Bernard Hopkins Schools Beibut Shumenov At D.C. Armory

Fight night photos by Tom Casino for Showtime

by Gautham Nagesh

WASHINGTON, D.C.–When Philadelphia light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins turned professional in October 1988, President Reagan occupied the White House and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered just above 2000. Five years later, “The Alien” lost his first middleweight title challenge here at RFK Stadium to Roy Jones Jr., a loss he would eventually avenge on his way to becoming one of the most decorated fighters of his era.

More than a quarter-century after his debut, Washington’s football team plays in Maryland, four presidents have come and gone, but Hopkins can still thrill a crowd in the nation’s capital. The 49-year-old looked half his age on Saturday night as he dominated Beibut Shumenov on Showtime at D.C. Armory, just a stone’s throw from RFK. Alphabelt titles aside, the fight meant something to the nearly-7,000 fans that packed the venue. And Hopkins showed once again that age is just another limit that the greats can transcend.

Whether he styles himself The Executioner or The Alien, BHop has always been a master of psychological warfare. He started early in the lead-up to this bout, repeatedly belittling the privileged background of his Kazakh opponent. Despite his external polish, Shumenov was clearly ruffled by the tactics. The two jawed at each other in earnest at the weigh-in, and for once it didn’t appear staged. That tension translated to fight night, where Shumenov moved robotically and appeared too tight to execute his game plan.

Hopkins, on the other hand, moved like someone with plenty left in the tank. The story of Hopkins’ discipline and self-deprivation is by now well-known, but the results are still worth admiring. It is simply amazing that a man of his age can still compete at the highest level. This was a “unification” bout only because one of the corrupt sanctioning bodies gifted Shumenov with a belt. However, the performance cemented Hopkins’ position as the number one contender to light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.

With only 15 professional fights under his belt, Shumenov was overmatched from the outset. He immediately succumbed to Hopkins’ chosen pace, and seemed content to stand and watch from the outside rather than push the action. I scored the first round even because neither fighter did much of anything. Shumenov worked a little more in the second, which was the only round he won until late in the fight. Early on, his length and timing appeared sharp, and the Kazakh fighter was able to place punches on his veteran opponent.

Hopkins found himself in the third round, when Shumenov briefly let down his guard to complain to the ref. Hopkins promptly smacked him with a right hand, and then started to find his rhythm. Of course this is BHop, so that rhythm is more like sporadic bursts of action followed by a lot of holding, but Shumenov stood idly by while Hopkins began to take control. BHop started landing his right hand in the 4th round, taking advantage of the considerable gaps in Shumenov’s defense.

Shumenov is a solid fighter with good physical gifts, notably his size and strong chin. However, he is not a fluid boxer, and his attack is basic. Hopkins had him sized up by the 4th round, and started picking the Kazakh fighter apart with his varied attack. Shumenov would try to jab or take the lead, but more often than not he would miss, and BHop would nail him with a counter.

Of greatest concern, Shumenov keeps his hands low and occasionally stops moving after punching or avoiding a punch, which makes him wide open for the big shot he doesn’t see coming. Hopkins found him with such a punch several times on the end of a combination, and couldn’t miss with his right hand as the fight wore on. As strong as Shumenov is, no fighter can take such clean blows without eventually wearing down.

Hopkins used his jab beautifully, stopping Shumenov in his tracks with it and setting up all his other punches. The jab stymied any attack Shumenov would try, and prevented him from ever getting into a flow. This was a masterclass in pugilism from the sport’s most august professor, against someone competing on the undergrad level at best. Shumenov may yet improve, but he simply does not have the ring craft needed to overcome a supreme technician like Bernard Hopkins. As much as his legendary conditioning, it is those skills that allow BHop to fight well into his golden years.

