A Look at Boxing's Newest
Star and His Wild Week
By Phillip Przybylo
06.10.01 - I have never seen
a fighter outside the heavyweight division get
so much press and print after a fight like I
did this week. I will add to it because let's
face it: Bernard Hopkins deserves it.
The Good
Among the more mainstream outlets
that Trinidad's conqueror has been spotted at
is the Howard Stern radio show. He's been on
Howard's show in the past, and he never forgets
the support given to him as he visited again
(just ask Larry Merchant, Steve Kim, or Pedro
Fernandez). He gave some insightful and explicit
commentary of prison life, among other things.
On a side note, they both agreed that Howard
would have to shave his head or he'd become
someone's bitch pretty quickly.
In a little over an hour later,
he was on the nationally televised "Regis
and Kelly Live" morning show. He showed
his softer side and presented host Kelly Ripa
with flowers and signed pink boxing gloves for
her birthday. Don't get me wrong, he did not
look like a big cuddly teddy bear, but he looked
happy to be there.
He was on "Jim Rome's Last
Word" as well on Thursday night via Fox
Sports Net. At the very end of the show, he
was candid about religion. His (religion--Islam)
dictates humbleness. And he has been nothing
but humble despite the extraordinary amount
of press he has gotten. Not to get on a rant
or anything, but Bernard's showing of restraint
in shoving religion in people's faces is welcome
in my mind. While one really does not know the
right times to bring it up, it sometimes comes
out as impolite or improper right after a fight.
Bernard has been patient and polite about it,
which is a credit to him and the religion he
practices.
He will be honored tonight in
Philadelphia as well during a Sugar Ray Leonard
promoted card and ESPN 2 "Friday Night
Fights" telecast.
The Ugly
Backtracking a bit to Tuesday,
Madison Square Garden (MSG) CEO Seth Abraham
announces that Bernard is banned from MSG for
life, stemming from the flag throwing incidents.
It is later retracted, stemming from common
sense and a huge backlash from the press. Let
it be known that Bernard has sincerely apologized
for the incidents and will most likely apologize
later in Puerto Rico.
Let's backtrack even further
to Monday. The Sugar Ray Robinson trophy presented
to Bernard at Gallagher's in Manhattan had a
plate that was scratched up. Now, I know there
have been dozens of writers from other publications
who had predicted a huge loss for "The
Executioner" (I am not among them), but
the "suits" probably making a decision
to put Felix Trinidad's name on the trophy before
the fight shows poor judgment and poorer character.
Thom Loverro, in an article
from the Washington Times, put it best when
he said, "The fighter who couldn't speak
English was considered more attractive and marketable
than the fighter who they couldn't shut up."
The so-called "Establishment" of boxing
has dished out more disrespect to Hopkins than
Hopkins could if he had started a bonfire with
those Puerto Rican flags.
The Bad
A lot of things that I predicted
in previous columns came to fruition on September
29th. The pace of the fight, Hopkins' intelligence
coming into play, Hopkins earning a victory,
and judges favoring Trinidad were among them.
What I did not predict was Hopkins completely
outclassing "Tito," and not giving
judges a chance to take the fight away from
him.
Stanley Christodoulou of South
Africa has judged and ref'ed many fights. He
was the only sane person judging the first Holyfield-Lewis
fight. But he gave Trinidad three rounds, which
is being way too generous. He should at least
be questioned for it. The same goes for Anek
Hontongkam who had the same score of 107-102.
I do admit that there were three close rounds,
but I find it impossible to give all of them
to Trinidad. Dan Ackerman of New York had the
fight scored 109-100. I had it 109-99 with a
two point edge for Hopkins in round 11.
The scores from the two judges
were suspect, not ludicrous. But something tells
me if Trinidad could have hanged with Hopkins
and decidedly won one or two more rounds, the
judges would have been influenced to give him
more, possibly enough for a draw. It's just
a thought.
Gaining Perspective
There's no denying that last
Saturday night was a masterpiece. It was a great
night that featured Arthur Mercante, Sr.'s last
fight he will referee and Ricardo Lopez's last
conquest. People are saying Bernard's Top 5
all-time in middleweights and number one in
pound-for-pound rankings (while Tito may drop
to the lower half of the Top 10). I send my
apologies to Roy Jones when I say that I really
cannot find a reason to disagree.
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