The last surge of greatness by a boxer

[montrealsuper]

I agree Hopkins last surge of boxing genius was vs Kovalev - let this thread be about identifying great boxers last surge of greatness The Last Surge Of Greatness
http://spam.com/2016/12/20/the- ... greatness/

By Scoop Malinowski

It was quite evident that Bernard Hopkins had nothing left on Saturday night. His greatness tank was empty at age 51. His legs were barely functional compared to his prime years and even his last fight against Sergei Kovalev nearly two years ago. In that fight against “The Krusher”, Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision to the Russian behemoth. But in that fight Hopkins was profoundly pressured for the full twelve rounds and was forced to use up his final reserves of extraordinary ring genius to survive the contest.

Throughout history when an aging great champion is pushed extremely hard in one of his final fights, he has nothing left after that fight. I call this aspect of the sweet science “the last surge of greatness.” A great champion uses up his “last surge of greatness” and then he’s never the same. The magic is gone. His career is finished.

Joe Smith fought a very good fight and impressively knocked out a hollow version of Bernard Hopkins who had no more surges of greatness left in his depleted arsenal.

Let me illustrate some other fights where the super champion used up his last surge of greatness and then was a mere mortal shell thereafter.

Mike Tyson showed flashes of his younger self in the wildly exciting opening round of the fight with Lennox Lewis but was dominated for the rest of the fight. I believe Tyson exhausted his last drops of greatness in that first round and he had nothing left after. Tyson actually did have three more fights after Lewis, knocking out the over-matched Cliff Etienne in one round but then he lost to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride in two forgettable performances.

Lennox Lewis was still considered dominant at age 37 after he beat Mike Tyson. Then he found himself in an all-out war against Vitali Klitschko, somehow summoning his final surge of greatness to survive that Los Angeles brawl to stop Klitschko on cuts after six rounds. The rematch was hotly anticipated but Lewis probably realized he had nothing left after that fight and wisely decided to pass on the lucrative rematch offers. Lewis eventually retired a year later after seeing Klitschko destroy both Corrie Sanders and Kirk Johnson. I believe Lewis was not sure in his own mind that he could beat Vitali a second time and decided to not challenge his luck.

Vitali Klitschko suffered the same fate as most all the other great champions. His final surge of boxing greatness was used up in his very tough decision win against Dereck Chisora. If you watch the final round closely against Chisora you can see how exhausted Vitali is and how he barely hung on to finish the fight. As soon as it was over, brother Wladimir immediately jumped up into the ring and held his older brother in a long embrace int he center of the ring. It appeared to be a brotherly love gesture to disguise how physically exhausted and finished Vitali was after barely surviving that last round. Of course, Vitali had just one more fight after that, an easy win against a vastly over-matched Manuel Charr.

Roy Jones was famously knocked out in the second round by Antonio Tarver but he bounced back for the Tarver rubber match and fought a heroic battle to last the distance. I remember late in that third fight with Tarver, Jones was knocked out on his feet and then immediately was clobbered with another Tarver shot which appeared to “awaken” Jones’s senses and he was able to avoid the knockout loss and actually finish the fight. I believe the very prideful Jones used up his last surge of greatness in the third Tarver fight, which redeemed him from the humiliating one punch KO loss he suffered to Tarver earlier. Against Glen Johnson not long after that points loss to Tarver, Jones was decisively beaten in my opinion because his greatness tank was empty.

Muhammad Ali’s last surge of greatness, in my opinion, flashed before our eyes in Manila against Joe Frazier. Or one could argue Ali’s last surge of greatness came in his rematch revenge win against Leon Spinks.

Kostya Tszyu was another super champion of the modern era. I think it’s rather obvious when his last surge of greatness awed our senses… the Ricky Hatton KO loss which was his final professional fight.

James Toney was another all-time wonder of the boxing world with so many unforgettable magical performances but I always believed his last incredible triumph came in the brilliant cruiserweight unification masterpiece against Vassily Jirov. Though it can be argued the TKO win against Evander Holyfield in his next fight in the heavyweight division was also, if not even more, shockingly impressive. How James Toney continued to fight competitively in the heavyweight division for several years after beating Holyfield, against the likes of Hasim Rahman, John Ruiz and Samuel Peter is also a testament to the all-time greatness of James Toney.

