This week we have chosen Bernard Hopkins as our
fighter of the week...
By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.
Who else would it be? The easiest choice I've ever had to make. Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins should be considered as the fighter of this era, not just the fighter of the week. The Philadelphian tactician has made history once again by breaking his own record and becoming the oldest ever world champion at the age of 48. He did this by beating highly-rated 31-year old Tavoris Cloud in a more one-sided match-up than anyone was expecting.
Most fans know never to rule B-Hop out, but there were many people who were picking against him in this fight. His speed and reactions seemed to be slowing in recent outings and Cloud was a young hungry champion with something to prove. However, it was soon clear that this was going to be Hopkins's night. Cloud just didn't know what to do with the slippery old man that stood in front of him. Everything he tried had little or no effect on his much more experienced opponent.
Hopkins, who knows every trick in the book, frustrated Cloud by slowing the pace down and making him miss wildly over and over again. There were even times when Hopkins was using the famous Ali Rope-A-Dope tactics and it was working perfectly. This was the best performance from Hopkins in many years. He was fighting like a 40-year old in there, throwing more combinations than ever and picking apart his clearly-fazed younger opponent. The result at the end of the fight was clear. We didn't even need the scorecards. Hopkins, his team, and the fans were already celebrating. The actual scorecards were: 116-112, 116-112 & 117-111 all in favour of Hopkins. It was now official. He was once again a history-maker. His place is now even more cemented in the Hall Of Fame.
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