BoxRec

Has Bernard Hopkins ever been floored?

Twice by Segundo Mercado.

Mercado nearly stopped him in their fight in Ecuador, look below for my account of those rounds he was down. My own impression was that it was a combination of the altitude and him punching himself out that eroded his punch resistance, which has since then been almost iron.

He was also hit on the break by Antwun Echols in their first fight, right at the end of the first round, in an unofficial knockdown. His eyes were there and he got up okay, but was rocked quite a few times in that fight; Echols was really pouring it on at times, Hop showed a good chin.

My scorecard wrote:5 - Hopkins comes out looking groggy and is very tired looking. Sluggishly stalks Mercado around the ring, but he isn't getting his distance right and Mercado is able to pot-shot him frequently, though not very hard. A short semi right hook/uppercut by the ropes near Hopkins' corner puts him down! He gets up looking near exhausted and referee Sam McVey literally THROWS Mercado off of Hopkins, as he looks set to keep unloading against Hopkins who has his hands down and is defenceless against the ropes. Huge round for Mercado.

7 - Mercado constantly picks off Hopkins now by boxing on the back foot, moving side to side. Hopkins still looks tired. Mercado getting the better of the flurries against the ropes. A short right uppercut only slightly different from the one in round five puts Hopkins down again! He tries to clinch Mercado's waist after it but a series of nothing shots puts him over. He gets up and wobbles slightly. Mercado goes for the kill and is still catching him cleanly when the round ends. Another huge round for Mercado.

Sounds like he took a real shelling in that fight, don't often hear it mentioned.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Sounds like he took a real shelling in that fight, don't often hear it mentioned.

I had Mercado winning 114-112, completely at odds with the American commentators, though that's hardly surprising. Important to note that Mercado was knock down himself twice, but they weren't counted by the American (!) referee. If those two knockdowns had been counted the fight would have been 114 apiece, so even though I scored it a loss for Hopkins, the draw was the right result.

Thank you.

Manos de Oro wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Sounds like he took a real shelling in that fight, don't often hear it mentioned.

I had Mercado winning 114-112, completely at odds with the American commentators, though that's hardly surprising. Important to note that Mercado was knock down himself twice, but they weren't counted by the American (!) referee. If those two knockdowns had been counted the fight would have been 114 apiece, so even though I scored it a loss for Hopkins, the draw was the right result.

Did the American commentators have Hopkins winning convincingly?

Pacheco had him ahead by one. I'm not exactly sure, but Czyz - who was watching in the studio in America - seems to have had it to Hopkins by as much as three. But this is a man who thought Botha deserved Tyson trying to break his arm; I've heard Czyz on numerous occasions show blatant favoritism in his commentary with Tyson and Hopkins.

Hopkins himself says in the post fight interview he thought he only won by one point. A hilarious argument then ensues between King and Butch Lewis, where King whines about there being American judges and tells Hopkins to his face he 'got an early Christmas present' with the decision.

There were three debatable rounds in the fight: two, nine, and ten. In two virtually nothing happens - like round four of DLH - Quartey I gave the winner, Hopkins, the round simply for landing a single punch. Rounds nine and ten hang basically on whether you're American or not. Hopkins comes forward constantly, but lands very little punches against Mercado, who picks him off. I think Czyz must have been giving Hopkins plus points simply for coming forward, while Pacheco was looking for a way to legitimize Hopkins edging it for the American viewers.

Did Robert Allen floor him in their first meeting?

mills lane knocked out hopkins in the first allen fight :P

Yeah, shoved him out of the ring....