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Re: Something all boxing fans should read and respond to
Continued
But he was only able to stay awake for short periods of time.
“At that point, it was like 10, maybe 15 minutes at most,” Renee Negler said.
He demanded they wake him up when Hopkins came to the ring. Hopkins’ bout began near midnight Eastern time. As Hopkins made his ring walk, the family roused Shaun, who instantly became as alert as he had been at any time in days.
“There was something in his body and his spirit made him hang around so he could see me that one last time,” Hopkins said.
“As a human being, can you imagine how that makes me feel?”
There were about 20 or 30 people in the house watching the fight. As Hopkins was being introduced, Renee Negler turned toward her son, who had a wan smile across his face and had formed an “X” with his arms, a tribute to Hopkins, whose nickname is “The Executioner.
”
Hopkins went on to win in a rout in the performance of his life. For one night, he was better than he had ever been. And Shaun Negler, who had been able only to stay awake for 10 minutes at a time, was suddenly alive and vibrant as the fight went on.
He was shouting at the television as Hopkins pounded Pavlik with powerful punches, cheering his hero on to victory.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Renee Negler had turned on a video camera on her son and captured his reaction during the fight.
He was gleeful throughout as Hopkins performed brilliantly. When the fight ended, Negler needed to go back to sleep.
He turned to his pit bull puppy, whom Hopkins had suggested he named “Champ,” and kissed it on the head. He crawled back upstairs and was helped into bed. A few minutes later, he lapsed into unconsciousness and never opened his eyes again.
He died a few days later, in his home. Hopkins, who served a stint in the Pennsylvania penal system on a strong-armed robbery conviction, was torn apart.
“There was a bond between the two of them despite all the differences between them and they loved each other,” said Renee Negler, Shaun’s mother, on her son and boxer Bernard Hopkins.
But because of his time in prison, he learned to control his emotions. He never cried publicly because of what he learned while he was in prison.
Hopkins was, however, stung by the loss of someone he considered more than just a friend. He not only served as a pall bearer, he spent hours with the Negler family that day and put the gloves he wore the night he defeated Pavlik into the casket with Shaun.
“It’s breathtaking the kindness that is in this man’s heart, because it would have been easy for him to meet Shaun, say the right things and move on,” Renee Negler said. “But what he did, he did because he cared. And he did because Shaunie and he had some kind of a connection. There was a bond between the two of them despite all the differences between them and they loved each other.
”
Hopkins said that for as much as he may have given to Shaun and the Neglers, he received much more in return.
“This was a kid who had every reason to feel sorry for himself, who had every reason to give up, and he never once would give in and he never once looked at the dark side of anything,” Hopkins said. “He looked at death and said, ‘I want to live. And I’m going to make the most of what I have.’ And that’s what we have to do while we’re here on this Earth. Take what you have and do the best you can with it. Look at what this kid was dealt and look what he did with it.
“Cancer did not beat him. He beat cancer, because cancer needed his body to live. He’s probably smiling somewhere saying, ‘You know, Bernard, I did it. I beat cancer.’ This kid wasn’t a loser. He was a winner his whole life and I think he’s still a winner.
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Originally Posted by Fenster
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