Bernard Hopkins likes records. He holds a slew of them too. There is losing his professional debut and later winning a title (a record he shares with Alexis Arguello, Henry Armstrong, Juan Manual Marquez, Rafael Marquez and Wilfredo Vazquez, Sr.). Hopkins had the longest reign for a World Middleweight Champion: 10 years, 3 months. He had 20 consecutive title defenses. He was the 1st fighter in boxing history to simultaneously hold all four major sanctioning titles (IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO). He is the oldest fighter in boxing history to fight for, win, lose, regain and defend a world title. Should Bernard Hopkins defeat Sergey Kovalev in their Nov. 8 WBA/IBF/WBO Light Heavyweight Unification bout, he will also join Evander Holyfield as the only fighters in boxing history to be Undisputed Champions in two separate weight classes. (Holyfield was the Undisputed WBA/WBC/IBF Cruiserweight & Heavyweight Champion.) Should Hopkins beat both Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson, hed set the record for being boxings only two-weight Universal Champion: a WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO champ. The one record Bernard Hopkins is actually a lock to tie or break is All-Time Most Title Fights. The present record-holder is Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. with 37. The former WBC Junior Lightweight; WBA and WBC Lightweight: and WBC and IBF Junior Welterweight Champion was 31-4-2 in title fights. Bernard Hopkins presently has 35. His tally of 26-5-2-2 comes with a few asterisks. [Three of his fights were for the Ring title; and two have ended in No Contests. (Hopkins beat Tarver for the Ring title. Tarver had defeated Roy Jones, Jr. prior for the WBA & WBC belts. He was then stripped of one title, and vacated the other. Since there is an established lineal title line through Jones-Tarver-Johnson-Tarver-Hopkins, there is merit in counting the 3 fights. Similar Ring bouts were recognized for Hamed, Barrera and Pacquiao). Fight Fax and the ABC recognize No Contests or No Decisions as successful title defenses.] So, having said that. Hopkins again finds himself on the cusp of history. Is he as great as Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr? Chavez won titles in 3 weight classes; and drew in a 4th weight class title fight. He started his career with 87 consecutive wins. He also ranks 2nd for most wins to start a career without a loss at 89-0-1. (Jimmy Wilde went 93-0-2-8. Pedro Carrasco likewise had a 93-fight win streak in between losses. Sugar Ray Robinson similarly had 91.) Another record Chavez holds is being undefeated for 13 years as a professional fighter. He finished with 107 wins. He holds the record for most title fights in the modern era at 37. He has the most title fight wins with 31. He has the most combined title defenses in the modern era with 27. His 21 title defense knockouts trail on Joe Louis 23. Chavez. Hopkins. Four hands to raise the title. Three more bouts to set another record. Two kinds of fighters. One kind of greatness. #boxing
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 07:20:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015