The Legacy of The Executioner

By Fadi Khwaja

Bernard Hopkins by name, Executioner by living. Hopkins is a complex character whose career has gone through many trials and tribulations. When the time comes, at the end of this year to hang up his gloves, how will history look at the man who dominated the middleweight division with an iron fist.

On May 22, 1993 the Executioner with a record of 22-1 (16) went to work on the undercard of Riddick Bowe versus Jesse Ferguson. The vacant IBF title was up for grabs and an exciting affair was expected between him and the undefeated Olympian Roy Jones Junior. The fight was highly anticipated and on paper looked certain to produce fireworks but, in practice fell short as both chose not to fight as explosively as they had done in previous fights. Hopkins a.k.a. the Executioner is aptly named considering three of his last four fights had ended in the first round (overall twelve ended in the first round). Roy Jones alike was considered a dangerous fighter with Jorge Fernando Castro being the only man out of twenty one opponents to hear the final bell.

Jones went on to be known as a cautious fighter who would coast to wide points victories but at light middleweight and middleweight. Heading into the Hopkins bout, Jones had shown he could and would punch. Jones alleged that he went into the Hopkins fight with an injured right hand but it must be pointed out that Jones did use his injured hand over the course of the fight. A logical theory would be to say that Jones was pulling his punches (recoiling the punch without letting full impact occur) when using his injured right hand. It was a timid affair with Jones winning 8-4/116-112 on all three cards. Hopkins only has himself to blame for this loss, he was too hesitant in his actions, pawing with jabs that looked like they had no real intent of landing, shortening the distance or creating openings. Jones citing an injury was not eager to engage in a shoot out, so happily sat back and boxed. Bouie Fisher, Hopkins’ trainer told Hopkins to push the action and he did so on occasions bagging himself four rounds but it simply was not enough and Hopkins was always one step behind Jones, never put Fishers wise words into action.

On September 29, 2001 (rescheduled because of 9/11 terrorist attacks) Hopkins gave new meaning to his name, the Executioner. Hopkins had officially gone down as one of the master strategists of all times. He executed a game plan to near perfection, arguably not losing a round. That night in Madison Square Garden it was plain for all eyes to see Hopkins had Trinidad worked out from the start and understood him better then he understood himself. Hopkins had matured as a tactician since fighting Jones and showed a mastery of almost every domain of the game – parrying, side to side, feinting, infighting – the whole repertoire that a versatile fighter would display. Many say De La Hoya drew the blue print on how to beat Trinidad but Hopkins arguably pitched a shut out and added whole new dimensions to the blue print. Hopkins boxed Trinidad early but roughed him up as the fight went on and stood toe to toe with him on many occasions, getting the better of the action. Hopkins did many things during the fight that De La Hoya did not, for example glove block, infight or bob. Hopkins was unified (WBC and IBF) going into the fight and yet he was still considered unproven having lost to Roy Jones Junior, the best fighter he had ever faced. Hopkins was so underrated he entered the fight a 3-1 underdog. Trinidad was considered a terror at 40-0 (33), having unified the WBC/IBF and WBA/IBF at Welterweight and Light Middleweight respectively. Trinidad then proceeded to step up to Middleweight and destroy WBA champion William Joppy (32-1-1) in five brutalising rounds, putting Joppy down in the first, fourth and fifth. The stage was set, all three belts were up for grabs and Hopkins and Trinidad were the two best middleweights in the world. The end came in the twelfth with a right hand. The moment was punctuated with Trinidad’s scorching left hook landing on Hopkins right glove as Hopkins missed a left uppercut, Hopkins proceeded to explode with a counter right cross that left Trinidad in a heap on the floor. Papa Trinidad stopped the fight as he saw his son rise on unsteady legs. The glove block showed Hopkins had Trinidad figured out that night. A late bloomer but at thirty six years of age the Executioner showed that he belonged in the upper echelon of great middleweights.

