On Bernard's.. 'physical condition'..

So Freddie Roach has refused to work Bernard Hopkins corner this time round..

On the grounds that in his opinion.. Bernard's age has begun to catch up with him..

Now of course Freddie got Parkinsons disease.. The doctors tell him its highly likely to have been caused by too many punches to the head..
And Freddie says maybe, i wont diagnose it as that.. but sure fighters should know when they time is to hang 'em up.

Now with all due respect to Freddie.. excellent guy, excellent trainer..

But as a fighter, Freddie Roach was a nearly man.. a puncher, took some shots and took some losses in his time..

Bernard's entire career however has gone in the way it has and preserved his health and extended its longevity like no other fighter i have ever seen..

The biggest of gym rats, a crafted defensive style..

Can anyone tell me that they can remember Bernard getting hit with three and four clean shots?.. Can you tell me he was ever hit with three's and fours atall.. glancing?.. anything of the sort?!..

Im not so sure i can be told that.. i dont think i have ever seen it, or at least remember it.

The issue was that bernard walked to the wrong corner several times during his fight with joe calzaghe.

If i were to give my opinion.. Thats not slowing down, and thats not the game catching up to Bernard..
Thats distraction.. Im not saying 'this' was happening and this is what distracted him..

But bernard has always been sharp as a tack.. His interviews are whitty.. hes a sharp guy, smart funny, cunning.. And im still watching his interviews and he still has all the things that make him bernard..
If he was slurring his words.. if he was saying dumb stuff.. then i would start to worry about Bhop's health.. But right now.. i know he is still in shape.. he is still with his wits.. and his boxing style was still there in the Joey C fight.. so okay.. personal opinion i got Bhop.. Course im not pressing that opinion on nobody.. but im saying dont you guys worry about bernard hopkins health, worry about the fight, cos its all there, and its still interesting.

By William Dettloff (The Ring)



In late July, world-class trainer Freddie Roach told boxingscene.com that he wouldn’t be training Bernard Hopkins for his upcoming fight with Kelly Pavlik, which is scheduled for October 18 in Atlantic City, essentially because he fears for Hopkins’ safety.


Roach, who suffers from Parkinson’s syndrome that he attributes to having boxed for too long, said he saw some things during Hopkins’ razor-close loss to Joe Calzaghe in April that alarmed him.


“Four times in that fight he walked to the wrong corner after the end of the round,” Roach said. “One time they showed it on TV and made a joke about him looking for the ring card girls, but it happened four times. Why do you go to the wrong corner four times? Something’s not right, because Calzaghe hadn’t buzzed him.”


I don’t remember Hopkins going to the wrong corner even once, nor the broadcasters joking about it. But then, I did have trouble finding the number to order the pay-per-view show and even once I had it, kept getting caught in an endless automated loop. Took me a good 20 minutes to figure it out. I hate those things.


I’ll take Freddie’s word that it happened. I don’t know why Hopkins walked to the wrong corner and couldn’t contact him before deadline to ask (okay, I lost his number and then forgot that I’d lost it and by then it was too late). But I did spend about three hours with him recently at a gym in Philadelphia, and, aside from the fact he inadvertently left his Blackberry in a local coffee shop and had to run out to retrieve it, he seemed as sharp as ever.


That we were delayed while he looked for his phone worked out well for me. I used the time to scribble some notes that I had forgotten to take earlier. Plus, I had taken a wrong turn (even though I had been there three times before) and was 20 minutes late getting to the gym.


When not scribbling completely indecipherable notes, I repeatedly patted my pants pocket to make sure I hadn’t left my cell phone somewhere. I hadn’t. I congratulated myself over and over.


Anyway, Roach knows so much more than I do about these things that ordinarily I would give him the benefit of the doubt—if I hadn’t just spent time with Hopkins. So I typed up an e-mail to Ring colleague and friend Dr. Margaret Goodman, the highly respected former Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board chairman and chief ringside physician.
After some first-paragraph chitchat, I started to dive into the reason for my e-mail, but then forgot what it was. It took a while. I waited. Eventually it came. I asked what she thought of Roach’s comments.


