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15th January 2021
By: Max Taylor
One of the most dominant figures in boxing history turns 56 today. To celebrate the birthday of Bernard Hopkins, we have compiled his top 5 most astonishing feats achieved in a career that spanned across four decades.
- 2001 Fighter of the Year.
This was a defining year in B-Hop’s lengthy legacy. Twenty years ago, undefeated Felix Trinidad rose to the Middleweight division and prompted a world championship series. The emerging winner of the four world champions was to earn undisputed glory, something that had been an absence at 160lbs for 14 years. Hopkins was the IBF titleholder at the time and kicked off the series in a unification clash against Keith Holmes who held the WBC strap.
The Philadelphian cruised to a unanimous decision victory and was one fight away from becoming undisputed. This one fight was against ‘Tito’ Trinidad as the Puerto Rican finished WBA champ Willliam Joppy to earn his right in the series final. Hopkins famously put on one of the most complete, and to some upsetting, performances of his career in this high-stake matchup, dominating the fight and forcing the stoppage in the final round. This level of flawlessness had the Boxing Writers Association of America, The Ring, and the World Boxing Hall of Fame all vote the new undisputed Middleweight champion as their ‘Fighter of The Year’.
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- First complete undisputed Middleweight champion.
Despite being recognized as the undisputed giant of the Middleweight’s following the tournament in 2001, Hopkins had not captured every available belt. That was until 2004 when he crossed paths with WBO champion Oscar De La Hoya. The ‘Golden Boy’, much like Trinidad, had moved up from 154lbs and captured a world title at 160lbs before facing ‘The Executioner’ in his domain.
The difference in natural weight was reflective in the finish of the fight as Hopkins left De La Hoya gasping for air with a body shot that put him down for the count. This knockout made boxing history as the 15th undisputed Middleweight champion became the first ever to hold all four available belts simultaneously.
- Most consecutive title defenses in Middleweight history.
A feat that Gennadiy Golovkin is still unable to touch. Although the Kazakh defended his Middleweight titles for the 21st time the other week, he failed to do so consecutively like B-Hop did 20 times in his heyday.
This incredible statistic also has Hopkins ranked inside the top 6 list of highest consecutive title defenses of all time, in any division. It started with Segundo Mercado and finished with Howard Eastmen, while 18 game challengers in between these two tried and failed to go through Hopkins to reach world honors.
Records are meant to be broken, but it has neared 16 years since ‘The Alien’ set this bar and nobody in that time has come close. It is hard to find a stat that screams invincibility as much as 20 title defenses does, but this coming one is up there…
- Longest reigning Middleweight champion.
10 years, 2 months, and 18 days. Tell me something you were doing that long ago that you still do to this day and I bet it still is nowhere near as awesome as defending a world title. They say it is lonely at the top and Hopkins let us know how much he enjoyed his own company, perched on his throne swatting away challengers who came near his belt.
How ever shocking it is, that is the level of this exceptional two division world champion and time had to accommodate his title defenses. As there were so many of these, Hopkins held on tightly to what was rightly his for over a decade.
Consistency is key in the sweet science, whether it’s maintaining the form of your punches for one round or maintaining your overall performance for 12. Today’s birthday boy took this to a whole other level though, consistently staying at the top for a jaw-dropping period of time and staying in the sport at a high level for even longer.
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- Oldest world champion in boxing history.
Yes, this is what consistency gets you, broken records, and rewritten history. One little detail I forgot to mention about his undisputed match with De La Hoya in 2004, was that Hopkins was aged 39. He retired just over four years ago…I will let that sink in.
After losing the undisputed Middleweight status to Jermain Taylor in 2005, nobody apart from himself would have complained at B-Hop’s exit from the sport. He was still motivated though, to the point where he broke this record twice!
At age 46, Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal for the unified Light Heavyweight world titles to become the oldest world champion boxing has seen. A huge feat and the most delicious of icing on the cake of a successful career for the veteran, but he did not stop. Two years later, the undefeated Tavoris Cloud fell to the hands of the then-48-year-old in another Light Heavyweight title outing meaning that he re-established his own record.
A man so talented that in the end all he could do was compete against himself, happy birthday to the immortal Bernard Hopkins!