Many critics are quick to point out Hopkins fought in a weak era, fought small guys or ducked fighters. Hopkins should be credited for twenty defences not because it is record breaking but because there was no disqualifications, no lucky punches and no off nights. Hopkins trains as if every opponent is a challenge and has methodically gone through his opposition, losing only a handful of rounds along the way. I disagree with the line of thought that Hopkins fought small fighters. It must be noted that Syd Vanderpool and Antwun Echols went on to become major players at Super Middleweight as did Glen Johnson who also became ‘the man’ at Light Heavyweight after beating Eric Harding, Clinton Woods, Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver in his last five fights. Hopkins dominated all three opponents not losing a round to Johnson and just one or two rounds to Echols and Vanderpool (Hopkins lost four rounds on one card). People must also note Hopkins’ demolition job of smaller fighters. To date, he holds wins over Simon Brown, John David Jackson, Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya, all of whom would be considered great fighters at lower weights. In relation to ducking fighters it is a point that has been fabricated years later when it was realised how great a fighter Hopkins is.

Looking back, Hopkins was not considered a special fighter who should be watched, thus fights with guys like Gerald McClellan and Julian Jackson were not made. Due to bad management he lost his first fight, were he weighed 177 pounds, by majority decision in a four rounder. He beat good competition, the likes any fighter in his first twenty fights would beat but lost again in his twenty fourth bout when he stepped up in competition to face Roy Jones. This was followed with four wins and a draw to Sergundo Mercado, which again was a major set back. Up to that point Hopkins had not shown phenomenal natural ability like that of a ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard or a Muhammad Ali and he lacked a Gold Medal on his record to establish him early in his career. The only thing he had on his record was the word criminal after spending fifty six months in prison for robbery.

William Joppy and Keith Holmes were as much champions in the WBA and WBC respectively as Hopkins was in the IBF because no fighter since Ray Leonard retired had resumed the lineage. It was not until he had beaten Holmes and Trinidad and resumed the lineage that he was looked upon as a fighter to be reckoned with. Bernard Hopkins came of age when he beat Mercado (TKO7) in the rematch to win the vacant IBF title and since that day he has defeated every mandatory and every fighter willing to come to Middleweight to fight him, all the while evolving from an aggressive fighter to one of the best defensive fighters the middleweight division has ever seen.

Historically Hopkins has fulfilled the requirements of being a great middleweight as he dominated his division and beat great small fighters. What will cast a shadow over his Hall of Fame legacy is the creation of the Super Middleweight division. No one criticises Hagler for not stepping up to fight Dwight Qawi or Michael Spinks, both of whom welcomed the fight, because both were huge men who went on to higher divisions and walked around at 200 pounds plus. The Super Middleweight division however presented a more feasible weight jump. This fuelling the only real downfall of Hopkins career and that is him not fighting Joe Calzaghe. However this can be countered by the fact that he chose the business option over legacy. He had the option of fighting Calzaghe in England for £2.5million as Frank Warren had offered or eventually fighting Oscar De La Hoya for $10million. He chose the later and financially for a fighter at the end of the road it made sense but there is no doubt a win over Calzaghe who is undefeated and naturally bigger would have done wonders for his legacy.

At forty years old, there are no comebacks for a fighter like Hopkins. He says this is his last year in the game and he will have two remaining fights on Pay Per View. He says the belts mean nothing to him now as he has reached his career goal of twenty defences. Without the alphabet soup enforcing a mandatory and with everyone knowing Hopkins is ‘the man’ at middleweight, the disregard for the sanctioning bodies definitely allows him to broaden his already wide horizon in choosing worthy challengers to finish his career on a high note. The wealth of the division is really opening up as Jermain Taylor, Felix Sturm, Kingsley Ikeke among others present themselves as legitimate challengers. The best route for Hopkins to take is to first fight the apparent heir in Jermain Taylor and then fight the winner of Felix Trinidad versus ‘Winky’ Wright. If the Taylor fight does not come to fruition, which is very possible then the fight should fall to Felix Sturm, the man to have arguably beaten De La Hoya. If the winner of Trinidad versus Wright does not come to fruition, which again is very possible then Hopkins can fight the winner of Antonio Tarver versus Glen Johnson. Whatever the situation, there is definitely two available fights for Hopkins in July and September. Hopkins should fight those fights, retire and ride off into the sunset happy in knowledge that he holds the most title defences in middleweight history. Hopkins’ name will be mentioned in the same breath as ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Marvin Hagler and Carlos Monzon or at least by me anyway.

Note: At time of publication a deal has been finalised between Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor to fight at the MGM on the 16^th July 2005.