4. Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KO’s)
Photo By Tom Casino
“People my age, they don’t do the things I do.” Neil Young – “I’m The Ocean”
BHop continues to fly in the face of time, logic, and all human existence. He might not be what he once was, but boxing’s elder statesman certainly isn’t trading on his past.
The 49-year-old legend just recently dispatched Beibut Shumenov with an absolutely dominant performance, and he’s lined himself up with another shot at the lineal light heavyweight title at an age when he should be relaxing poolside or golfing.
While contemporaries like James Toney and Roy Jones are fighting in Latvia for scraps and straining to complete coherent sentences, Bernard Hopkins flat out refuses to acquiesce to undefeated Father Time.
He wiped out Shumenov, which is impressive enough. But the fact is that most of us figured he would, and most of us give him a realistic shot of beating Adonis Stevenson.
Someday he’ll slow down, but I’m not betting on it happening just yet.