Felix Trinidad was still great against Bernard Hopkins in 2001, losing by late stoppage but he was never the same great fighter after that. Trinidad did beat Hacine Cherifi after Hopkins however he looked ordinary after that in his losses to Winky Wright and Roy Jones.

[gilgamesh]

I didn't think Hopkins was competitive at all against Kovalev really. He lost every round, but yeah he did look slower in his last fight.

[punchoutsb]

Scoop Malinowski is a terrible terrible writer. Another terrible piece by him.

Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision

Judges: Larry Layton 120-106, Carlos Ortiz Jr 120-107, Clark Sammartino 120-107

[Boxing Prospect]

Hopkins Vs Shumenov surely?
Hasegawa Vs Ruiz?
Tatsuyoshi Vs Sirimongkol?
Carbajal Vs Arce?

[tigermoth87]

In what way was Hopkins competitive against Kov? It was more one sided than the Anglo-Zanzibar war which lasted 38 minutes.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Scoop Malinowski is a terrible terrible writer. Another terrible piece by him.

Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision

Judges: Larry Layton 120-106, Carlos Ortiz Jr 120-107, Clark Sammartino 120-107

That's not being fair to terrible writers. He's the worst ever.

[Bricks]

I agree Hopkins last surge of boxing genius was vs Kovalev - let this thread be about identifying great boxers last surge of greatness The Last Surge Of Greatness
http://spam.com/2016/12/20/the- ... greatness/

By Scoop Malinowski

It was quite evident that Bernard Hopkins had nothing left on Saturday night. His greatness tank was empty at age 51. His legs were barely functional compared to his prime years and even his last fight against Sergei Kovalev nearly two years ago. In that fight against “The Krusher”, Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision to the Russian behemoth. But in that fight Hopkins was profoundly pressured for the full twelve rounds and was forced to use up his final reserves of extraordinary ring genius to survive the contest.

Throughout history when an aging great champion is pushed extremely hard in one of his final fights, he has nothing left after that fight. I call this aspect of the sweet science “the last surge of greatness.” A great champion uses up his “last surge of greatness” and then he’s never the same.

Hopkins suddenly aged dramatically v kovalev it wasnt remotely close he lost every round.two years of inactivity on and he was totally shot v Smith.that said it was dead even on points but the reflexes had gone and he got ktfo brutally

Malinowski is a pathetic writer always was.The last of the pre forum era boxing writer freelancers,barely literate,incapable of writing anything interesting and just a troll.his cowardly baiting of Mike Tyson after the Lennox Lewis brawl stands out for me

[Enlightened-One]

Scoop Malinowski is a terrible terrible writer. Another terrible piece by him.

Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision

Judges: Larry Layton 120-106, Carlos Ortiz Jr 120-107, Clark Sammartino 120-107

I guess the author was expecting a quick KO loss for the near fifty year old elderly veteran... instead of being the first opponent to not only take the Russian past eight rounds, but also last the entire 12 round championship distance.

[Kalan]

Scoop Malinowski is a freaking IDIOT... Hopkins didn't lose a close, competitive fight with Kovalev... He was whitewashed 120-107 X 3... So it wasn't much easier than the Kelly Pavlik fight which is what Bernard kept telling everybody -- and a lot of fools believed him including Rafael and Lampley.

[Syntax Error]

Sugar Ray Leonard v Terry Norris.

SRL got owned by Norris, but he had a good round 4 & that was it.

It was probably the last round he won in his career.

[squiggy]

I think he's wrong about RJJ. He was never great after the first time he got knocked out. In the rubber match with Tarver, he fought like he was out of ideas and just wanted to avoid getting stopped for a third time in a row. What he should get final recognition for is the way he stood up to Calzaghe. Not that he was great again, but he stayed in and forced Joe to keep working.

[punchoutsb]

Scoop Malinowski is a terrible terrible writer. Another terrible piece by him.

Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision

Judges: Larry Layton 120-106, Carlos Ortiz Jr 120-107, Clark Sammartino 120-107

That's not being fair to terrible writers. He's the worst ever.

[punchoutsb]

Scoop Malinowski is a terrible terrible writer. Another terrible piece by him.

