Where Will Old Man River Flow Next? Potential Future Fights For Bernard Hopkins

In the wake of his historic unanimous decision win over Jean Pascal last Saturday night, Bernard Hopkins made it clear that he had no plans for retiring any time soon. To hear the newly crowned light heavyweight champ tell it, the Pascal fight is just one more chapter in a novel that is going to be longer than War and Peace and Remembrance of Things Past combined by the time Hopkins is ready to close the book. In his post-fight interview he confidently speculated that he will be able to keep performing his craft at this elite level for another four to five years.

            Hopkins’ personal discovery of the fountain of youth is great news for fight fans. Some of the most interesting potential match ups in the sport right now feature the ageless Executioner. The 29-1, former champion Chad Dawson should be next. Prior to their championship clash, both Hopkins and Pascal had stated that Dawson, who faced Adrian Diaconu on the under card, should get the winner of their bout, so long as he won his. He did, handing the tough Romanian his third career loss in a very one-sided, though not particularly exciting, fight.

            Although he won, Dawson did little in the fight to generate much enthusiasm. Diaconu, whose previous two losses had been thrilling wars against Pascal, had no answer for Dawson’s superior jab and footwork, and was never really able to get in the fight. He landed a few good punches but for the most part looked physically overmatched against the much taller Dawson. For his own part, Dawson was content to mostly stay out of range and win an easy victory on points.

Thrilling or not, Dawson will present some stiff problems for Hopkins. Although he has previously dropped a decision to Pascal, most boxing “experts” seem to agree it was more a case of Dawson failing to fight to his potential than it was an indication of Pascal’s superiority. Dawson should be a tougher opponent for Hopkins. Still, given what the world saw last Saturday, Hopkins can hardly be blamed if he feels confident that he still has enough in the tank to take the younger fighter to the woodshed. Hopkins will be able to get in Dawson’s face in a manner that just wasn’t physically possible for the 5’9” Diaconu.

Beyond Dawson, the potential great fights just line themselves up for B-Hop. At 22-0, Tavoris Cloud will be an inevitable opponent if Hopkins' ultimate goal is to clean out the light heavyweight division. Speaking on behalf of 40 something gym rats everywhere, one fight I’d personally love to see is Hopkins versus Glen Johnson, though the Road Warrior is currently busy with the Showtime Super Six tournament.

Of course, you can’t mention the Showtime tournament without noting the one guy at 168 who the suits at Showtime overlooked. While the tournament has generated some excitement and some good pairings, it has unfairly left Lucian Bute on the outside looking in. Honestly, I have a hard time believing that Hopkins-Bute isn’t going to be a reality sometime within the next year. A Romanian native, Bute fights out of Montreal, where he is wildly popular. Montreal just might be the greatest fight city in the world and Hopkins-Bute would be a mega event if held there.

At this point, the previously mentioned Super Six tournament appears to have evolved into a coronation of Andre Ward. If we were to liken Hopkins to a mountain climber surveying the landscape in front of him, Ward just might be that tantalizing high peak on the far horizon. The former Olympic Gold Medalist and current WBA 168 pound champ did not win many new fans with his victory over Arthur Abraham earlier this month. But while his style might not be flashy, it is extremely effective. Smart, rough and physical, Ward grinds out victories in a manner not entirely different than how Hopkins has built his own legend. The Executioner would likely be closing in on 50 by the time the fight could be put together, and would be in for the type of war that would crumble men half his age. But if he plans on staying active and relevant for as long as he says he does, Ward has to be a viewed as a likely future fight.

Looking below super middleweight, to the division that Hopkins once ruled for a decade straight, we find yet another potential “date with destiny” for Hopkins. Current 160 pound king and Ring Magazine pound for pound #3 Sergio Martinez is the ultimate example of a man desperately in need of a dance partner. His crushing one punch KO of Paul Williams might have guaranteed Martinez a life-time place in YouTube highlight videos, but it also guaranteed that nobody handling Manny Pacquiao is ever going to let him anywhere near the much larger Martinez. If Martinez wants a big, high profile fight he’s going to have to be the one to climb weight classes. I actually feel that Martinez’s speed and athleticism would make him a more dangerous potential match up for Hopkins than any of the larger fighters already discussed.