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.

Kelly Pavlik, not impressed with Froch

Kelly Pavlik.

Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is looking to make his way back to the top of the sport and to do that he may one day have to face British fan favourite and current IBF super-middleweight champ Carl Froch on his journey.

Froch after his victory over Lucian Bute.

Froch looked fantastic against Lucian Bute in his most recent fight on May 26th but Pavlik has revealed that he thinks that the 'Cobra' is just not that impressive. He also claims that the Nottingham man is nowhere near the same level as fellow American super-middleweight Andre Ward.

In an interview with BoxingScene.com Pavlik said: "In most of his fights, if you go look at them, he gets in wars and he gets hit a lot. If you go back and watch, even the Taylor fight, he was getting beaten up the whole entire time in that fight.... Bad. If Taylor would have taken one more knee, and if he would have survived, he was that far ahead on the scorecards [that he would have won]. I think he's a rough, gritty guy and he has power, don't get me wrong, but I just don't see him as a top, top guy of the weight class. I don't think that he is at the level that Ward is.

Pavlik's next outing is on July 7th at the Home Depot Centre in Carson, California. He faces Will Rosinsky in a HBO co-feature event. It will be his fourth fight in a row at 168lb or heavier.

Jermain Taylor accused of rape!

Former middleweight world champion Jermain Taylor has been accused of rape by a 27-year old woman, however there have been no charges filed yet. The woman claims that she met with Taylor to have sex for money but ended up being raped, according to the Arkansas News Bureau.

The woman was taken into police custody on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Officers arriving at the hotel on Friday night were told by the woman that "she had gone to the hotel for the purpose of having sex with Taylor for money, and they began arguing. She told officers that she became frightened during the argument and fled, and in doing so she fell down a flight of stairs and injured her ankle." She only said she had been raped when she arrived at the hospital.

Police were unable to find Taylor at the hotel but the manager confirmed that the boxer had been staying at the establishment but left before officers arrived.

Taylor's last boxing match came against Caleb Truax, where he won by unanimous decision. He currently has a record of 30 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. He has only had two fights since a two year absence from the ring.