By Ian S Palmer
Bernard Hopkins of Philadelphia will be defending his IBF Light Heavyweight Crown this Saturday October 26 when he takes on Karo Murat of Germany at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hopkins, who at the age of 48 is the oldest world boxing champion in history, will enter the ring with a record of 53-6-2 with 32 Kos while the 30-year-old Murat carries a 25-1-1 record with him along with 15 Kos. The bout will be broadcast on the Showtime Network in America and on Super Channel in Canada.
There’s not much to say about Hopkins that hasn’t been said before. He comes into his fights in great shape, but while he’s not always too busy in the ring he somehow manages to keep winning decisions against younger boxers. He usually does this by lulling his opponents to sleep and bringing them down to his level of low activity. Anybody who loses to him can only blame themselves for not throwing enough punches and forcing the old guy to fight all three minutes of every round.
One such fighter is Tavoris Cloud, who Hopkins handily defeated by unanimous decision back in March and took his title. Murat isn’t exactly a spring chicken at the age of 30, but he’s still 18 years younger than Hopkins. If he hasn’t learned any lessons by watching tapes of Hopkins’ recent bouts he’s likely to fall into the same trap. Hopkins can’t take Murat too lightly, but he’s already saying that he wants another super fight with a top-name boxer before he hangs up his gloves.
This will be the challenger’s first shot at a world title and he’s planning on making the best of it. He claims he’s going to give it his best shot and battle Hopkins, but most boxers claim the same thing and then simply freeze against the champion when the bell rings. Murat has already been defeated when stepping up in class as he was beaten by Briton Nathan Cleverly back in 2010. He’s a stand-up boxer, but appears to be a hand-picked opponent for Hopkins since he doesn’t let his hands go nearly enough.
Hopkins is a good counterpuncher with fine defensive skills, so this could turn out to be one boring encounter. Hopkins just seems to land at the right time to impress the judges and when you add in his ring generalship that’s usually enough to keep racking up the victories. Murat can’t afford to sit back and allow Hopkins to dictate the pace of the fight and press the action. He has to get off first and often.
The recipe to beat Hopkins is a simple one. Be aggressive and just keep on throwing as many punches as you can to make sure there’s no doubt in the judge’s minds who won the round. If Murat doesn’t do this, he’s likely to come out on the wrong end of a decision after 12 dull rounds.
