BHop is looking like he’ll fight for the final time this year in 2015, in what has been an unbelievable career. We wanted to pay homage this week to his sweet science genius and in particular, one beautiful example of the slip-counter punch motion in boxing.
________________________________________________________________________________
On March 9th 2013, Bernard Hopkins showed once again why he is and will forever be one of the best fighters to lace them up. The event in reference is the Tavoris Cloud fight.
The 31 year old, undefeated Cloud may have underestimated Hopkins, repeatedly calling him an old man in the lead up to the fight. But as Hopkins’ history has shown before, his boxing acuity is “rare”.
For true reference and appreciation of the win, Cloud was at one point the IBF Light Heavyweight Champion and being considered as a potential opponent for Andre Ward.
This is imaginably hard to believe considering how far he has fallen in the sport. Prophetically enough, in the post fight interview Hopkins said: “I have a history of destroying young champions and then we don’t see them again.” (referring to Felix Trinidad & Kelly Pavlik).
This may or may not be the case for Cloud, as he has lost his last 3 fights, 2 by KO since. Time will tell.
Cloud lets a jab linger too long and it is sub-sequentially slipped and countered by a Hopkins left hook – which produces a nasty cut on the right eyelid.
The counter is so sharp and fast, Cloud believes that an elbow has hit him. The replay shows that the cut Cloud received is indeed the result of an (extremely) accurate punch.
Instances of technical perfection like these are the reasons why Bernard Hopkins has excelled at the highest level, in one of the most brutal sports in the world – for as long as he has.
(Note: Image credit: ThisIs50.com)
The post The Perfect Slip and Counter Punch – Bernard Hopkins appeared first on %%Boxing News and Views/%%.
