...considering he's a true once in a generation type of fighter. He is an absolute natural in the ring, and his skills and intelligence rank among the greatest I've ever seen, and I can only presume the greatest of all time. Hopkins is a warrior in every sense of the word. It is not difficult to imagine Hopkins commanding a squadron of men in battle, let alone dominate a single man in a tactical battle. Yet, Pascal's physical tallent and sublime boxing skills, tested the resolve of Hopkins who realized quickly that he was in a fierce battle with a young warrior. And while Pascal was able to put Hopkins down in the first and third rounds, Hopkins with the resolve of a Spartan Warrior General, adjusted his strategy and went on to dominate the very capable and competant kid in one of the best performances of this generation.
Yeah, who exactly should have given him respect? :huh The entire Showtime commentary team gave him the utmost respect. Even Tarver (who has motive for bitterness) said that while he scored the fight two points in Pascal's favor he had no problem with the official result of a draw, or with someone seeing it narrowly for Hopkins. Jim Gray gave him too much respect, virtually brown-nosing him and then utterly disrespecting Pascal. The referee? Did his job professionally and objectively. The judges? Even the ones who had it a draw mathematically had to have given Hopkins the majority of the rounds to even come up with a draw (given the two point swing from the knockdowns). They disrespected Hopkins by scoring the majority of rounds for him? ESB posters? It's been a near whitewash of ROBBERY spray-painted across the forum for the last 24 hours. So...who didn't give respect?
I found my RING magazine where they reviewed the fight between 42 year old Larry Holmes vs 30 year old undefeated Ray Mercer with Holmes winning a unanimous decision. Mercer was quoted saying: "Larry is a legend, and when you fight a legend, anything can happen. When you're 42 years old and it's close, you're gonna get the decision. If you're 42 and it's close, maybe you should get it." Well, I don't believe that the Hopkins Pascal fight was 'close.' I do believe Hopkins should have gotten the decision.
Saul Mamby fought at age 61, lost a very close decision against a fighter in his 20's, I did not see him complain.
Thats not how it works in boxing. Otherwise forget about the fighters fighting and just give it to the older more accomplished boxer.
Imagine how dejected Hopkins must have been. There he was, about to make history, and they took it away from him.