Hopkins’ Act Came Straight Out of the Dark Ages

Boxing, always straddling that fine line between triumph and tragedy, between farcical hype and frightening hell, nearly stepped over into disaster Wednesday.

It all happened in a few, stunning seconds that shook up several key boxing figures.

Felix Trinidad, the epitome of cool, was outraged.

Don King, maestro of hyperbole, was speechless.

Bernard Hopkins, master of bravado, was terrified.

At first glance, the scene unfolding at the Roberto Clemente Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, seemed familiar, amusing and harmless.

King, Trinidad and Hopkins were gathered at the stadium for a news conference to promote the Sept. 15 match at New York’s Madison Square Garden between Trinidad and Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight championship.

It’s a fight that doesn’t need histrionics. The appeal is already there. Trinidad (40-0, 33 knockouts), arguably the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound, moved up to 160 pounds and knocked out William Joppy in May to win the World Boxing Assn. middleweight crown. Hopkins (39-2-1, 28 KOs), considered the best of the middleweights until Trinidad arrived, won a decision over Keith Holmes in April to add the World Boxing Council middleweight championship to his International Boxing Federation crown.

With those finalists in King’s middleweight tournament, who needs hype?

But telling King and Hopkins they don’t have to rant and rave is like telling Tom Lasorda he doesn’t have to keep putting on a baseball uniform.

Hopkins, who calls himself “the Executioner,” shows up at news conferences dressed as an executioner out of the Dark Ages, complete with poleax-wielding bodyguards, and offers his opponent a last meal.

Earlier this week, however, he took his act too far during a Madison Square Garden news conference, hurling to the floor the flag of Puerto Rico, Trinidad’s native land.

That predictably infuriated Trinidad, who seldom allows anything to interrupt the smile characteristically beaming from his boyish face.

En route to Puerto Rico for Wednesday’s news conference, Alan Hopper, King’s publicist, warned Hopkins he couldn’t repeat his act on Puerto Rican soil.

“I won’t do that,” Hopkins assured Hopper. “I know better than that.”

Whatever good intentions Hopkins may have had disappeared when he and Trinidad came face to face, with King in between.

Trinidad cautioned Hopkins about showing further disrespect for the Puerto Rican flag.

Hopkins snapped, grabbing a flag and throwing it to the ground in full view of 10,000 Puerto Ricans.

End of hype.

Beginning of hysteria.

There was a roar of protest from the crowd, followed instantly by a massive charge at Hopkins.

Nothing would stop this mob, not 100 police, nor bodyguards, nor barricades.

“It happened so quick, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Hopper.

The Philadelphia fighter did what he would never do in the ring. He turned and ran.

Hopkins dashed up the stairs of an empty part of the stadium. Upon reaching the top, he encountered a man coming at him with a stick. A Hopkins punch halted the man, but there were plenty of others right behind.

With no other escape, Hopkins leaped over a barrier and dropped eight feet to the ground, hitting the surface at a full sprint, heading to the safety of a nearby locker room.

“It looked liked something out of a Jackie Chan movie,” Hopper said. “I have no doubt that, if the mob would have gotten hold of him, they would have killed him.”

With Hopkins safely ensconced in the locker room, a helicopter was dispatched to pick up the fighter.

Instead, it served as a decoy while a vehicle with tinted windows whisked Hopkins to the airport where, after an inspection by bomb-sniffing dogs, his plane took off.

Asked later why he had acted so irresponsibly, Hopkins said, “A man can only take so much.”

If Hopkins doesn’t wise up, he might have to take even more. There is a large Puerto Rican population in New York and some of its vocal, passionate members are expected to attend the fight.

Security will be tight at the Garden. But as Hopkins has already learned, security can go only so far in the face of outrageous behavior.

Ticket Tabulation

Two-thirds of the tickets have been sold for the July 28 card at Staples Center headlined by the match between light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones (44-1, 36) and heavy underdog Julio Gonzalez (27-0, 17).

Capacity for the event will be approximately 15,000, according to Michael Roth, the arena’s director of communications. Seats are available in prices ranging from $500 to $25.

Quick Jabs

James Toney has fought 67 times, held titles in four weight divisions--cruiserweight, light-heavyweight, super-middleweight and middleweight--and beaten such big-name opponents as Michael Nunn, Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, Reggie Johnson and Prince Charles Williams. At 32, with all that mileage on him, Toney (61-4-2, 39) is hoping to get back in the fast lane, upgrading from his title as the International Boxing Assn. cruiserweight champion to the crown of one of the major sanctioning bodies. Working toward that goal, Toney will be back in the ring Friday night in the main event at the Crystal Park Casino in Compton against Wesley Martin, who isn’t expected to offer much opposition, considering his record of 13-29-8 with seven knockouts. First bell is at 7:30. . . . Thursday at the Arrowhead Pond on a card that begins at 7:30, Yoni Vargas (20-2, 10) will battle Orlando Villaflor (19-0-1, 14) for the California lightweight championship in a 10-round match. . . . Martin Castillo (19-0, 12) faces Ricardo Vargas (28-8-3, 10) Sunday at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto for the vacant North American Boxing Organization super-flyweight title. First bell is at 11 a.m.