Bernard Hopkins broke his own record on Saturday evening at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, as he defeated IBF titleholder Tavoris Cloud via unanimous decision in an HBO televised fight. He once again became the oldest champion in boxing’s long and storied history, erasing his old record from when he had defeated Jean Pascal.
Check out the full results here, along with a collection of photos from the bout, and video of the post-fight presser.
The Hopkins vs. Cloud fight played out much as you probably thought it would. Hopkins proved he was the superior technician. He dictated the fight, he landed his signature punches, he controlled the pace and geography of the bout in the way that only he could.
Cloud put forth a game effort, and he stayed busier than Hopkins. But he didn’t do enough or throw enough to take Hopkins out of his rhythm. He just couldn’t figure out the solution to the riddle he was facing, and he started off slow, enabling Hopkins to set his pace from the start.
Cloud had his moments, landing solid body shots, and a few big punches upstairs, but he never was able to repeat or follow up on that consistently. It would be he who would be cut up over his eye, bloody and showing the signs of a losing battle.
Official scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 117-111 for Hopkins, who improves to 53-6-2 for his career. Cloud falls to 24-1, losing his undefeated record along with his belt.
After the bout, Hopkins was basically calling out to HBO and Showtime to sign him up for a long-term contract. He wants to stick around.
And apparently, he wants to stick around for at least several more years. All of this from the guy who had once promised his mother he wouldn’t fight past the age of 40. But how could you ask the guy to stop right now?
He’s one of the best fighters in the world, of any age, and he’s right at the top of his own division. Apparently he’s not so eager to face Andre Ward, who would be the sternest challenge in or around his weight class, but well, you can’t exactly blame him for that.
In earlier action on Saturday night in Brooklyn, Keith Thurman cruised past Jan Zaveck. Big surprise. He’s younger, stronger, bigger, faster and more skilled. So that’s all I’ll say… besides the fact that his multiple fights on HBO against woefully overmatched opposition have been absolutely ridiculous.
As for the Hopkins vs. Cloud results… props to the ol’ B-Hops for getting it done.
