown. In June of the following year he again added to his collection, as he picked up the IBF title, giving him three different light-heavyweight championships.
Then on March 1, 2003, with the unified belts still intact, Jones jumped up again, this time to heavyweight, and he beat champion John Ruiz to claim the WBA Heavyweight Title.
Which leads us to Hopkins. He regained the IBF Middleweight in January of 1996 and held it until April of 2001, when he added the WBC Middleweight crown to his list. Five months later he would unify the middleweight title by knocking out Felix Trinidad in the 12th round. Hopkins successfully defended all three belts until July 2005, the first time that he lost to Jermain Taylor.
Bernard Hopkins went out on the high note that he promised that he would when he beat Antonio Tarver on June 10 to capture the IBO and NBA Light Heavyweight Championships. At 41, Bernard Hopkins was still schooling them till the end. Pound-for-pound one of the greatest fighters ever? I think so.
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