Hopkins Clinic at 43 Years Old

Throughout the years many Boxers have come out of retirement to fight again. Some have come out of retirement just to get a big payday. Some have gone back into the squared circle for pride. Still others have come back because they truly felt they were still the best.

Bernard Hopkins came out of retirement for all of these reasons. Even more than that, he came out of retirement because he something that many experts did not see.

After losing to Jermaine Taylor twice in 2005, Bernard Hopkins seriously considered retirement. Then in 2006-2007 he pummeled Antonio Tarver in a non title fight, his first such fight in 12 years, and he beat Winky Wright, a former champion that has been avoided by many others.

That wasn't enough. He was told that Winky was too small. B-Hop was told that Tarver was washed up. So, in 2008 he fought the pound for pound best fighter in the world, Joe Calzaghe. And that's what put Hopkins into retirement. Calzaghe outclassed B Hop over 12 rounds, defeating him easily on all 3 judges scorecards. 

Bernard Hopkins pride would not let him end his career that way.

This man had defended his Middleweight Championship 20 times. He fought and trained for all those years to make himself one of the best in the world. Now it was going to end like this?

Then he found his opportunity.

Kelly Pavlik was 34-0 with 30 wins by Knockout, including his upset win over Jermaine Taylor in September 2007 by seventh round KO. He then beat Taylor up over 12 rounds five months later in Feb '08 to prove it wasn't a fluke.

Kelly Pavlik was quickly becoming a fan favorite. His aggressive style and knockout power combined with his midwestern down-home personality endeared him to fight fans and non traditional fight fans alike. 

Bernard Hopkins saw a flaw.

Hopkins and Pavlik signed to fight on Oct 18th 2008, six months after Calzaghe destroyed Hopkins. Heading into the fight Kelly Pavlik was a 4-1 favorite. All the "experts" were picking Pavlik. Hopkins was too old. He was washed up. He didn't have the power to hold off Pavlik's pressure. Hopkins saw a flaw.

Fight night came and Bernard Hopkins put on a boxing clinic for the ages. He counterpunched Pavlik masterfully. He pressured Pavlik, eliminating Pavlik's jab and his deadly one-two combination.

He put combinations together than left P stunned, confused, battered, and beaten. He didn't just beat Pavlik.

He was taking Pavlik's heart and soul with every passing minute of every round. Hopkins had faster hands, better technique and better defense. Just look at these numbers...

Punch stats: Total Punches: Hopkins - 172 of 530 (32%); Pavlik - 108 of 463 (23%). Total Power Punches: Hopkins - 148 of 304 (49%); Pavlik - 55 of 211 (26%).

Official Scoring: 119-106, 118-108 and 117-109, all for Hopkins

Hopkins landed 172 punches in this destruction of Pavlik and 148 of them were POWER PUNCHES! What did B Hop think of the performance?

"You still think I'm old?" Bernard Hopkins said after silencing his critics with his boxing clinic against Kelly Pavlik.

"I think this is my best performance—better than Trinidad, better than Tarver, better than Oscar, better than my 20 straight defenses," Hopkins said afterwards.

Bernard Hopkins had his pride back. He got his payday. B Hop also showed that he could still beat the best.