No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalev

Photo Credit: Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews what should be regarded as one of the most important and incredible sports stories in the world: the November 8 light heavyweight title unification fight between the 49-year-old Bernard Hopkins and the unbeaten 31-year-old knockout artist Sergey Kovalev.

In this fight, Hopkins, with a record of 55-6-2 and 32 KOs, and holder of IBF and WBA belts, takes on Kovalev, 25-0-1 with 23 KOs, who holds the WBO belt. It takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be shown live in the U.S. on HBO and in the U.K. and Ireland on BoxNation.

The story behind this fight is almost unmatched in sports, and the implications of its outcome should reverberate far beyond the marginalized world of boxing. How can Hopkins, just two months shy of his 50th birthday, still compete at such a high level, and in such a brutal sport? And after a career of being counted out as finished numerous times, only to defeat younger and unbeaten favorites one after another, is this the night that Father Time finally arrives for Hopkins, as he faces the dangerous and relentless slugger Kovalev?

Besides our commentary on why this fight is not getting the coverage it deserves from the sports and general media, the careers of both fighters, and what is the likeliest outcome of it, we also have comments from both fighters, Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev, from their recent media conference call.

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No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Bernard Hopkins and the 2013 Fighter of the Year Award

(Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell, who is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

With his commanding and impressive unanimous decision victory October 26 over the 30-year-old challenger Karo Murat (25-2-1, 15 KOs), the 48-year-old IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KOs) is still doing things in the ring perviously thought to be impossible or at least highly improbable. He has thus, in his 25th year as a professional fighter, legitimately put his name into consideration as a candidate for 2013 Fighter of the Year.

We spoke about this phenomenon with Charles Farrell by phone Tuesday.

"Absolutely he should be considered," he said. "Whether he wins it or not, I don't know. But he's had two good wins. And I think if you frame it historically, which I think it's a fair thing to do, I think that's a legitimate element of what you look for, he's very, very much in the mix."

His preference for Fighter of the Year is the unbeaten 122-pound champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who essentially put on a boxing clinic against last year's consensus Fighter of the Year, Nonito Donaire, with a unanimous decision victory in April. That was, he said, the best performance by a fighter he had seen "certainly in recent memory."

But, he added about Hopkins, "If he were to win it, I think it's a deserving win. He's not the guy I would choose, but I have no quarrel with him winning it."

We also discussed how Hopkins quickly analyzes his opponents in their fights and responds accordingly, why he believes it is unlikely that Hopkins will fight Floyd Mayweather next, the dwindling talent pool in boxing, and much, much more.

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No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

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No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins on Black Fighters, and Why It's Good to Duck

(Alien Photo Credit: Brendan Montenegro/Roundbyround.com)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the October 26 fight between the IBF light heavyweight champion and boxing legend, Bernard Hopkins, and challenger Karo Murat.

The 48-year-old Hopkins (53-6-2, 32 KOs), from Philadelphia, will be facing the 30-year-old Murat (25-1-1, 15 KOs), born in Iraq and fighting out of Germany, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This fight will headline a card which will be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime.

Both Hopkins and Murat were on a media conference call Thursday, and we have excerpts from that.

Despite his age advantage, Murat is a huge underdog. He has never fought for a major world title or in the U.S., and has never faced any opponent on the level of Hopkins. Still, he said on this conference call that Hopkins has been reduced to throwing one punch at a time and then clinching, and that he is confident he can win.

Hopkins - who has shed his long-standing nickname of "The Executioner" and is now calling himself "The Alien" because he is doing things a human of his age should not be able to do - not only dismissed such claims, but emphasized how he combines offense and defense. Such boxing skills, he said, are no longer seen as important or even marketable, especially by many TV executives. Boxing has changed today to where it "has sort of gotten to a barbaric" place. All-time greats like Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard, and in particular many Black fighters, he said, "would be boring today" and accused of not being able to sell tickets and pay-per-view buys. The TV executives believe, "if they duck, don't buy it." He attributed his longevity in boxing to his combination of offense and defense, proving "why it's good to duck."

