Can we please stop with this Bernard Hopkins is an “Alien” bullshit?
Look, don’t get me wrong, Bhop is one of the greatest fighters of the past 20 years and deserves more credit for his accomplishments than he has received in some respect but this ass kissing of Bhop being an Alien? JUST STOP.
The idea doesn’t even make for a great argument, it just sounds silly.
If you want to give Bernard Hopkins the recognition he deserves go for it, he deserves credit and praise for being 49 and beating the likes of Pavlik, Tavoris Cloud, Winky Wright, Tarver and Jean Pascal all since being 40 or older.
However, for me, what I would like to see Hopkins do is stand behind his words.
After his Tavoris Cloud win, in the post conference, Hopkins stated that he wanted to be the face of boxing and that it is possible to be the best without any type of enhancements. While Hopkins never stated PED’s specifically, I assumed that’s what he was referring to. If Hopkins wants to be taken seriously then he needs to squash any and all doubts as to why at his age he is doing what no one else is doing. Especially in a sport where getting your skull cracked repeatedly along with maintaining some of the best conditioning for any sports he has not only done well, he has flourished.
Yes, you can argue that he has superior defense technique, he keeps his chin in his chest, and rarely allows anyone to get a clean shot off of him but right or wrong, good or bad, Hopkins needs to do more than just talk about being a well conditioned, genetic freak and self labeling “Alien” that has been able to sustain his level of ability in boxing.
Like it or not we are in a era where questions run abound how some athletes are defying the status quo. PED is an ugly word that should not be used lightly, but PEDs are a very relevant issue and in a sport such as boxing where there is no single governing body that oversees drug testing, rather it is left up to each state or sanctioning body and when asked as to why boxers have not voluntarily submitted to more stringent drug testing.
The same tired answer usually follows the path that said fighter respects the states rules on testing and if they do not have testing in whatever state the fight is in, then that is not the fighters fault, they totally would test in NJ or Nevada required certain testing. It just is not in the fighter’s interest to actually do more than what the state or sanctioning body requires.
That is fine, but then do not expect boxing media and boxing fans to not question as to why Hopkins or any other fighter out there is not submitting to random testing, voluntary or otherwise.
We are a “what have you done lately” nation and when Hopkins says he wants to be the face of boxing, for me he needs to do more than just talk.