Photo by Hogan Photos
On Saturday, December 17, 2016, boxing will see the end of an era. Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2 32 KOs) has announced that he will end his career with a final fight against WBC International Light Heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
“BHop” has led a long and flourishing career, spanning over the course of just over 28 years and containing 64 pro fights–39 of which were bouts for major titles.
As a fighter who began fighting near the end of the prime Mike Tyson era in 1988, through today, Hopkins has participated in numerous fights that were instrumental, not just in the advancement of his career, but also in the advancement of his status in the public eye as well.
Scroll through to read Bernard Hopkins’ five best fights.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Lipsey
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On March 16, 1996, Bernard Hopkins made the second defense of his IBF Middleweight title against Joe “The Sledgehammer” Lipsey (25-0 20 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was a meeting between the two hardest punchers in the Middleweight division and the crowd expected fireworks.
The fight did not disappoint either, as both men traded spectacularly for as long as the bout lasted. Hopkins opened the fight quickly with his staple of the night–his right hand.
After a one-sided first round in which he was caught with a few stiff right hands, Lipsey began to find his groove and landed a couple left hands of his own, but found himself getting tagged by hard combinations to the head from Hopkins.
By only the third round, both fighters started to show wear and tear– Hopkins’ eye swollen and Lipsey’s mouth bleeding. The third and fourth rounds were brilliant displays of trading blows, but Hopkins’ power, combined with his exceptional counterpunching, gave him both rounds on the judges’ cards.
From the beginning of the fifth round however, Hopkins began to switch his angles more and fire more power punches and midway through the round he caught Lipsey with a vicious three-punch combination that would have felled a lesser fighter. Lipsey held on however, attempting to hold onto Hopkins and get out of the round.
This tactic proved to be his downfall however, as he was caught by a brutal uppercut that knocked his mouthpiece out. After he literally stunned Lipsey into standing still, Hopkins fired off a final combination to the head that ended it.
This bout was instrumental in not only demonstrating Hopkins’ exceptional power, but also his ability to fight a harder-hitting southpaw opponent.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya
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On September 18, 2004, Bernard Hopkins met Oscar “The Golden Boy” De La Hoya (37-3 29 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to put his WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF belts on the line. Hopkins went into this fight with an eight-year victory streak and put De La Hoya at the underdog position for the first time in his career.
The fight started as a slow, defensive and boxing-style fight. De La Hoya had surprised the crowds by not running from Hopkins, but was still losing convincingly on two of the judges’ score cards.
Going into the ninth round however, Hopkins stepped up the pressure and threw a feint jab, following with a strong left hand to the liver. With that punch, De La Hoya went down and could not recover.
That fight was the first fight ever in which De La Hoya was knocked out and served to show that Hopkins still had the same power as always, even as he aged.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Jean Pascal II
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Bernard Hopkins met Jean Pascal (26-1-1 16 KOs) for a second time on May 21, 2011 in Pascal’s hometown of Montreal, Canada. Their previous fight, six months prior, had resulted in a draw, leaving both fighters unsatisfied.
Hopkins, then 43, was the top contender in the Light Heavyweight division and entered as a slight underdog to the IBO and WBC champion Jean Pascal.
The bout opened slowly, with both fighters attempting to feel out their opponent with jabs, though Pascal pushed a bit harder than Hopkins. In the third round however, Hopkins cracked Pascal with a beautiful right hook and buckled his knees, forcing the champion to hold for most of the round.
Throughout the fourth round, both fighters exchanged periodically and Hopkins began taunting Pascal, sticking his tongue out at him. This may have been the wrong move however, as Pascal landed a powerful hook to the head of Hopkins in the closing moments of the round.
Through rounds five and six, Hopkins’ counterpunching took over and he dominated Pascal, landing numerous counter right hands and frustrating the champ. Between Rounds 6 and 7, Hopkins showboated by doing push ups between the rounds, essentially telling Pascal he was just getting started.
From that moment on, it was all Hopkins. Pascal kept getting caught with counterpunches, one of which dropped him (though it was ruled as a slip).
At the end of the bout, Hopkins came out with a convincing unanimous-decision win and became champion for the fifth time in his career.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Felix Trinidad
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On September 29, 2001, Bernard Hopkins proved to the world why he should never be put as an underdog. He met Felix “Tito” Trinidad in Madison Square Garden in a championship unification bout, the victor walking away with the WBA, WBC and IBF straps.
The first and second rounds followed suit with most of Hopkins’ other fights, opening slow, as both fighters threw jabs and felt each other out. In the third round, Hopkins found his pace and began landing stiff jabs from the outside.
Through the fourth and fifth round, both fighters began to exchange, but Trinidad still found himself getting outboxed and unable to land solidly on Hopkins.
In the sixth round, Trinidad had his best round, as he caught Hopkins against the ropes with numerous power punches.
From the seventh round on however, Trinidad’s conditioning failed him and he was unable to keep up with the energy of Hopkins. In the 11th round, Hopkins landed numerous powerful combinations and by the 12th round, Trinidad was in a heap on the floor.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones Jr. I
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This bout was a fight in which Bernard Hopkins was an underdog, but this time against a deserving opponent.
On May 22, 1993, Hopkins met Roy Jones Jr. (21-0 20 KOs) in the ring at RFK Stadium in Washington DC for both fighters’ first world title shot.
Nobody expected Hopkins to even go the distance with Jones, but after a long fight in which both men were caught more than a few times, Jones won by unanimous decision.
Although Jones handed Hopkins the second loss of his career up to that point, this fight was instrumental in showing Hopkins’ ability to last against great fighters–something that critics didn’t believe Hopkins could do.