The fight threatened to drag on as Hopkins kept control, but the crowd was happy just to witness the future Hall of Famer perform his craft. A perfect right hand sent Shumenov to the mat in the 11th round, and brought the crowd to its feet for chants of “BHop, BHop”. Shumenov rose and kept trying to attack, but the crowd screamed Hopkins’ name as he pressed for the late knockout. Hopkins is not the most stylish or exciting fighter, but he has finally morphed into a fan favorite in his old age. There is no doubt the fans who came out last night got what they paid to see.

The only sore spot came as usual from the judges, specifically Gustavo Padilla, who scored the fight 114-113 in favor of Shumenov. This is flabbergasting, and begs further examination by the D.C. Boxing Commission. Shumenov couldn’t have won more than 4 rounds on any reasonable scorecard, and he was knocked down to boot. One wonders how such officials manage to sleep at night. The other two scores were 116-111 for Hopkins, making it a split decision victory.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about the scorecard. I tried hard. Bernard, but he was the better man tonight,” Shumenov said after the fight. “I chose the wrong strategy and used the wrong style. I am angry that I couldn’t get the victory. I am a true warrior and I want to fight only the best. Tonight, obviously it wasn’t my fight.”

Shumenov remains ranked at 175 and in truth, better men have failed to solve BHop. He can still improve, but it’s hard to see him ever becoming a world-beater. As for Hopkins, he is now in position for some actual history, if he can convince Adonis Stevenson to step into the ring with him. Winning the legitimate light heavyweight at almost 50 years old would surely be considered a singular achievement, enough to place him with Archie Moore and George Foreman.

“Stevenson, I am coming to Canada. I am getting my papers together. I want to be the undisputed light heavyweight world champion this year, period,” Hopkins said.

The welterweight co-feature was unexpectedly the highlight of the evening, as Cleveland’s Shawn Porter flattened Paulie Malignaggi in under 4 rounds. Paulie started out boxing as usual, but his blows had little effect on the stocky and solid Porter. “Showtime” has a rough style and prefers being in close, where he can use his strength to muscle his opponent and land wide blows. Porter cut Paulie under the left eye in the first round, then began roughing him up from the 2nd on.

Paulie foolishly stood right next to his opponent and tried to fight back, rather than moving and boxing as he should have. He fought Porter’s fight, which was exciting while it lasted. The crowd certainly appreciated the up-close action from both fighters, and roared after a ferocious 3rd round. But Paulie had already started to fade. Porter’s heavy, clubbing blows had taken their toll.

A right floored Paulie in the 4th, and when he rose, Porter leapt in with a left hook and followed it with a barrage of punches that sent Paulie through the ropes. The ref correctly stopped the fight, handing Porter his most impressive win to date. As for Paulie, he acknowledged in an emotional post-fight interview that the fight might be his last. We hope so, if only to encourage his promising announcing career.

Porter’s knockout helped wash away the aftertaste of a tedius TV opener between middleweights Peter Quillin and Lukas Konecny. Konecny, 35, looked small and old, and spent most of the fight covered up and out of position to punch. He did trudge forward for most of the bout, but that only made him an easier target for Kid Chocolate. Quillin was able to land the right uppercut-left hook combination from early on, and barely had to worry about being hit in response.

Konecny offered a few moments of resistance, but they were too few to pacify the restless crowd. Quillin is a hard hitter and he should have tried to turn up the pressure and hurt Konecny. Instead he was content to merely coast to victory against an opponent that barely posed a threat. Quillin’s ranking at middleweight won’t drop, but his performance reduced his standing in the eyes of the boxing world. It will take better wins to convince the public that Quillin could challenge Gennady Golovkin or the winner of Sergio Martinez-Miguel Cotto.

The crowd at D.C. Armory was excited and in their seats early, most likely because the undercard was stacked with blue-chip local prospects. Recent Golden Boy signee Lamont Roach Jr. (below) made his pro debut immediately before the broadcast, winning a four-round decision over Victor Galindo of Puerto Rico. Roach, 19, was a decorated amateur and is the son of NoXcuse Boxing trainer Lamont Roach. He’s also a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering at University of Maryland-College Park, which shows he’s got both the brains and skills to become a world champion.

