The Emanuel Steward-Bernard Hopkins Mutual Admiration Society

Last May Bernard Hopkins thrilled boxing fans everywhere (especially guys like me in our 40’s) when he beat Jean Pascal by unanimous decision to become the oldest boxing world champion ever. On October 15 he returns to the ring to face No. 1 contender Chad Dawson. It should be a tougher contest.

Although Dawson lost to Pascal in August of 2010, he should present the cagey Hopkins with a more substantial set of problems than the explosive, but poorly balanced, Pascal did. As his trainer Emanuel Steward observed in his recent interview with On the Ropes Radio, Dawson has “much, much superior skills than most fighters I’ve worked with.”

However, the renowned Steward went on to add: “But Chad doesn’t have the intensity and focus into boxing the way Bernard does.”

The pre-fight promotion for Dawson-Hopkins has included an entire sub-chapter of mutual admiration between Hopkins and Steward. My opinion is that this has been a tactical move on the part of B-Hop.

I’m not saying he isn’t sincere when he gushes about the glittering credentials of the legendary Steward.

I’m just saying that a guy with the intellectual faculties and psychological insights of Bernard Hopkins knows damned well that when he says stuff like “You’re not fighting Chad Dawson. Physically you are, but you’re fighting Emanuel Steward” he is very much insulting his younger opponent, insinuating that the former-world champion, despite all his natural talent, is not quite his own man.

Hopkins has made no secret of the fact that he plans to get in Dawson’s head and make the fight physical. He’s boasted that he’s “hungry for a knock out.” He has spoken at great length about how he’s really not even all that concerned about Dawson, the former-world champion, but is very much concerned about Emanuel Steward, a senior citizen who will not be in the ring on the night of the fight.

Make no mistake:  Dawson has earned this reputation for being a somewhat mentally incomplete fighter. Pascal was a guy he should never have lost to, and he essentially gave the fight away through laziness.

He did not raise his stock considerably against Adrian Diaconu on the undercard of Hopkins-Pascal affair, winning a unanimous decision that could be generously described as “uninspiring.” It is reasonable to assume that he might be feeling the pressure to make a statement and deliver a particularly impressive performance.

This is exactly the mind frame Bernard Hopkins wants him to be in. The more Dawson goes into the fight feeling like he’s “got something to prove,” the more likely he is to become aggressive. The more aggressive Dawson is, the more opportunities he will provide for the consummate counter-puncher, Hopkins, to get that knockout he hungers for.

To win this fight, Chad Dawson needs to feel self-confident and in control enough to fight his fight—employing the jab and his great footwork to keep Hopkins at a distance. The moment he gets sucked into the machismo of trying to prove some point is the moment that the veteran Hopkins will be looking to take control of the fight.

So Hopkins is doing what you would expect him to do and what he has always done so well—he’s talking smack on his opponent, getting inside of his head months and weeks before the opening bell. And if Dawson wants to be a truly great champion, he is going to have to be able to deal with that.  

But it can’t help Dawson to have his trainer going around giving interviews where he speaks frankly about how Dawson just can’t quite hang mentally with Hopkins.

This was Steward’s response during the On the Ropes Radio interview when he was asked about Hopkins’ assertion that he was really fighting Steward, not Dawson: “Well, it’s probably the greatest compliment I’ve ever had in my career in boxing coming from Bernard Hopkins.” If I were Dawson, I’m not sure I’d be happy with my trainer “sharing a moment” this way with my opponent in the press.

Emanuel Steward has forgotten more about boxing than I’ll ever know. He’s the Hall of Fame trainer and I’m Joe Palooka with a keyboard. But in this case, I can’t help but question his judgment.

He did note, in answering the question, “that it’s not fair to the fighter because he’s the one who’s ultimately going to have to do the fighting in there.” But it came across as an afterthought. He spent a lot more time in the interview talking about Dawson’s shortcomings and of how much he admires Hopkins.

Maybe this is a motivational strategy from Steward, not simply a case of him being carried away from the pleasure of being flattered.  But I know come October 15, I’ll be very curious to see what is going on in Dawson’s corner between rounds.