Like most weeks in boxing, this one had it’s highs and lows. For one legend, his performance Saturday night was history making. For another, his performance on Saturday should mean his career is history.
After fighting to a draw the first time Bernard Hopkins squared off with Jean Pascal, the two ran it back, this time finding themselves in front of a rambunctious crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec — home to the Montreal Canadiens.
The fifty or so minutes in between Hopkins’ walking to the ring to the tune of Artie Rabin’s customized version of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ and him raising the WBC Light Heavyweight title were filled with a mix of genuine excitement and tons of foul play.
Like most B-Hop fights, the Executioner started slow and on my scorecard, after five rounds, Pascal was ahead four rounds to one.
But then it started to happen again…the teacher began schooling the student. The middle rounds belonged to the Future Hall of Famer.
To be completely honest, Pascal looked worse than he did the first fight. He seemed to make little adjustments to correct bad habits and to make matters worse, this time around, he seemed mentally on edge.
Two of Pascal’s biggest flaws were once again on display at the Bell Centre: he fought in spurts and he didn’t pace himself, forcing him to take entire rounds off — or minutes off of rounds he should have won.
If suddenly a closer in baseball had to start a game, I would imagine it would be similar to the way Jean Pascal conducts himself inside a boxing ring.
The closer would likely try to blow the lead-off batter away with a 98 mile an hour fastball, instead of trying to paint the black with a 94 mph heater. Or he would juice one up on an 0-2 count, rather than setting the hitter up with junk out of the strike zone.
In other words, when Pascal commits himself to an offensive attack, he goes all-out. He bull rushes you, and lets it all fly. Good if your a closer, bad if your goal is to give seven quality innings.
So by the mid-rounds, the crafty veteran Hopkins, began taking control of the fight.
After stalking Hopkins stalked Pascal back to his corner at the end of round six, Pascal whipped around and began barking back at Hopkins, who calmly strolled to the stool awaiting him across the ring.
A clearly agitated Pascal meant Hopkins had him right where he wanted him. Before the bell rang for round seven, Hopkins dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups in an effort to embarrass his counterpart.
It was once again the professor schooling the student, both inside the ropes, and inside his head.
Pascal clearly let Hopkins’ age old antics get to him, but credit the young champion for showing heart down the stretch. He didn’t make tactical adjustments, but he fought the last two rounds out of sheer desperation, proving that although he can’t fight with necessary urgency for thirty-six minutes, he very much cares and is aware of how a fight is progressing.
After the final bell sounded, my scorecard read 115-113, Hopkins. But much more important than my scorecard was that of the three ringside judges, who all saw the bout in favor of the Executioner.
When Mauricio Sulaiman handed Hopkins the infamous green belt, he handed it to Pascal. While there was a backstory to the gesture — Jim Lampley told us all about it — and while I do believe it was an honest gesture of good will, a friend of mine put it best when he said, “Wow, I just got second-hand embarrassment.”
Co-sign. Pascal visibly was embarrassed and the moment was awkward.
Nonetheless, what a performance by a legend. This certainly was boxing’s bright spot this weekend.
On the flip side, there was a dark cloud over the sport this weekend; specifically over Moscow, where Roy Jones, Jr. squared off with Denis Lebedev.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I hope Lebedev just authored the final chapter in RJJ’s Hall of Fame career.
It’s the legend’s third straight loss, and going back to 2004, it’s his seventh defeat in his last twelve bouts.
It goes without saying that there is simply too much risk involved in this sport to continue fighting when you are over the hill.
In golf, have at it. Hit the links until you’re fifty. And then guess what? Join the Senior PGA tour until you can no longer whack the ball 110 yards over the pond on the par 3.
In baseball, do what you can to stay relevant, reinvent yourself. Like current Mets pitcher, R.A. Dickey, if you lose your stuff, try throwing a knuckleball, it might by you more time. If you get injured or get sent down to AAA try using steroids to…okay, never-mind that.
But in all seriousness, boxing is not a sport where you can hang around too, winning some here, losing some there. It’s obvious when a fighter is done.
In baseball, former pitcher Ron Darling put it best when answering the question ‘When is it time for a pitcher to call it a career?’ His answer, “It’s simple, the hitters let you know.”
Golf and baseball are, generally speaking, low-risk sports, which is in stark contrast to the sport of boxing, which is perhaps the riskiest sport of all.
Similar to our nation’s past-time, the sweet science has hitters too. But unlike the hitters in baseball, the one’s in boxing aren’t using a bat to smack a ball over a fence four hundred feet away. Instead, the hitters in boxing are using their fists to rearrange your face, from only two feet away.
And Roy, these hitters are letting you know it’s time to hang the gloves up.
So, like most weeks in boxing, there were highs and lows. Bernard Hopkins raised his hands in front of a packed Bell Centre crowd, becoming the oldest champion in boxing history, while another legend, Roy Jones, Jr. crumbled to the ground in scary fashion during the 10th round courtesy of Denis Lebedev.
Ups and downs, highs and lows. The boxing beat goes on….
Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com