Roach began by jabbing to the body, then came upstairs with the left hook. He appeared to rock Galindo with left hooks several times during the fight, but to his credit, the visitor refused to go down. Roach is just a kid, so it will be years before he is ready to fight at the top level. But given his background and pedigree, big things are expected from Lamont. We have been covering him since his amateur days, and will be watching closely as his career unfolds.

The last bout on Showtime Extreme featured Stiff Jab favorite David “Day Day” Grayton, (below) an unbeaten welterweight from Northeast D.C. I’ve never seen Day Day in a boring fight, in the amateurs or pros. He just loves to fight, maybe a little too much. His opponent, Howard Reece of Miami, looked up to the task, with an impressive, stocky physique to counter his shorter stature. Grayton is a former football player and looks the part, fighting out of a southpaw stance.

It has been six months since Grayton last fought, and he showed his impatience by going straight after Reece from the bell. It didn’t take long for Grayton to floor Reece with a right hook, after landing a couple early punches as an appetizer. Reece got up and fired back, landing a few shots of his own. Day Day looked a bit rusty, and he has never been that hard to hit regardless. He ate a couple punches before trapping Reece in the corner and hurting him badly with a left hand. The ref stepped in to stop it, handing Grayton an explosive first-round stoppage.

Brooklyn welterweight Sadam Ali was nearly as quick in his stoppage of Michael Clark of Columbus, Ohio in the first round. Ali put Clark down with a left hook almost two minutes into the fight. Clark beat the count, but the ref chose to end it anyhow. Another top prospect from Brooklyn, lightweight Zachary Ochoa, took longer but had almost as easy a time against Hector Marengo. Ochoa worked patiently in the first three rounds before scoring knockdowns in the 4th and 5th on his way to a TKO-5.

Ochoa is a thinker in the ring, a patient craftsman with a high degree of comfort inside the ropes. He used his jab to set up his attack early, and always finished his combinations with one extra punch that landed flush. His second knockdown prompted Marengo’s corner to wave the towel in resignation, over the protests of their fighter. They simply recognized Ochoa’s superiority. Afterward on press row, Ochoa looked like any other young fan, with nary a mark on him.

Former Olympian Marcus Browne of Staten Island represents Atlas Cops and Kids, which means we’re always interested in watching him fight. Browne was several cuts above opponent Otis Griffin of Troy, Ala. The southpaw Browne dominated Griffin with his left hand, and was simply better in every respect. At times Browne seemed content to coast to victory, until he ran Griffin into a vicious left hand in the 5th round. Griffin got up and finished the fight, but he failed to win a single round on the cards.

Super middleweight D'Mitrius Ballard (above) is another NoXcuse product signed with Golden Boy, who appears on the fast track to local stardom at the least. Ballard has a ferocious body attack, but he barely got a chance to deploy it during a short and ugly fight against Quincy Miner of St. Louis. Ballard hurt Miner near the end of the 1st with a left hook, and appeared in control when Miner got rough in the 2nd.

Miner tackled Ballard into the ropes, causing a short stoppage while the ref tried to regain control. Ballard charged an Miner on the re-start, and the two began wrestling again. Ballard hit Miner with a hard right, then pushed him to the mat as Miner attempted to hold. Miner stayed on the canvas, where he indicated he had suffered an injury. The official result is a TKO-2 for Ballard, but I doubt that’s how he wanted it to happen.

Before we arrived, local middleweight Dominic Wade apparently delivered a beating to Marchus Upshaw of Jacksonville, Fla. and D.C. lightweight Chrisshawn Alexander won a four-round unanimous decision over Jose Valderrama in the first bout of the night. If this card does in fact turn out to be the last fight for Paulie Malignaggi, we leave you with this image. It’s not exactly appropriate, but then again, neither is Paulie.