Hopkins was astonishingly very competitive in losing a fairly close unanimous decision

Judges: Larry Layton 120-106, Carlos Ortiz Jr 120-107, Clark Sammartino 120-107

I guess the author was expecting a quick KO loss for the near fifty year old elderly veteran... instead of being the first opponent to not only take the Russian past eight rounds, but also last the entire 12 round championship distance.

I don't think it's easy to infer that from the words "very competitive" and "fairly close", both of which are terribly inaccurate.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

That's not being fair to terrible writers. He's the worst ever.

-Ahhh, Fat Oafery dumping on the ol' PooperScooper is it now? As expected, the irony is swallowed up by the Lard of your Creation.

Yeah, ol' Scoopsy got it wrong in that Roy was KOed by Johnson BEFORE the Tarver rubber match where he easily outboxed the cloddish Tarver using sublime boxing skills, but lost for no longer turning in magnificent Roy Jones' masterclasses of owning all time and space in the ring as boxing ninnies expected of him. Scoopsy also misspelled Last Purge of Gruel, nonetheless, Roy showed the fluke nature of the Tarver one punch KO over the other 4 rds.

Now I must confess to being ashamed for having wanted to get ol' Poopkins into the ring for myself after putting together these infamous lowlights.

I've never beat up a sissy in my life and don't mean to start now. I incorrectly assumed me in his old neighborhood or he in my old neighborhood would've naturally fought each other, but I was wrong. I only beat up bullies who pressed the issue and wrongly assumed ol' Poops was a bully, but I see now his 3rd grade executioner pillowcase mask was meant to disguise the special sissy in him that would've sent him squallin' for his momma who's no longer with him to protect him, so please do weep gently for him.

Such lowlights are what current boxing experts tell me is bound for the new age HOF now accepting sissy applications. OK, and now I can better see why he and TUE 49-0 are so popular with sissies here over bullies like Tyson.


Let's start with Robert Allen I where tiny little old banty Mills Lane is breaking up 350 lbs of fouling beefsteak refusing his break order, finally shoving Allen and Poops apart with each hand. Poops amazingly launches through the midropes space, landing on his back on the ring apron to spin face first from butt height onto the arena floor before rolling on his back bawling about...bada-boom-boom> a busted ankle, a perfect score of 10 for his one meter dive. Oh, and the tears are heart wrenching, so have plenty of fresh hankies to bust up with him, but no problem in the end. Officials are sobbing with him to declare the fight an NC. It weren't fair of mean ol' banty Mills to pick on ol' Poops like that. Go to the 21 min mark if you want to skip all his fouling for the final round, discussion, and replays of this, his 9th title defense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq8WTAyXIO0

Now here's HOFer "foul but fetid" Cortez doing what he does best, pulling off Joe anytime he got the upperhand, and oh the glee to have a backup for thee!



Oh dear, Calslappy slapped Poop's protector he had pulled up around his ears, and oh my, such pain is indescribable, but good for 5 minutes of much needed rest after running out of gas. Good ol' foul but fetid to the rescue.



Wahhhh, his little wee-wee\/





Then we have this classic after he bought another 4-5 minutes for claiming a foul in a foulfest he kicked off with the first dozen fouls in the Roy Jones rematch, his little boo-boo he cried about for the rest of the unscorable fight that professional judges in their infinite wisdoms of the bottomline somehow thought he dominated.



Here's the "weiner" of that mess in celebration afterwords. All the US treasury bonds in China can't buy this kind of comedy, US boxing's Last Purges of Gruel.



Here he jumped in against Chad Dawson with a flying knee that Chad avoided before shucking Poops off him with a shrug of his shoulders. He flew backwards like flying over the cockoo's nest to land on the ring apron crying about his shoulder, insert boo-hoo-hoos here.

Inquiring mind want to know how the brave Poops managed to stay in the ring? Masterful skills of course, DUH!



Ah, and then "special" Popkins wanted common man Joe Smith for his pity farethewell party set up by Oscar and HBO, his lowlight reel for the ages as it turned where he certainly did not disappoint, insert poopsy-oopsy:

[montrealsuper]

Every round of Hopkins vs Kovalev was close except for the first and last - Hopkins did a great job in that fight considering his age and the prowess of Krusher -