Hopkins Wants To Thrash King As Much As Cloud

Published

11 years ago

February 25, 2013

Try as he might, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins is finding it difficult to generate much animosity toward IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud, whom he challenges in the HBO-televised main event March 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Despite their 17-year age gap and decidedly different points of origin, Hopkins, 48, feels a certain kinship toward Cloud. It’s hard to work yourself into a frothing rage in preparation of a fight with someone you sort of relate to.

“I heard this guy talking about his mom’s refrigerator being repossessed, about how they had to put their food in a washtub and fill it up with ice to keep it from spoiling,” Hopkins (photo above by Hogan Photos), a child of poverty who grew up on the mean streets of North Philadelphia, said of Cloud, who hails from Tallahassee, Fla. “I’ve been watching that tape for a couple of months. I’m from North Philly, but I know where he’s coming from. He said he used to live in a room with 15 people, and he ain’t never going back to that again.

“I know how that is. That means my ass had better get ready for this guy because he’s hungry, too.”

And the roaches that presumably are a familiar sight to kids living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions? Hopkins recalls times when he had to brush them off stale slices of bread, and those when he and other family members ate cold beans straight out of the can because the gas in their shabby apartment had been shut off.

“Oh, man, those were our buddies, as long as they didn’t take all of (the food),” Hopkins said of co-existing with vermin. “You expect them to be in there. You were sharing space with things with a lot of legs and people with two legs. Whoever got there first got to eat.”

But if Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) can’t find a legitimate reason to be mad at Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs), he has to be mad at somebody, because, well, that is how boxing’s ageless wonder has stayed at or near the top of an unforgiving profession when most fighters are long since retired and whiling away the hours in rocking chairs, not in gyms while getting ready for another tough bout. Fortunately for B-Hop, taking on Cloud – a victory would enable Hopkins to break his own record, set against Jean Pascal on May 21, 2011, of becoming the oldest man ever to win a widely recognized world title – provides him with just such a target for vengeance and retribution.

That would be Hopkins’ former promoter, Don King, who promotes Cloud.

“Cloud believes he is the best, that he can beat anybody,” Hopkins said. “I’m not surprised he took the fight. I am surprised King agreed to it because Cloud losing to me will shut down what’s left of King’s company. He’s pretty much down to Cloud. Cloud is Don King’s last big hope.

“Who would have thought that I would have stayed around long enough to destroy Don King? I started the process with Tito (Trinidad). Look, I made a history of beating Don King fighters. Robert Allen, John David Jackson, William Joppy, Keith Holmes, Trinidad. That’s five so far. There’s probably more.”

To Hopkins’ way of thinking – and this is a proud, obstinate guy who never forgets real or imagined slights – King became an enemy during the run-up to, and aftermath of, what likely was the ex-con from Philadelphia’s most important ring success, the 12^th-round stoppage of the unbeaten and favored Trinidad on Sept. 29, 2001, in Madison Square Garden. His Hairness ostensibly promoted both fighters, but King’s continual waving of the Puerto Rican flag, and smiling shouts of “Viva, Puerto Rico!” left no doubt in Hopkins’ mind that his best interests were not exactly the promoter’s priority.

Then there was the matter of the newly created Sugar Ray Robinson Award, which was to be presented to the winner of the unified middleweight championship. Hopkins was the IBF and WBC 160-pound champion going in, Trinidad the WBA champ.

“They already had engraved Tito’s name on that thing,” recalled Hopkins, 3-1 underdog that night. “If he had won, they would have given it to him right there in the ring. I had to wait a week to get it.”

But Don King is hardly alone when it comes to inclusion on the list of the former promoters, managers and advisers who have raised Hopkins’ ire. Maybe it’s remnants of his five-year forced incarceration on an armed robbery conviction, but B-Hop – who, to his credit, has never run afoul of the law since his parole a quarter-century ago – does seem to have problems with certain authority figures. Just ask Dan Goossen and Lou DiBella, or examine transcripts of the profane rants toward Hopkins uttered by Butch Lewis, who passed away on July 23, 2011. All once had warm spots in their hearts for Hopkins which turned icy cold, and all engaged him in dueling lawsuits.

“I have a track record I’m proud of,” Lewis said when he was sued by Hopkins. “I’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty with every fighter I’ve ever had, in terms of contractual commitments. But I don’t want anybody to confuse my being a nice guy with weakness. I’m not going to let that (bleeper-bleeper) kick me in the ass and take it when I’m doing right.”

And there is this from Goossen, the president of now-defunct America Presents when it promoted Hopkins and was also involved in acrimonious legal action with the legendarily hard-to-satisfy boxer.

