Bernard the Dirty
I hope he gets KO'd in a most brutal way.
Bernard the Dirty
I hope he gets KO'd in a most brutal way.
Yeh I see the most Hopkins out of a guy like Ward minus the smirk and gift for gab. Great thing about Hopkins is that he is one of very few who have successfully evolved (devolved for some) his style and approach with age. Early on he had a massive chip on his shoulder and fought fierce. Beat you up to beat you down. Maybe right around Joppy he became a guy who relished beating a guy up to just watch and extend it himself. From Executioner to Torturer. The later extending to viewers in spots but consummate boxing brain always plotting next step. In a sport where it's perfectly fine to punch someone in the mouth and break a rib in response, I'll never understand people wining about boring or working angles on a ref.
Hop is my favorite fighter, alongside Holyfield and Hagler. I view Hop's masterpiece vs Tito as the best, most complete performance of his generation (Pac, Roy, Floyd, Oscar, Shane...etc.). Hop was brilliant in so many ways and is the model of ring generalship, discipline, and work ethic. An often overlooked point about Hop was the great minds and technicians he surrounded himself with: Bouie Fisher, Brother Naz, and John David Jackson.
I became a fan of Hop's when he was with Butch Lewis and would walk to the ring in an executioners mask with two steroid guys with axes. I watched him go from the ex-con beast who had the huge right hand, to the more complete pressure fighter who was great on the inside, to the master boxer-puncher with a genius IQ, to eventual living legend who was past his best but used his boxing genius to make history. I will truly miss Bernard, but I'm glad he is going out like this.
Gong out with a bang !!! I remember when I was a kid hearing on the radio when he was going to fight Howard Eastman he would retire before his 40th birthday because his mum asked him too! Nearly 12 years on he's still going, fighting the best and Smith Jnr will be a test because that was a great victory vs fonfara. I've not seen anything of Smith apart from that fight, but he can obviously punch. But b hop knows power won't win the fight. Hope we see this legend go out in style, many people don't like watching him but I've learned a lot from his fights as a fighter and he's a credit to the sport.
Last edited by Tam Seddon; 10-20-2016 at 05:22 PM.
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