It happened! It’s been almost 20 years since Jim Lampley famously yelled out those words in the 1994 Heavyweight Championship match between George Foremen and Michael Moore, where Foreman became the oldest champion in boxing history at 46. This past Saturday, Lampley was given the opportunity to yell it again as Bernard Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal for the Light Heavyweight title and became the new oldest man to win a championship in boxing.
In 1994, while George Foreman was proving that the age of 40 wasn’t a death sentence, Hopkins was trying to rebound his career after a one sided loss to Roy Jones Jr. Fast forward almost 20 years later, Hopkins not only beat the record of George Foreman, he dominated a powerful, fast and hungry champion in Pascal, and he did it in Pascal’s hometown.
The fight was far from a typical Bernard Hopkins fight. Except for the first two rounds, Hopkins was constantly the aggressor, as Pascal would limit himself to only fighting in bursts of energy. Hopkins was throwing close to 50-60 punches per round, goading Pascal every chance he could, including the 7th round where he did a couple of push ups as Pascal seemed to be stalling his his corner for more time. In the 9th and 10th rounds Hopkins was robbed of two flash knockdowns, as the referee ruled both as slips. Clearly, he didn’t need the extra points of the knockdowns as he would go on to win a unanimous decision.
With the win, Hopkins proved a lot of things, he proved that age to him is relative, he proved that you can get a decision in Canada vs. a Canadian fighter, and he proved that a Bernard Hopkins fight can actually be entertaining. After the fight, Hopkins stated that he doesn’t plan on retiring until he’s at least 50 years old.
Up next for Hopkins is a mandatory title defense against Chad Dawson who had a unanimous decision victory against Adrian Diaconu in the event’s undercard. In addition, Hopkins has already expressed interest in facing another Canadian in Lucian Bute, as well as the winner of the Super Six tournament.
Hopkins has made a career out of proving everyone wrong, from the time he was told by his parole officer that he would go back to prison, to when he was told after the first Roy Jones fight that he was done in boxing, to when he was told after the Jermain Taylor fights that he had gotten old, and after the Joe Calzaghe fight that he didn’t have it anymore. Every time he proves us wrong we act surprised, when in reality we aren’t. We may ignore, disagree or discard Hopkins at times, but what we never do is bet against him, because you just never know.
