Bernard Hopkins, Greatest of All Time?

It sometimes seems that when we have a great thing in front of us, it is not appreciated until its not there anymore. For a long time I did not like Hopkins, in fact I often rooted against him. However in recent years I have become a big fan. Watching him defy all the odds and completely dominate these younger guys, even in losing he is competitive to the point of at least making the fight close.  At 48 he is set to fight the young strong bull in Tavoris Cloud, should he beat Cloud to win the IBF strap, I think it would be time to consider him one of the greatest fighters of all time. First, there is his record 20 defenses of the middleweight title over a 10 year period. Then of course the smack down he put on Tarver, who was supposed to retire Hopkins. The beat down he put on Pavlik, who was supposed beat up the old man and move on to bigger and better things. Then Jean Pascal whom he so thoroughly dominated that he was doing push ups in between rounds.

Hopkins has already cemented a legacy that will last for a very long time but the fact that he keeps going and at 48 is still able to beat, let alone compete, with these younger, stronger, and faster guys is absolutely astonishing. Generally when a fighter continues to fight at this age, we watch with a heavy heart but we watch, if we watch at all, in the hopes that something happens, that he lands a big shot. That happened with Foreman against Michael Moorer, but that is a rarity. Even more rare is that a guy like Hopkins doesn't need to land that one big shot because he can rely on his boxing skills! Yes, at 48 the man has the legs of a 30 year old. His stamina is still unbelievable and it makes you wonder, is he lying about his age?

Come March 9th, I expect Hopkins to do it again, and probably to continue to keep "doing it" against all the odds. One thing I know is that when Hopkins is told that he cannot do something, he generally proves everyone else wrong. The day that he has a fight and everyone says "you can beat him" then maybe I will say, he might lose.