The first fight between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, which ended in a majority draw, left a bad taste in the mouths of both fighters.
Pascal, the WBC light heavyweight titleholder, thought he could’ve performed better than he did because he underestimated his quadragenarian opponent in December 2010. And Hopkins, trying to become the oldest to win a world title, thought he did enough to have his hand raised even though he went down twice. Many agreed.
The second fight – on this date, May 21 – the following year at the Bell Centre in Pascal’s hometown of Montreal would settle things and give Hopkins, 46, a chance to make history.
The Executioner wasn’t the athlete he once was but, as a result of disciplined manner in which he lived, he was remarkably well preserved and never more clever or determined in the ring. Pascal, 28, was a good, strong all-around fighter with youth on his side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kat7J_qurd8
The first few rounds were uneventful before the fighters settled into a rough, give-and-take fight in which both fighters had their moments. In end, though, Hopkins landed the more telling blows and proved difficult for Pascal to hit cleanly.
Thus, the old man won on all three cards, 115-113, 116-112 and 115-114. With the victory, Hopkins surpassed George Foreman as the oldest fighter to win a major title in boxing history. Foreman was 45 when he stopped Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight title in 1994.
“You don’t get a chance to do this too often,” Hopkins said afterward. “You’re supposed to win titles when you are younger, in your 20s, not when you are 46. This is in the top two moments of my career, right there alongside beating [Felix] Trinidad.”
Pascal didn’t complain.
“Bernard fought a great fight,” he said. “He is a great champion. He has a really good defense and a lot of tricks. I’m a young fighter and I’m green. I was a young champion. These two fights [against Hopkins] will lead me to the next level. I learned a lot from Bernard and his style.”
Of course, neither fighter was near the end of his career.
Hopkins would lose his title to Chad Dawson by a majority decision in April 2012 but, remarkably, would win another major 175-pound belt by fairly easily outpointing Tavoris Cloud the following March – at 48.
Pascal is still active at 37 and as good as he ever was. He’s coming off consecutive upsets over Marcus Browne and Badou Jack. He evidently learned something from Hopkins: Age is only a number.