B-Hops – Be Great
By Rob Scott (May 13, 2006)
Bernard Hopkins
“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the land which God giveth thee”; the fifth commandment, in theory, is one that many fighters have broken over-and-over and continue to break. Of course I’m not only talking about a fighter’s biological parents when I say they have transgressed, but in boxing, the important figures of Mother Nature and that of Father Time are just as nurturing and should be heeded.

After back to back losses, albeit controversial, to Jermain Taylor, it seemed that at 40 years of age, the words of Father Time were whispering in the ear of Bernard Hopkins. But this past Saturday night, Mother Nature’s voice spoke volumes, as Hopkins conjured up the fighter of old and showed the world and Antonio Tarver that he still had the wills and skills, as  ‘The Executioner’ executed his fight plan to shear perfection, dominating Tarver to win the recognized light heavyweight championship.

Touted as the former undisputed middleweight champion’s very last fight, Hopkins, not Tarver was ‘The Magic Man’, digging into his bag of tricks, coming up with lead right hands, strategically tying up his opponent throughout, scoring a fifth round flash knockdown and overall ring generalship to put an exclamation point on a career that undoubtedly will put his name in the same breath with every all time great.

Going into the fight, both Tarver and Hopkins thought of themselves as great. But just as to how great? That was up for debate.

Tarver’s self belief stemmed from his wins over Roy Jones. With those wins, he labeled himself the legend killer. With this loss, he has to go back to the drawing board and devise a new blueprint for all-time greatness, as his foundation has been shook to the core.

The story of Bernard Hopkins on the other hand, now is one that can be made into a movie. From his much spoken about 56 month prison stint at 17 yrs of age, to him still overcoming the odds, despite no one believing in him, and winning the undisputed middleweight and now, two weight classes up, light heavyweight championships – there’s a story to be shown. From him being a fighter and fighting the system, to him becoming a promoter and fighting the system – there is a story that can be shown.

I’ve often said, “In boxing, to be great, one has to fight great fights, often under great adversity”. Hopkins has faced adverse situations in and out of the ring – and won.

Over the years I have written many times about Hopkins. The articles, all in all, have taken on a progressive turn as the initial ones were filled with question marks. Those question marks arose in my mind because, as with anything, it’s unfair to ‘overly’ give credit. After his victory over Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad and winning the undisputed title, he became great, but it was a greatness that rightfully was seen as limited to his era and his time. The difference is now if you add on his 20 middleweight title defenses and his victory over Tarver, and then you have greatness that transcends time.

It’s almost saying, ‘By Hopkins winning his battle with Trinidad, his career had became world champion, but with overcoming the odds and beating Tarver, now his career is ‘Undisputed’.

He has used what Mother Nature has blessed him with, and with Father Time not going anywhere, he has said that this is the end. Before her death, he had promised his biological mother that he would retire; he has promised his wife and child that he would retire; and now he has promised the world. Like fighters of the past, there is a chance that promise just may be broken, because like most pugilists, they never truly promise themselves.

“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the land which God giveth thee”? True indeed, but also honor thy self and thy legacy by not making the same mistakes of other boxing ‘greats’ and fighting on with nothing left to prove.

At this point, B-Hops should just be great.


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