The Curious Case Of Bernard Hopkins

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

http://southpawjacks.wordpress.com/

'The Executioner'

When Oscar De La Hoya returned to his corner following the third round of a certain 2004 middleweight unification bout, he had to be pretty content with how the opening stanzas of the fight had unfolded.

As he positioned himself onto his stool, his trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr placed both his hands upon the Golden Boy’s shoulders and beamed a smile before delivering an assured assessment of the opponent’s chances in the fight.

“The man’s an old man. Look at me, he’s an old man. He’s looking the worst that I’ve ever seen him.”

The old man who sat across the ring was a 39-year-old Bernard Hopkins. Throughout those opening rounds, a 31-year-old De La Hoya had outworked the bigger and stronger fighter with greater activity and hand speed, with Hopkins looking as sluggish and as ‘old’ as Mayweather Sr suggested.

NBC mistake Evander Holyfield for casual American tourist...

American boxing legend Evander Holyfield was left stunned on Monday when NBC, who have exclusive rights to the Olympic Games coverage in the U.S, mistook him for a casual American tourist.

A reporter for the Today Show stood outside Buckingham Palace and questioned passers by on their opinions of Queen Elizabeth's opening ceremony stint with Daniel Craig as James Bond. Holyfield only appeared on the screen for a few seconds and said that he thought that the Queen's role in the video was "wonderful." Nobody from NBC or the Today Show realised that it was actually one of the greatest boxers that ever lived. 

The 49-year old tweeted a day later about the incident: 'The @todayshow did interview me yesterday and ur right they didn't mention who I was.' 

He later added: 'Look, the @todayshow did a good job. It was to recognize with the baseball cap. This could happen to any reporter. LOL!!" 

Holyfield is a former Olympic bronze medallist and cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion as a pro, so its very surprising that he wasn't recognised. Especially as he is American! I could understand if the American reporter didn't recognise somebody like Frank Bruno or Herbie Hide, but this is Holyfield. One of the greatest boxers that ever lived, and probably the greatest heavyweight of recent times.