By Johnny Ortiz    

Bernard Hopkins is a lot like the legendary old junkyard dog in that they both are fearless of any man born of a woman, they never lose to anyone who willingly ventures into their domain, they cannot be fooled, will fight to the death, and above all, after plying their trade for so many years, they know all the tricks of their trade. This all adds up to a winning formula, something Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins had begun to perfect after losing his professional debut, a six round decision to Clinton Mitchell on Oct. 11, 1988.

Bernard won 22 straight fights after Mitchell before registering the only other loss on his ledger; Bernard lost a twelve round decision to Roy Jones Jr. on May 22, 1993, the fight was for the IBF Middleweight title. Since losing to the perennial pound for pound champion, Bernard has not lost a fight in nearly twelve years. He is on a 23-win streak as he prepares to defend his crown for a record twentieth time when he takes on British-based Howard Eastman at the Los Angeles Staples Center on Saturday, February 19. The fight card will also showcase talented middleweight contender Jermain Taylor against Daniel Edouard, the fight card will be telecast on HBO PPV commencing at 6:45 PM.

Long before it became fashionable to finally accept Bernard Hopkins as an all-time great, I was a huge Hopkins fan, I recognized his greatness early on, to me, it was a no-brainer when I picked him to knock out Felix Trinidad. Bernard did things his way, causing him to alienate certain promoters; the big paydays eluded him until Don King came up with his middleweight tournament that included champion Bernard. Most people conceded the tournament title to Felix Trinidad before the tourney even began, even more so when Tito mugged William Joppy.

Roy Jones, upon learning of the tournament, became irritated when he told Don King that Bernard would beat Tito, thus depriving him from a big money showdown with Trinidad. Outside of Roy and I, most of the boxing world were pretty adamant that Tito would destroy Bernard.

Don King no doubt figured that his boy Tito would emerge victorious over the other five entrants, while Bernard told anyone who would listen that he would be the one coming out of the tournament with the winning hand raised. He implored everyone to take the 4-1 odds against him. He assured them of a win. The rest is boxing history, Bernard had finally arrived big money fights now awaited him. The ten million he made from his big win over Oscar De La Hoya was to date, the most he has ever made from a fight.

Bernard, now a prime forty-year old, is a physical marvel. He walks around at 165 pounds, five pounds over the middleweight limit; he is what is known in the business as a gym rat. He wisely learned many, many, years ago that conditioning is every bit as important as primo boxing ability. What good is having the world's best ability if you have a leak in your gas tank? At the end of a twelve round fight, Bernard doesn't even breathe hard; he is a throwback fighter, a fifteen round fighter at his very best.

The fact remains that even the greatest of the great have to face that day when Father Time catches up with you. We witnessed it recently when the once great Jesse James Lieja went to the well once to often. Jesse, who will be forty his next birthday, couldn't summon up the skills that once were so readily at his command. The fighter you saw perform against Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was not the fighter who fought the great Kostya Tszyu even for six rounds only to retire in the 7th round due to a broken ear drum. He was not the fighter who only seven months ago won a very close decision over a young, tough Francisco "Panchito" Bojado. Take nothing away from Arturo; he looked better than he ever has.

I could go on and on about all of the great fighters, who hung around too long,even those who once possessed the same greatness of a Bernard Hopkins. As I said, Bernard is a physical phenomenon, but it's times like this that a great fighter has to be careful. It might be hype, I'm sure it is, it's just that I really do not like to hear a fighter talk about other future fights when he has a title defense coming up.

At a recent press conference, Bernard referred to Eastman as a "B" fighter. He has gone on record as saying that he's relying on "numbers man" Richard Schaefer to set up a "history fight" against Light Heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, he also named Tito Trinidad and Jermain Taylor as possible, future foes.

I really hope Bernard is putting up a smoke screen in order to let Eastman think he is over confident and is dismissing him as any kind of threat. I keep telling myself that Bernard is much too smart to underestimate anyone, especially Howard Eastman. Knowing the boxing intelligence of Bernard, he could very well be setting a trap for Eastman.

I know a lot of fight fans do not know who Mr. Eastman is I do! Eastman, 34 years old, is a very good defensive fighter, his record alone should send up red flags. He is 40-1 W/35 KO's. His only loss came at the hands of William Joppy on November 17, 2001 for the vacant WBA Middleweight title. Joppy won a very controversial twelve round decision. I saw the fight, after dropping Joppy in the last round; I had Eastman winning the fight by two points. So you see, Howard Eastman, if he had come out of the Joppy fight on the right end of the decision, could conceivably be going into this fight undefeated.

I also have read and heard that Howard, a 6-1 underdog, is not a hard puncher, 35 KO's in 41 fights tells me that his punching power has to be respected, I don't care if he's been fighting his brothers and sparring partners, 35 KO's speak for themselves. There must be a reason he is known as "The Battersea Bomber." Eastman is a slow starter, as is Bernard, he has to start fast and keep it up if he is to get a jump on Bernard. That and his sound defense are the only chances he has to win against "The Executioner."