Dr. Goodman replied that she couldn’t speculate on Hopkins’ condition because she hadn’t examined him in a very long while. She did allow that, “it is concerning to see any fighter with Bernard’s age, history, and recent record continue to compete.”


She wrote that she too was concerned with Freddie’s comments and that, “Few understand as well as Freddie what the ravages of this sport can do. You have to take what he says seriously.”


I do take Roach seriously. It would be foolhardy not to. I also know that I’m a year younger than Bernard and it took me four tries to spell
“inadvertently” correctly above. I lost my keys twice this year, I can’t remember anyone’s name, and frequently call my daughters by their sister’s names. I walk into a room and forget what I’m there to get or do. I can’t remember if I let the dog in. My vocabulary shrinks daily.


And it’s not just me. All my 40-ish friends and family are in the same boat. That’s all we talk about anymore. I’m waiting for the day when I forget how to operate the toaster or start my car. It won’t be long.
Walking to the wrong corner in a heated, high-pressure fight? I think that’s forgivable.


Postscript: After corresponding with Dr. Goodman, I meant to send her a thank-you e-mail as a courtesy, but four days later couldn’t recall if I had. “Did I reply to this?” I wrote. “I don’t remember.” Alas, I had not.
Go get ’em, Bernard.

Lol :p

Each to their own i guess.. whoever wrote that was no bernard Hopkins..

I still got Old man hopkins and im confident he is well :)

If Hopkins felt any decline in his mental or physically abilities he would retire, Hopkins is a smart guy, he ain't going to take a fight with a big strong guy like Pavlik if he didn't think he could handle it. he will know when its time to call it quits.

Hopkins needs to retire. He ain't got the stamnia or the speed now. The way he went so defensive after knocking down Calzaghe was pathetic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leftylee

Hopkins needs to retire. He ain't got the stamnia or the speed now. The way he went so defensive after knocking down Calzaghe was pathetic.

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..Shock horror...

Most of the time its whats sacrificed to learn defensive skills. Most of the damage is done in the Gym learning Skills can be hard in certain Gyms.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Most of the time its whats sacrificed to learn defensive skills. Most of the damage is done in the Gym learning Skills can be hard in certain Gyms.

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Imagine all the beatings james toney took in the kronk before he made himself anywhere near polished in the ring..

Paulie Malignaggi often says in interviews.. i take a couple lumps in the gym so come fight time i won't have to.

Pavliks is very Basic, but His Basics are superb ;D

In fact, if He sat down a bit more Hes the nearest thing Ive seen to Monzon for some time. :o in that Division.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leftylee

Hopkins needs to retire. He ain't got the stamnia or the speed now. The way he went so defensive after knocking down Calzaghe was pathetic.

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Hopkins stamina has faded but as for his speed it is really good for a 43 year old. his handspeed is underrated to be honest.

Hopkins for a while now hasn't jumped on his opponents after knocking them down for a long time, he likes to stick to his gameplan.

Lefty, He was on the Defensive when He had Joe over

Good thread. I think the only time Bernard has been clearly beaten was against Jones. All the rest I can make a case for him winning (even though I think that he just lost against Calzaghe) and he has never really taken many serious head shots or so it seems. But he has been around a long time and the other day I was watching Henry Cooper talking about Ali saying that his Parkinsons was actually caused by the way he used to ride the punches and kind of let them run behind his head and clip the back of his neck where there are a lot of nerves and so on. If this is true (and I am no doctor remember) then it seems that you don't have to be taking clean shots to get a serious illness from boxing.

He is 43 years old now and IMO has nothing left to prove in boxing. He is the longest reigning MW champ of all time, he moved upto LHW and took over there and last time out he probably run Joe Calzaghe the closest to being beat he has been in his career. For me it's time to retire or he will get hurt. The thing is Pavlik is the last person you want your defence to start failing against because with his power shots he can seriously hurt ANYBODY and sooner or later Hopkins' defence will fail. I just hope he gets through the fight with Pavlik OK but despite being something of an Hopkins fan I quite hope he loses then he might retire whereas if he wins I don't see it.

Hopkins has always been in good physical condition. Its just now the legs can't do what he wants them too