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Bernard Hopkins is proving to be the man that couldn’t be retired as the Philadelphia veteran once again re-wrote the record books, becoming the oldest fighter to win a legitimate world title at age 48.
“The Executioner” swept aside the three year IBF light heavyweight title reign of Tavoris Cloud last night at New York’s Barclays Center, seeing his 25 year professional record to 53-6-2 (32), and planting the first loss on the resume of Cloud, now 24-1 (19).
Hopkins managed this amazing feat against an opponent that many considered to be the top man at 175 pounds, a hard-punching 31 year old who had retained the IBF belt on four occasions.
But Cloud had never faced a fighter of Hopkins’ caliber and the difference in experience between the two men was evident from the first round.
Even at 48 years of age, Hopkins, like an old baseball pitcher who has lost his fastball but still wins games throwing off-speed junk pitches, has enough skills in his bag to pull off unprecedented results.
Mainly, this comes down to the fact that he has always been a defensive-minded fighter and he still has remarkable reflexes and speed, allowing him to use his remarkable catalog of little things that throw opponents off of their game.
Hopkins was able to control the pace of the bout to something slow enough that he could deal with at an advanced age, choosing when and where he would engage the champion.
It’s not that Cloud didn’t try, he certainly did manage to hit Hopkins with his vaunted right hand at times but he could never find away to unlock the complex web that Hopkins weaved around him, round after round.
Cloud was badly cut above the eye in the sixth and that further impeded his efforts to win rounds as Hopkins continued to fight in spurts, building up a points lead with the use of the jab, lead right hands and a lot of clinching and wrestling.
After 12 rounds, Hopkins had clearly won the bout, sweeping the scorecards by marks of 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112.
Hopkins once again is the IBF light heavyweight champion and seems to have resuscitated a career that looked to be finally running aground.
Cloud will probably bounce back as long as he doesn’t go for a rematch against the Old Master.
The undercard saw prospect welter prospect Keith Thurman, 20-0 (18), get past tough former world champion Jan Zaveck, 32-3 (18), over 12 rounds for the WBO Intercontinental strap.
