Grand Imperial Poobah: It's Time For Bernard Hopkins To Retire
By Stan "The Grand Imperial Poobah" Hochman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- (Editor's Note) Stan Hochman, a Daily News sports columnist for 55 years, has been appearing on 94WIP's morning show for over a year now, settling disputes (and starting new ones) as the "Grand Imperial Poobah." He brings that persona to CBSPhilly.com/poobah on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we welcome input on which issues you want the Poobah to take a good, hard look at. Send requests and ideas for The Poobah to WIPpoobah@gmail.com.
Without further ado, here's The Poobah.
Phil E. Phan: After Saturday night's pitiful performance against Sergey Kovalev, have we seen the last of Bernard Hopkins as a fighter?
Poobah: The Poobah devoutly hopes that Hopkins retires after losing EVERY round in that 12-round snoozer against Kovalev. Hopkins got knocked down in the first round and tried to duck and dodge his way through the next 11 rounds, too busy ducking and dodging to throw more than a dozen punches per round.
What he was doing, fighting for a championship at 49 was remarkable. Why should he tarnish that legacy by continuing to fight at 50, absorbing punches until he finally gets knocked out. The idea of losing enough weight to fight as a super middleweight is ludicrous, but if enough people scream, Hopkins might try to do that, just to try and prove them wrong. He is stubborn, but he is also wealthy and smart and if he wants to stay wealthy and smart he should nail his gloves to the wall. He can become a fight analyst. If Roy Jones can do it, B-Hop can do it.
Speaking of Jones, that was the only entertaining thing about Saturday's fight. In an effort to hold the viewers, the announcers kept babbling about Kovalev never going past 8 rounds. That's because he knocks everybody out early, someone finally said. Maybe Hopkins will dominate from the 9th round on, someone said. Yo, he has lost the first 8 rounds, so what if he wins the last 4, someone countered. And, someone else reminded the cynical viewers, he doesn't knock anybody out anymore, let alone knock anyone down. People who care about Hopkins can urge him to retire. If he leaves it up to his opponents to tell him it's time to quit, he may regret it for the rest of his life.
You can hear Stan "The Grand Imperial Poobah" Hochman on the 94WIP Morning Show every Thursday at 7:20am E.T. Send the Philadelphia sports issues you want The Poobah to tackle to WIPpoobah@gmail.com
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