Why Bernard Hopkins will slay the Italian Dragon= .

By Mike Casse= ll

The Philadelphia Boxi= ng Report 3/31//08

= PHILADELPHIA – We all k= now Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins 48 -4 -1 (32 KO’s) the fighter, but to know the man, you only need to t= ake a stroll through any of the economically depressed sections of North Philadelphia. It is where he was born, where = he learned to fight and where he was eventually arrested for strong arm robbery when he was in just 11^th grade and sentenced for up to 18 years.= At age 17, he was officially a statistic. While most athletes find out who they are in college or in amateur competition, Hopkins was discovering the colder, harder side of life. He was a kid in prison with killers, and he wasn’t fighting for a belt, he was fighting for his life.

Most people spend a lifetime trying to f= ind out who they are. For Hopkins<= /st1:City>, it turned out to be 56 months. He was released in 1988. He was 23 years old= . He had his degree, now he needed a job. For Joe “The Italian Dragon” Calzaghe 44 – 0 (32 KO’s), life was a bit more forgiving. Born in London, then growing up= in New bridge Wales, he began his boxing career at just 9 years old. He was somewhat of a golden boy, racking up 121 wins as an amateur, all the time having a loving father nearby to encourage, and then eventually train him. He had all the gifts th= at most of us take for granted. Calzaghe won three ABA titles in a row from 1991 to 1993.<= o:p>

As he was walking the golden mile, Berna= rd Hopkins fought and lost his first professional fight in 1988 after leaving prison. Living below the poverty level, and working at a local Philadelphia hotel= , he began to feel the desperation again, but he wasn’t going back to prison. In 1990 he went back into the ring and racked up over 20 wins by 1993. He refu= sed to become the invisible statistic again. For both of these fighters, their lives contrast as much as their boxing styles. Hopkins went many years without the Ame= rican adulation that just seemed to fall into the lap of Joe Calzaghe. There is no doubt that Calzaghe deserved it, but it doesn’t mean that Hopkins can’t use it to fuel his inner fires. It is what makes him who he is. And e= ven though he has achieved wealth and status, he can still become that kid that= is lying awake in a cell, yearning for someone to see him for what he really i= s, a fighter who will never quit. On April 19^th, Hopkins will have an opportunity to do something spectacular once again. He enjoys getting into the ring with fighters like Calzaghe. For Hopkins, it is nothing new to demolish the dreams of the prototypical hero. He has d= one it time and time again, to the biggest names in the game.

The only things these guys have in common are their amount of knockouts. For Hopkins, he has the upper hand in the competition he= has faced. Calzaghe may have faced the best that Europe has to offer, but he has not fought anyone with real proven talent from the Un= ited States. It will be a Herculean task to come to Las Vegas and beat the cagey Bernard Hopkins. Even at 43 years old,= Hopkins is a dangerous fighter. He will make it a ba= ck alley mugging, (no pun intended) and it will absolutely be something Calzaghe has never experienced before.

If Calzaghe is going to the well with his experiences with Jeff Lacy and Peter Manfredo Jr., he is in for a very painful lesson, Philly style. The most important and probably most poignant reason Hopkins will win has nothing to do with his background or common opponents. Is quite simply has to do with their styles. Hopkins loves to batter southpaws. The busier the better. Whether it was Keith Holmes or Antonio Tarver or one of the best and, most underrated fighters of the past 20 years, Ronald “Winky” Wright, Hopkins completely destroys them. He is a classic counter punching stalker, waiting= for the opportunity to finish you.

Calzaghe’s defense is his offense, which may work at super middleweight against lesser competition. But at Light heavyweight in Las Vegas against the self pronounced “living legend”, it just isn’t going to cut it.= Hopkins has proven to all the boxing fans of the Americas that he is one of the greatest to step in t= he ring. On the morning of April 20^th 2008, the rest of the world w= ill know it. This win will not define his Legacy. Choosing inspiration over desperation defined it long ago. Don’t be fooled by the mouth of Bernard Hopkins. He certainly loves to talk and purposely says the wrong thing at t= he wrong time; But Hopkins does his talking in the ring. Bernard said it best a long time ago. “It’s only talk if you can’t deliver.” And he usually does, = in 36 minutes or less.

Mike Cassell is a member of the Boxing Writers associat= ion of America and resides in