“One of my biggest disappointments in 20 years of boxing is Bernard Hopkins,” Goossen said in 2000 (Hopkins’ contract with America Presents expired on June 30, 1999) as the charges and counter-charges were being sorted by lawyers. “He’s right up there with Michael Nunn. I always felt Michael Nunn had the ability to be one of the greatest fighters ever, and I had the same feeling about Bernard. But Nunn never achieved greatness, based upon his own decisions, and it’s too late for him now.

“With Hopkins, who has greatness written all over him, it’s getting harder and harder to believe it’s ever going to happen. I wanted to have a good relationship with the guy and enjoy it, but, well, Bernard is Bernard. I’m not going to get into a war of words with Bernard Hopkins. I’m saddened by the direction he has taken in his career. I’m proud of what we were trying to do to advance that career. He wasn’t happy with what we did; we are.”

But perhaps the most bitter split involved Lou DiBella, the former senior vice president of HBO Sports who for a time served as Hopkins’ adviser. DiBella shed tears of joy the night Hopkins dispatched Trinidad, but the relationship took a nasty turn when Hopkins accused his onetime friend of extorting $50,000 from him for a spot in an HBO-televised fight bout against Syd Vanderpool on May 13, 2000, in Indianapolis, Ind. Interestingly, that fight – Hopkins retained his IBF middleweight title on a clear-cut unanimous decision – took place 16½ months before B-Hop and DiBella expressed their undying love for one another in the glow of that big night in the Garden against Trinidad.

DiBella points out that he won a $610,000 defamation judgment against Hopkins, who continued to loudly pronounce his contention that his version of what had transpired was correct. That led to a tense situation heading into the first meeting of Hopkins and Jermain Taylor, who was promoted by DiBella Entertainment. Taylor, on a razor-thin split decision, wrested the middleweight championship from Hopkins on July 16, 2005, in addition to ending his division-record streak of 20 successful defenses.

“I’ve got a personal reason why I want to clock this guy (Taylor), but I got it under control. It ain’t reckless,” Hopkins said prior to the grudge match. “I take all fights personal, but this one’s extremely personal. It’s a fight that motivates me more than any fight I ever fought. In this fight, there’s no (attorneys raising) objections. There ain’t no (judges) presiding. I am the judge, the jury and the executioner. This is me being able to get my vindication (against DiBella).”

DiBella fired right back. “What he did hurt me in every way,” he said of Hopkins. “It hurt my family, hurt my marriage, hurt my career, hurt my business.

“Look, Bernard Hopkins is a Hall of Famer. He’s the best middleweight of his era. In my estimation, he’s one of the five best middleweights of all time. I’m not sure Marvin Hagler would have beaten him. But he is a vile human being. Inside the ring, he’s a genius. Outside the ring, he’s a hateful, lying person.”

To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, allow Hopkins to retort against those he deems to have conspired against him.

“Yeah, I speak my mind,” Hopkins said when he was taking on Goossen in the courts. “I understand the politics of boxing and, in some people’s eyes, that makes me dangerous. But I can’t be bullied. Bully tactics don’t work on me. If you try to bully me, I fight back. Just because I can fight doesn’t mean I can’t think.

“How many stories have you heard about fighters who went broke? There are a lot of those. Now, how many stories have you heard about boxing promoter who went broke? There aren’t any. Promoters hold all the power, all the leverage and most of the money. That’s the way it’s always been. They’re not going to give up any of that power and leverage to any fighter, unless they absolutely have to.”

Leave it to each individual fan of the sport to determine who is right and who is wrong in these various disputes, or if there is a greater truth to be distilled from the succession of verbal wars outside the ropes. Maybe there are shades of gray, as is frequently the case whenever absolute truths are not immediately evident and therefore open to interpretation.

What does seem clear is that Hopkins’ rigid approach to the business of boxing is very much like his approach to the brutality of boxing, where a refusal to give ground is often – but not always – a plus.

Recently retired HBO ringside analyst Larry Merchant perhaps best summed up Hopkins, the fighter, in analyzing what had taken place in his 10^th-round stoppage of No. 1 contender Antwun Echols in a foul-plagued brawl on Dec. 1, 2000.

“Gil Clancy once told me that, from a technical standpoint, today’s fighters and those from the 1930s and ’40s aren’t that dissimilar,” Merchant told a reporter minutes after that fight. “But he said those old-time guys, a lot of whom came out of the Depression, were hard men. When I look at Bernard Hopkins, I see a hard man.”

He is, undoubtedly, a hard man to deal with. Even those who marvel at his longevity, at his ring smarts and his determination, can be left exasperated and enraged. Striking deals with Bernard Hopkins that satisfy both parties can be as difficult as getting Israel and Iran to play nice.

