Bernard Hopkins lost tonight, and he lost in a lopsided fight where Sergey Kovalev dropped him and came close on numerous occasions to finishing the 49 year old. But, Hopkins is still one of the absolute toughest men in the world, managing to get to the final bell against one of the heaviest hitters in all of boxing.
In the twelfth round, Hopkins took a dramatic beating from Kovalev. Kovalev landed over and over on Hopkins and it seemed as though the ref could jump in at any moment, but Hopkins did what he always does and survived to the final bell.
Hopkins would say after the fight that he didn’t run or clinch in the final round because “I’m crazy,” before explaining that Kovalev was choosing to engage, and he wanted to engage as well and give the fans what they wanted.
Hopkins also described the possibility of retiring as “50/50” and said that it’s been that way since he turned 40.
As for Kovalev, he fought an outstanding fight. Rather than overcommit to punches or expend energy on huge flurries, he fought at Hopkins speed and just outlanded him, using good handspeed, feinting and footwork to crack the veteran with big shots.
The official scorecards read 120-107, 120-107 and 120-106, a shutout for Kovalev.
After this performance, Kovalev deserves recognition as not only a power puncher, but a very talented boxer with immense power.
What’s next for Kovalev is whatever his promoters can line up for him. As unified champion, one might think that he has his pick of big fights, but boxing is rarely that simple.
Hopkins may step away after the beating he took, but it wasn’t a fight where he looked old, just a fight where he wasn’t good enough to beat a very, very good fighter. If he gets the right offer for another fight, I’d expect we’ll see him in the ring at least one more time. A belt at 50 years old doesn’t really seem out of the question.