Forty Is the New 20 for Hopkins in Win

At 40 years old, Bernard Hopkins figures to get old some night in the ring.

Saturday was not that night.

Still mobile enough, strong enough, smart enough, tough enough and even dirty enough, when necessary, to easily handle an opponent of the caliber of Howard Eastman, Hopkins cruised to a unanimous decision, defending his undisputed middleweight title in front a celebrity-filled crowd of 12,828 at Staples Center.

The fight was scored by judges Lou Filippo (119-110), Daniel Van De Wiele (117-111) and Ken Morita (116-112).

It was not vintage Hopkins. There were no knockdowns, no memorable combinations, no crowd-stunning punches. Hopkins started slowly, as is his custom, and fought to the level of his opponent, as he often has in the past.

“You heard some cheers. You heard some boos,” said Hopkins. “I gave it to the crowd in spurts. I can turn it up when I have to.”

Hopkins did more than enough to extend his record for middleweight title defenses to 20, six more than runner-up Carlos Monzon.

Hopkins also moved into some elite company, tying heavyweight Larry Holmes for the fifth-greatest number of consecutive title defenses. Ahead of them are heavyweight Joe Louis (25), light heavyweight Dariusz Michalczewski (23), super middleweight Sven Ottke (21) and light flyweight Ricardo Lopez (21).

Hopkins (46-2-1, 32 knockouts) seemed bored with the proceedings until the fifth round. That was the round in which Eastman had said God had told him he would win by knockout.

Divine intervention seemed to be the only chance Eastman (40-2, 35) had. Although he had won the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles, Eastman had lost in his only previous appearance in this country. That was in November 2001 when he lost a majority decision to William Joppy, his only defeat before Saturday.

While he found Joppy rough, Eastman discovered Saturday night that stepping in against Hopkins was stepping up to an even higher level, even with Hopkins at an age when most fighters are either struggling in the ring as poor imitations of their younger selves, or have turned in their gloves for a microphone.

Hopkins consistently beat Eastman, who comes from Battersea, England, to the punch, landed effectively with both hands and moved smoothly out of trouble, getting caught with shots only occasionally.

“He takes a hell of a shot,” said Hopkins. “But I threw better shots.”

When it was over, the Battersea Bomber looked like the Batteredsea Bomber. Hopkins landed 43% of his punches while Eastman connected on only 13%. The margin was even wider in jabs, Hopkins landing at a 40% rate, Eastman at 6%.

“He ran from me the whole time,” Eastman said. “He was the champion in his backyard and I dictated the pace.

“I am very disappointed. I felt I was hitting him. He didn’t land a lot [of punches]. He never hurt me.”

Countered Hopkins: “Somebody must have put those lumps on his head. He wanted me to fight his fight. I fought my fight.”

Asked before the fight what grade he would give Eastman, Hopkins had said, “B-minus.” Asked after the fight what grade he would give Eastman, Hopkins said, “B-minus.”

Hopkins has vowed to walk away from the sport by next Jan. 15, his 41st birthday. So how does he fill out his dance card in the months remaining of his career?

While Hopkins certainly boasts a glorious past, the future may have also been on display in Saturday night’s semi-main event, in which 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Jermain Taylor remained unbeaten at 23-0 with 17 knockouts when he handed Daniel Edouard (16-1-2, 9) his first defeat on a third-round knockout.

Hopkins said he might give Taylor a title shot. He is also looking at Felix Trinidad and light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson as potential opponents.

The clock is ticking for Hopkins, but it hasn’t struck midnight just yet.

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Pounding-for-Pounding

In his 20 title defenses in the 160-pound middleweight division, Bernard Hopkins has posted 12 knockouts, seven majority decisions and one no contest.

*--* Date Opponent Location Result Belt 1-27-96 Steve Frank Phoenix KO 1 IBF 3-16-96 Joe Lipsey Las Vegas KO 4 IBF 4-16-96 Bo James Atlantic City, KO 11 IBF N.J. 4-19-97 John David Shreveport, La. KO 7 IBF Jackson 7-20-97 Glen Johnson Indio KO 11 IBF 11-18-97 Andrew Council Upper Marlboro, W 12 IBF Md. 1-31-98 Simon Brown Atlantic City, KO 6 IBF N.J. 8-28-98 Robert Allen Las Vegas No-contest 4 IBF 2-6-99 Robert Allen Washington TKO 7 IBF 12-12-99 Antwun Echols Miami W 12 IBF 5-13-00 Syd Vanderpool Indianapolis W 12 IBF 12-1-00 Antwun Echols Las Vegas TKO 10 IBF 4-14-01 Keith Holmes New York W 12 IBF 9-29-01 Felix Trinidad New York TKO 12 IBF, WBC 2-2-02 Carl Daniels Reading, Pa. TKO 10 undisputed 3-29-03 Mourade Hakkar Philadelphia TKO 8 undisputed 12-13-03 William Joppy Atlantic City, W 12 undisputed N.J. 6-5-04 Robert Allen Las Vegas W 12 undisputed 9-18-04 Oscar De La Hoya Las Vegas TKO 9 undisputed 2-19-05 Howard Eastman Los Angeles W 12 undisputed

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