He added, "I got two rules: I hit you, and I got to make you not hit me. What's wrong with that?"

But, he said, "The customers will drink anything you give them, if it's promoted right."

We play from this conference call our questions for Karo Murat, and the commentary by Bernard Hopkins on "why it's good to duck."

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud, Don King, and Reflections on Real Steel

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the fight between the unbeaten IBF champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs) and the 48-year-old legend Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (52-6, 32 KOs), and discusses its significance in the context of the lessons of the 2011 science fiction film "Real Steel".

The Cloud-Hopkins fight takes place Saturday, March 9, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and will be televised live in the U.S. on HBO.

In "Real Steel", set in the year 2020, robot boxing has replaced human boxing and, apparently, MMA. This film was just repeated on Showtime in the U.S. on Saturday, March 2 -- right before the live Showtime boxing card headlined by the wild Abril-Bogere fight.

The film "Real Steel" is loosely based on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, which was made into a 1963 episode of "The Twilight Zone" TV series starring Lee Marvin. In both the short story and the TV show, boxing had been banned; the movie is more ambiguous about the future legal status of the human fighting sports. In the U.S., the debut show of the Robot Combat League on the Syfy network last Tuesday, February 26, featuring 12 eight-foot robot boxers in a tournament format, drew over 1.35 million viewers, with a total of nine weekly episodes already filmed.

Even before all this buzz about robot fighting, boxing has long been a largely tragic sport. It is a slowly dying sport that is killing its own people, but which we still sometimes love. Therein lies the degree of sadness with which we approach it, especially when a 48-year-old fighter is involved.

We spoke with Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud, Cloud's new trainer Abel Sanchez, and Cloud's promoter, the one and only Don King, about this fight on a media conference call this past Wednesday.

"It's going to be a barnburner on March the 9th," promised Don King on this conference call. "Get ready. We coming. We coming to Brooklyn. And no one could be prouder. And if you cannot hear us, we'll say it a little louder."

We shall see whose barn burns down Saturday night.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins, Brother Naazim Richardson, Kristal Hart

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with light heavyweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins and his trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson, about the rematch between Hopkins and Chad Dawson scheduled for April 28 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We also speak with New York TV host Kristal Hart of Manhattan Neighborhood Network about this fight. All these discussions were recorded Wednesday at the kickoff New York news conference for this fight.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

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No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Kendall Holt, Danny Garcia, Paulie Malignaggi

On this audio edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the October 15 boxing card headlined by the light heavyweight title fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson.

The 46-year-old Hopkins, the oldest boxer ever to win a major title, will be defending his WBC belt against the 29-year-old Dawson, a former WBC and IBF champion, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This card will be telecast in the U.S. HBO Pay-Per-View.

We spoke with both Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson on media conference calls where both fighters stated their cases as to why they will prevail in this fight. The legendary Hopkins explained what he represents to people and how he wants to be known, besides being a champion boxer. Dawson argued that he has the tools and desire to beat his older opponent, and is highly motivated for this fight.

We also explain why you should never, ever, bet against Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins.

In addition, we also spoke with Kendall Holt and Danny Garcia, who fight in a junior welterweight bout, and Paulie Malignaggi, who faces Orlando Lora in a welterweight fight, on this show.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Pavlik-Hopkins: Hopkins wins, Hopkins wins

This weekend Bernard Hopkins will earn another significant pay-day participating in a fight he probably can't win, but also is not likely to get hurt. On top of that, a loss to 26 year-old Kelly Pavlik won't tarnish the legacy of the 43 year-old Hopkins. And lastly, a win by Hopkins really shouldn't be considered an upset.

The last time we saw Hopkins, he was out-hustled by Joe Calzaghe en-route to losing a decision and his light heavyweight title. However, Calzaghe is a veteran of 20 plus title fights, was a south-paw, and is more versatile than the bigger punching Pavlik. This will be Pavlik's fourth title bout, and it's a fact that he's never been in the ring with another fighter like Hopkins. That said, Pavlik's strength and youth should be enough to get by Hopkins, who can fight no more than four or five rounds out of a 12-round bout.

