My thoughts on the legend Bernard Hopkins

"He tricked us. He tricked us all." This is what George Foreman said of Bernard Hopkins in 2001 after Hopkins systematically broke down betting favorite and pound-for-pound fighter Felix Trinidad over the course of 12 rounds before knocking him out in the final minute. Trinidad was never the same.

From that point, Hopkins was given the credit he deserved and was seldom underestimated. That is, until 2005 when he fought Jermain Taylor. Taylor took two close decisions from the 40 year old. Boxing writers and fans alike gave out a collective plea for the old man to retire. He's done enough: he has knockout victories over hall of fame fighters including Trinidad and De La Hoya, along with 21 consecutive middleweight title defenses over a span of ten years, which is not only sufficient to punch his ticket to the hall of fame, but his resume is enough to put him in the discussion of all time great middleweights.

At 40 years old, it was time to ride into the sunset. The only thing is, Hopkins "didn't hear no bell." The only man on earth who believed he still had days left on the top echelon of the sport was Hopkins himself. Instead of fighting again at middleweight, Bernard not only decided to jump two divisions to light heavyweight, but he thought he would do it against the champ, Antonio Tarver. Very few gave Hopkins a chance. If he couldn't pull the trigger and finish the job against middleweight Jermain Taylor, what did he think he was going to do against Antonio Tarver? Apparently Hopkins knew something no one else did, because it was a 12 round destruction which made Tarver look like an amateur.

He tricked us. People swore they would never underestimate Hopkins again.

This past April, he met another pound-for-pound fighter in Joe Calzaghe. Though Hopkins knocked Calzaghe down in the first, Calzaghe out hustled Bernard with an incredible work rate. Calzaghe took a close 12 round decision, as Hopkins looked a little slower than usual. His reflexes weren't quite there. His caginess turned to lethargy. Numerous times throughout the fight, as the bell sounded to end a round, Hopkins walked to the wrong corner. He was disoriented. Hopkins had been able to fight on the top level for so long not solely because of physical gifts. Bernard Hopkins, mentally, could not be beat. He turns his opponents' strengths into their weaknesses. He is the ultimate strategist and ring general--a ring general who couldn't find his way back to the corner. At age 43, it was apparent Bernard Hopkins had finally reached the end of his fairy tale career.

But Hopkins didn't think so. He opted to keep fighting. Bernard figured he may as well challenge Kelly Pavlik, the hardest hitting middleweight since Tommy Hearns. Pavlik is 34-0 with 30 knockouts. He is not simply a power-punching fluke--Angelo Dundee himself has said, "Pavlik belongs in any era." Hopkins didn't care; he has never acknowledged the writing on the wall--he has never acknowledged that there is a wall.

Twelve boxing writers were asked to give their predictions for the outcome of the fight. Twelve writers picked Pavlik. Many of whom expressed concern for the safety of Bernard Hopkins.

The first bell sounded and Hopkins went to work like a surgeon. Never before had Pavlik been hit so clean; never before had he been so confused; never before could he not find the trigger; never before had he lost. Bernard Hopkins gave Pavlik a true boxing lesson. There was no lack of direction, and no lack of energy. Bernard Hopkins truly stopped time and became more than a living legend, this past Saturday night, he became immortal.

In the final round, Hopkins came out fighting with just as much vigor and guile as he did in the first. Old men don't attempt to knock out 26 year old studs, though this is precisely what Hopkins sought to do in the last round of a landslide fight. As the final bell sounded, Hopkins stoically walked over to the edge of the ring apron and stared at every boxing writer sitting ringside who picked against him...again. With his bottom lip quivering, Bernard Hopkins couldn't fend off the raw emotion, the pure drama of his performance, giving the ultimate twist ending to his epic career.

He certainly tricked us. He tricked us all.