*****
Bernard Hopkins looked down-at-heels for three or four rounds against Jean Pascal last night in Quebec City before taking over for the last two-thirds of the fight, showing the intelligence, professionalism, and technique that his far younger opponent lacked. It was, considering how Hopkins usually performs, a pretty good scrap at the Pepsi Coliseum.
After dropping Hopkins twice in the first three rounds—once with a borderline rabbit punch—Pascal spent the rest of the night filibustering. Unable to figure out what to do with a real pro, Pascal simply did nothing, and let Hopkins, who turned professional in 1988, control the pace and work out openings at his leisure. Letting a fighter like Hopkins take his time, plan, and execute is a serious tactical error. Joe Calzaghe edged Hopkins in 2008 by throwing megatons of leather and forcing Hopkins to react instead of dictate. It certainly was odd seeing a 46 year-old boxer landing lead left hooks to the body from two or three feet away on a fighter young enough to be his son.
In addition to losing the program along the way, Pascal also made it very clear, via pronounced body language, that doubt was setting in as to whether he could find it again. The fist bumps and pounds he exchanged with his cornermen after his early success ended sometime after the fourth, when Pascal began to fight like an eavesdropper following a few thudding Hopkins hooks to the body. Indeed, some of those bodyshots left Pascal resembling a man choking on a hambone, and several straight rights seemed to shake Pascal, who remained hesitant for the rest of the bout. Rarely does Hopkins outwork a fighter, but Pascal allowed him to that as well and had to settle for a disappointing draw.
Hopkins will be competitive with young fighters forever, probably, simply because his technique is far superior to those of contemporary fighters. Many of the “stars” out there today barely know which foot to put forward first, and others have seen their skills atrophy by fighting tomato cans and stiffs for years. Hopkins keeps his chin down, feints, decoys, throws compact hooks and straight rights most of the time, and works his hands in close. These skills can offset most speed and youth advantages, and Pascal brought nothing into the ring last night but speed and youth. He was lucky to get away without a dreaded “L.” Hopkins, on the other hand, has another reason to hang around and taunt just about anyone within earshot.
As for Pascal, he looks like another fighter whose reputation, like many in contemporary boxing, was hyper-inflated after one solid victory. A good fighter, nothing special, whose single prominent win, over Chad Dawson, was exaggerated by the fact that Dawson was an imaginary resident of several absurd P-4-P lists compiled by the same folks who repeat “turn back the clock” over and over again like parrots on crank.
*****
For the most part, watching Hopkins fight over the last few years has been an unpleasant experience in any number of ways. First, Hopkins is almost always obnoxious during the pre-fight buildup; second, the fights are almost always ugly, mauling affairs; and third, Hopkins is almost always obnoxious during the postfight follow-up. Now, however, one also has to brace oneself for the slew of banal articles chockablock with “turn back the clock,” “ageless wonder,” and “fountain of youth” gibberish.
*****
Since Compubox has an exclusive deal with HBO, Showtime used some other punchstat company to count blows for Hopkins-Pascal. Interestingly, Compubox also kept tabs on the fight and comparing the two sets of figures highlights the absurdity of this success-proof endeavor. Not only do the punches landed differ significantly, but so do the punches thrown category! Compubox had Hopkins throwing 502 punches, while Showtime had him throwing 445. Where did the other 57 punches go or come from? Showtime had Pascal landing 105 blows and Compubox set the number at 86, an average of just slightly over seven punches landed per round, surely one of the most pathetic Compubox figures ever recorded for a twelve-round fight. These punch track companies are silly and using them is only another way for boxing to deepen its reputation for absurdity.
*****
A draw was not out of the question, but boxing today is an asylum run by lunatics with keyboards. The funniest patients are the ones who cry out, “That was a robbery! I had the fight 114-113!” as if a single point is enough to determine an outrage.
Dopier still are howls of protest against Canada itself, as if an entire country could be at fault for a boxing match being ruled a draw. Canada has produced, among others, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, David Cronenberg, Wayne Gretzky, Marshall Mcluhan, the Cowboy Junkies, Marconi, Emile Nelligan, Mavis Gallant, Jimmy McClarnin, Frank Gehry, Alice Munro, Atom Egoyan, and, of course, Yvonne De Carlo.
*****
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Tags: BERNARD HOPKINS, Boxing, Jean Pascal, Light Heavyweights
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Hi Carlos
Just watched the fight on Youtube, Very strange performance by Pascal who seemed very reluctant to get involved. Having seen his performance against Froch, I would certainly have expected more. I would have thought that against a soon to be 46 Hopkins, he would have been more active to try and test the older mans stamina. However, Pascal showed himself to be extremely one dimensional and not well schooled. Hopkins just has so much ring generalship and savvy that you can see him more than holding his own with practically anyone. Overall very disappointing from Pascal. I had Hopkins winning but you could make a case for the draw and it certainly was not a complete home town decision, unlike the way Lebedev got robbed against Huck.
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