Pavlik's punching power will no doubt keep Hopkins focused, and fighting more to make Pavlik look bad, instead of beating him up. Most likely Hopkins attack plan is to bring Pavlik to him, while making himself to appear to be right there, but hard to reach. Hoping to force Pavlik into over committing and leaving him vulnerable to Hopkins counters. Pavlik is pretty vanilla style-wise, which is a big tactical advantage for Hopkins.

I expect Pavlik to win the fight, but I do believe because of styles, Hopkins will get more clean shots at Pavlik than he did Calzaghe. I just don't think it will be enough. Bernard Hopkins is just too smart and good to get his ass kicked by Kelly Pavlik. He's just not good enough in 2008 to beat him. Having said that, I wouldn't bet on this fight unless it was with someone else's money.

Regardless of the out-come, Hopkins wins. If he loses, he'll leave the ring with another big pay-day along with his legacy. If he wins, he'll leave the ring with a bigger legacy, and set up for another huge pay-day against a fighter who will be favored to beat him, but one he's capable of beating.

Hopkins Wins, Hopkins Wins!

Pavlik-Hopkins

Pavlik-Hopkins. October 18. Atlantic City. HBO Pay-Per-View.

Are you excited yet?

Is Civilization Ruining Boxing?

Back in them good ol’ days, before politicians, newspaper writers, and preachers started sticking their dirty noses into the manly art of fighting, two guys would go out to the woods, fight without gloves or any of that other sissy stuff, and duke it out until one, or perhaps both, could no longer continue.

That bare knuckle era, where rounds ended with a knockdown but fights ended only with a finish, was replaced by the twentieth century with the more civilized approach we have today. Politicians now directly regulate the sport of professional boxing, there are all sorts of rules and regulations, and a scoring system is in place since you can no longer have those old-fashioned finish fights.

The politicians, in their boundless empathy for humanity, have also given us what they call rules of war. You can no longer use such nasty tactics as torture or poison gasses, and instead have to be content with the more humane love taps of carpet bombing and nuclear weapons. Gas chambers, car bombings, genocide, and the like today draw the ire of these politicians, so long, of course, as they are only used by their enemies.

Now that boxing is so civilized and gentlemanly, we are running into one scoring controversy after another in major fights virtually every week. Last week, as we discussed in a previous thread, it was the apparent robbery of Glen Johnson in his April 12 fight with Chad Dawson. Now we have a new controversy arising from Joe Calzaghe’s split decision victory over Bernard Hopkins April 19.

While Calzaghe’s win was hardly a robbery and many people who watched that fight believe that Calzaghe may have eked out a decision and won the boxing match under the civilized scoring of the unified rules of boxing, it was Hopkins who won the fight. Calzaghe may have set a CompuBox record by landing the most punches ever against Hopkins in any of the 43-year-old’s previous fights, but few did much damage and many were just slapping blows with little impact.

So what do we want, fighting or boxing? Is this current scoring system on the way to reducing boxing to becoming a symbolic contest, like fencing, or, worse, Olympic boxing? How do we balance these contradictory imperatives of having a fight while making sure it is supposedly reasonably safe? And how do we alter this scoring system with which no one is satisfied and yields on an almost weekly basis bad decisions in major fights?

Cleaning out the obvious political influence in the care and feeding of judges is one thing. But when so many unbiased and educated observers regularly disagree about who really won these fights, then the subjectivity of the scoring system must be examined, and the parameters of how to score must be changed.

Or, we could just let the boys slug it out till only one of them is left standing. Maybe we can let the politicians fine tune the return to finish fights by trying it out themselves before inflicting this upon the boxers. Then again, maybe they have never become half as civilized as boxing is today.

Will You Tell This Man He Will Lose to Joe Calzaghe April 19?

Bernard Hopkins at New York news conference, Feb. 19, 2008. Photo by Eddie Goldman.