Recently, Eastman, full of confidence, had this to say, "I am going to beat him in five rounds, Bernard Hopkins will not be denying me my destiny. He has never fought anyone like me before. I can punch harder than anyone he has met. I can take anything he can give out. What's he going to do when he realizes that? I have been in boxing since I was six. Since that age, this is what I have been working toward. I have God on my side and courage in my heart. How is he going to stop me?"

Upon hearing this, Bernard offered this rebuttal, "If Eastman thinks he can get me in five rounds, then I will get him in four. He cannot fight when he is back-pedaling. I am prepared to chase him; I am prepared to fight him. I am prepared to go old school with him. Whatever he has to bring to the table, I am sure I have seen it before."

That said, and barring a mental letdown, Bernard should rise to the occasion just as he has done throughout his career. Eastman, except for a few fights, has fought most of his fights in England. With the exception of William Joppy and Hassine Cherifi, I did not recognize any of the fighters he has beaten on his record. That in itself tells me that Bernard Hopkins, on a much larger scale, has been in with the better horses. In Bernard Hopins, Eastman will have the distinct pleasure of facing one of boxing's all-time greats.

Only age can defeat this magnificent fighting machine. I look for it to be a chess match of sorts for the first half of the fight. Bernard may even be behind going into the second half of the fight. Behind his great, killer jab, and as his custom, if Bernard doesn't get you early, he will get you late.  He has the ingredient I most admire in a fighter, and that is patience. No one does it better than Bernard Hopkins. Just when you think the other fighter has a chance, Bernard starts to methodically break him down round after round. When he feels the time is right, he moves in for the kill.

Bernard Hopkins is someone you do not want to be in the ring with if you start running out of gas, he is a predator with a killer instinct. I just hope he can maintain his high work ethic for a few more years, we are losing some of our great ones, his loss will be monumental.

On behalf of the fight fans in Los Angeles, we welcome the greatness of "The Executioner!"
I have to honestly admit that I do not know that much about Daniel Edouard other than he served as Jermain Taylor's sparring partner on several occasion as Jermain prepared for a fight. I do know that he isn't hard to hit, in three fights tracked by CompuBox, Daniel's opponents landed 41% of their jabs and 40% of their total punches. These stats do not fare well with a sharpshooter such as Jermain Taylor. Given Taylor's terrific boxing style that goes well with the great jab he uses to set everything up, I look for Jermain to continue his march to the title and Bernard Hopkins. Jermain Taylor will stop Daniel Edouard.

I did not write about the fight, but I told everyone I talked to that Zab Judah would knock out Cory Spinks. The reason I gave was that Zab started too late in their first fight, when he stepped it up in the middle rounds, he began connecting with good shots. If the fight had lasted 30 seconds more, Judah would have knocked out Spinks after decking him in the last round. Spinks was visibly hurt when he barely beat the count. The same thing happened when Cory fought Ricardo Mayorga. Ricardo had Spinks down and out in the last round; Cory was able to again beat the count. Another thirty seconds more and Spinks would have been KO'd.

Cory Spinks was a knockout waiting to happen. Zab Judah, starting much faster in this fight, was happy to oblige Spinks. Another thing that bothered me was when Cory entered the ring smiling, waving to his friends at ringside, it gave me the strong impression that he was not as focused as he should have been for the task at hand. A fighter must always enter the ring with nothing on his mind but his opponent.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO A VERY SPECIAL MAN
I would like to close with an appreciative thanks to Kenneth Thompson, former President of the World Boxing Hall of Fame and now the President of the highly successful Thompson Boxing Promotions.

This past Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, Kenneth Thompson put on another outstanding, "Path to Glory" fight card. Before the main event that featured up and coming lightweight sensation Miguel Angel "El Anestecista" Huerta, President Thompson presented me with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" before a "standing room only" crowd of 1700 loyal fight fans.

It was an extremely memorable and proud night for me. Keep an eye on Kenneth Thompson; he has surrounded himself with key players on his promotional board. He has a knack of giving the fans great, competitive fights, Kenneth Thompson has a full schedule of fights coming up, his next outing will be on March 28, at the same Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. You can bet that it won't be long before Kenneth Thompson will be competing with the top promoters in the game. Thanks again Mr. Thompson you are the best!

The good Lord has been shining on me lately, besides the wonderful award from Thompson Promotions, on September 24, 2004, All Star Boxing Promotions, headquartered at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California, and headed up by another outstanding boxing promoter, Ed Holmes, I received a "Lifetime Contribution to Boxing Award." It would be the first of three awards I received, all within six months.

The third award was bestowed upon me during our October 16, 2004 25th Anniversary Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Commerce Casino and Hotel in Commerce, California. It was at this social boxing event that I was awarded the "Joe Louis Humanitarian Award." To say I was blown away when my name was called is an understatement.

To be given an award with the name Joe Louis inscribed on it was beyond my wildest dreams. I consider Joe Louis to be the greatest heavyweight champion of all-time.
My thanks here go to the former Los Angeles boxing commissioner, and a great man, Joey Olmos. Joey was the man during my tenure as co-owner of the world famous Main St. Gym in Los Angeles. Joey was very instrumental during my time at the gym; he is the man behind the "Joe Louis Humanitarian Award." No man ever loved Joe more than Joey Olmos. His commission office was a shrine to "The Brown Bomber."

UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND PEACE AND GOD BLESS!