You should be asking yourself how Bernard Hopkins is awkward. This man couldn't be more textbook if he tried.
Gamboa isn't what I call "awkward". He's offensively wild when he smells blood, but he has some of the best balance and head movement of active fighters. Vic Darchinyan. Edwin Valero. Rogers Mtagwa. Victor Cayo.
''Carlos Maussa'' isn't good at all but he did get the 140lbs WBA belt against Vivian Harris and he's right up there in awkwardness...
A fair point, but everything else about him is straight out of the rule book. Here's an interesting extract from one Don Familton: As I watched Hopkins jab and feint while gliding to one side of the ring and then back, I thought about gym stories from long-timers like Schwartz and Familton, two guys who have been following the Sweet Science since before my dad was born. Whenever they brought up watching some of the all-time greats train at long-gone boxing clubs like the old Main Street Gym at 318 S. Main St. they never talked about heated sparring sessions. They marveled at Alexis Arguellos surgical precision in working the speed bag, or the ferocity of Roberto Duran skipping rope, or the seamless fluidity of Ismael Laguna shadow boxing. I think it was Familton, now 77 years young, who told me about watching Laguna at the Main Street Gym. That was about as good as it gets, he said. I wish I could have been there (or someone could have filmed Laguna for prosperity), but I consider myself lucky to able to watch Hopkins work his craft, even at his advanced age. I know Im watching something special when Schwartz and Familton seem to be in awe. I got the feeling that Familton and Schwartz got the same thrill watching Hopkins this past Monday afternoon. Its all basic fundamentals with Bernard, he said. Chin tucked, hands up, elbows in, knees slightly bent, weight distributed properly, stepping on every punch, his head stays inline in-between the legs theres no leaning forward or back when he punches or moves about its just the basics.