Bernard Hopkins, champ @ 46 - beats Foreman's record

[rockdawg21]

I'm not really a fan of Hopkins, but I respect his skills.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201....ap/index.html

Posted: Sunday May 22, 2011 12:49AM ; Updated: Sunday May 22, 2011 2:08PM

Hopkins tops Pascal to become boxing's oldest champion

MONTREAL (AP) -- Bernard Hopkins became the oldest fighter to win a major world championship, taking the WBC light heavyweight title Saturday night from Jean Pascal at the age of 46.

Hopkins (52-5-2) broke the age record set by George Foreman in a heavyweight title victory over Michael Moorer in 1994. Hopkins won at 46 years, 4 months, 6 days. Foreman was 45 years, 10 months.

"I won't retire until I'm 50," Hopkins said.

He won the WBC, IBO and The Ring magazine titles from the 28-year-old Pascal (26-2-1), the Montreal fighter who was making his fifth defense before 17,560 at the Bell Centre.

The bout was a rematch of their Dec. 18 draw in Quebec City.

"He's a great champion. He has great defense and a lot of tricks. I was a young champion," Pascal said of Hopkins in the ring afterward. "These two fights will help take me to the next level. I learned a lot from Bernard and his style."

The Philadelphia native played up his uncanny fitness in the pre-fight banter and looked the fresher man throughout the bout, taunting Pascal by doing push-ups as he waited for him to start the seventh round and doing them again after the fight.

Hopkins landed more punches and was able to slip many of Pascal's power shots, answering with clever jabs and scoring more than once on right-hand leads.

Hopkins didn't, as planned, wear a Philadelphia Flyers jersey into the ring, but one of his corner men did.

In the co-feature, Chad Dawson showed masterful defense and crisp punching in scoring a 12-round unanimous decision over Montreal's Adrian Diaconu in a light heavyweight elimination bout.

Hopkins will next fight Dawson (30-1).

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[J.B.]

Never been a big fan of Hopkins either, but nobody can deny he's a legend in the sport of boxing.

[JavierDLC]

Originally Posted by J.B.

Never been a big fan of Hopkins either, but nobody can deny he's a legend in the sport of boxing.

That was a good fight all props to Hopkins. On a side note did you see that nasty Roy Jones knock out? That MF'er shouldn't have thrown that last punch.

[rockdawg21]

Originally Posted by JavierDLC

That was a good fight all props to Hopkins. On a side note did you see that nasty Roy Jones knock out? That MF'er shouldn't have thrown that last punch.

Roy needs to retire.

[JavierDLC]

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

Roy needs to retire.

Agreed he did what Chuck did to his legacy and that is mess it up.

[rockdawg21]

Originally Posted by JavierDLC

Agreed he did what Chuck did to his legacy and that is mess it up.

I felt that way after the Antonio Tarver fight several years back.

jones should retire, but i don't think he messed up his legacy ... it's all about who you beat and he will go down as one of the greatest EVER ... look at joe calzaghe ... he went undefeated and even beat jones .. do you think many people are going to say joe was better than RJJ??

[J.B.]

Roy is probably my favorite fighter of all time, but yeah he does need to retire. He had no business getting in the ring with one of the top cruiserweights in the world after his last 2 fights, but Roy still hung in there with Lebedev and even rocked him. He just doesn't have his legs anymore and his skills aren't what they used to be. Roy's style takes a lot of speed and precision to be successful with, and once he lost that edge (and after the Tarver and Johnson KO's) he started going downhill.

I wouldn't be surprised if Roy fought again. It's a shame, but I think he is in debt to the IRS and if I remember correctly I don't think he made any money at all for the Hopkins rematch. Does it tarnish Roy's legacy? Maybe in some ways, but not really as much as some may think at this point. If he does fight again, I think he should just have another fight in his hometown and do what Randy Couture did and announce he will retire no matter what the outcome of the fight is.