Bernard Hopkins came into his light heavyweight title defense against Chad Dawson on Saturday night looking like Father Time himself.
But in less than two rounds, his stunning run at an old age was all over.
Referee Pat Russell stopped the fight in the second round on Saturday after Hopkins sustained an apparent shoulder injury, granting the fight to Dawson via TKO.
Per Dan Rafael of ESPN, Hopkins was complaining about his shoulder when he went down in the second round. Dawson approached Hopkins on his stool after the fight was stopped and there was a mild skirmish. Dawson made sure to contend that Hopkins was faking the injury.
After the fight and a chorus of boos from the disappointed audience, Hopkins said, via HBO Boxing, that he wanted to go on fighting but Russell wouldn't let him. There's plenty of gray area in this fight.
It's still debatable what exactly happened to Hopkins on Saturday, but what is clear is that he showed vulnerability for the first time in years. He was supposed to be done in 2001 when he fought Felix Trinidad. He was supposed to be done in 2006 when he faced Antonio Tarver. He was supposed to be done in 2008 when he faced up with Kelly Pavlik. And just this May, he was supposed to be done against Jean Pascal.
For a man 46 years old, Hopkins was beginning to appear immortal. He did, after all, become the oldest world champion in boxing history in May.
It's unlikely this will be the end of Hopkins, given the controversial decision, but it was eye-opening to see him actually get hurt. What was keeping him in the ring was partly his endurance and conditioning (not to mention his footwork).
Has the ageless wonder who is Bernard Hopkins finally shown a kink in his armor? Have years of fighting at an old age finally caught up to him?
It seems almost impossible at this point, but it may be that time.
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