“I know when someone’s trying to bum-rush me,” Hopkins said during another heated skirmish with a promoter. “Well, come on with it. I know about intimidation. I was taught it by Butch Lewis. The main thing I learned from Butch was this: Don’t trust anyone. I don’t trust anyone in boxing.”

Given Hopkins’ history, his ongoing relationship with Golden Boy Promotions – he has held an executive position with the company since Nov. 20, 2004, just 32 days after he knocked out company president Oscar De La Hoya – is as or more noteworthy than his 20 winning middleweight defenses or his capturing world titles deep into his 40s. A lot of people are waiting, waiting for the association to blow up in the same rancorous manner what marked so many of B-Hop’s previously ill-fated attempts at co-existence.

Even De La Hoya had harsh words prior to his ninth-round knockout by Hopkins on Sept. 18, 2004. “Hopkins is a bully. He talks about having been in prison and all this street stuff, and he thinks that’s going to intimidate me. But he’s wrong. He’s not going to win any battles before we get in the ring.”

For his part, Hopkins spoke about how he was going to rearrange De La Hoya’s matinee-idol mug. “Oscar has always been known for how handsome he is,” he said. “I’m envious of him. His nose is straight. Nobody’s really busted up Oscar. But for all of his fans who admire his Clark Gable looks, they’d better take their pictures of him now. It’s going to be one of those before-and-after deals after I get through with him.”

That De La Hoya and Hopkins should team up was quite the shock. Maybe it was De La Hoya’s way of showing appreciation that the takeout shot by Hopkins was a left hook to the liver, which did not oblige the losing fighter to seek the services of a plastic surgeon.

“Bernard Hopkins is one of the best fighters in recent history,” De La Hoya said when B-Hop joined Team Golden Boy. “His talent and skill in the ring are unquestioned, but what impressed me just as much is his charisma, vision for the future of boxing and deep love and respect for the sport.”

Hopkins, for his part, used the occasion to take a few shots at Bob Arum – who had just announced that his stepson, Todd duBoef, was taking over the day-to-day operations of Top Rank – and, yes, King.

“Perhaps Don King will get a whiff of this,” Hopkins said of the aging icons he hoped to remove from an entrenched position of power. “Those old dinosaurs will see that new, young blood is coming to town.”

There are those who would say that it’s Hopkins who is the last dinosaur. In any case, it’s likely he’ll be taking his last punch in the not-so-distant future. Cloud is a 3-1 favorite to be the guy to deliver that parting shot.

A lot of people will bid Hopkins, the living legend, a fond farewell then. And a lot of people will be saying goodbye, and good riddance, to Hopkins the legendary pain in the ass.

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Bernard Fernandez

Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

23 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

3 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2024

TSS Press

Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

One young man flew halfway around the world to take on a world champion in his own living room; not once, but twice. The other young man quit prior to one fight, and then again during another one.

The first guy mentioned is an obedient son of an ultra-streetwise father. The type of parent where, if he doesn’t know the answer (and more times than not he most likely does), he will know where to find it. The second guy doesn’t appear to have that quality guidance scenario going on for him, which is probably for the best, because he believes he has all the answers.

The first guy is on record as saying he wants to go down in boxing history as an all-time great. The other guy? He decided not to continue in a fight while he was still sporting an undefeated record. You may think to yourself if there was ever a time to soldier through, right?

Then yesterday, that same guy missed making weight by 3.2 pounds, and seemed to be more than fine with it, to the point where he actually appeared to be quite pleased with himself.

If you haven’t heard, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are going to share a boxing ring in a twelve round go for God knows what will be at stake by the time they actually punch off. The fact that no one from Garcia’s team has stepped in and rescued him from these unfolding events, his own personal well-being, and/or not to mention Devin Haney is, well, troubling in and of itself.

Back in the amateur days, the record shows they split six fights. They were boys back then, so it means zero. If anything, you’d want to be the older of the two, and Ryan had over a three-month age advantage. If you’ve only been on the planet for a total of 120 months or so, every extra month could be a big enough difference in strength and development. Now as world class professionals in their prime? That’s different. Younger is always better. Devin is that guy.

Haney and Garcia fought six times for free but will fight only once as professionals. Then one of them will continue with their march for historic greatness, while the other will head back to Kamp Krazy, where he’s the current Mayor.

It’s never smart to lay 8-1, 9-1 in boxing. And if you see taking Garcia as a value bet with +500 to +600 and beyond, you don’t understand value and you evidently don’t like money.

There is, however, a wagering opportunity here.

Total Rounds: Fight doesn’t go 10.5 rounds.

Take anything over +125. It’s worth a unit on a scale of 5. Logically, there are a lot of ways to cash this ticket: legitimate victory, meltdown, catching lightning in a bottle, etc. Or simply the exiting stage left of a guy who may be already plotting his next career move.

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