Bernard Hopkins wins split decision, unifies titles

WASHINGTON -- Bernard Hopkins thumbed his nose at Father Time one more time Saturday night, using his vast experience and guile, and ageless quickness to defeat Beibut Shumenov at the DC Armory.

With a split decision victory in a brilliant performance, Hopkins, 49, became the oldest boxer to unify major titles. He retained his IBF light-heavyweight title and added Shumenov's IBA and WBA titles. Shumenov is 19 years younger than Hopkins.

Hopkins also broke his own record as the oldest boxer to win a major title.

Hopkins made it look easy as he started slow but went to work in the third round, jabbing and throwing right hands and landing at will as he dominated most of the rest of the fight. Or so it seemed, to most everyone except judge Gustavo Padilla, who scored it 114-113 for Shumenov.

Judges Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth scored it 116-111 for Hopkins.

"That is complete (B.S.)," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who promoted the card, said of Padilla's scoring after the fight. "That's another judge that should be retired."

Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) used a hard right hand -- "my hardest punch in years" -- to drop Shumenov in the 11th round as the crowd chanted "B-Hop, B-Hop, B-Hop." He said he tried hard for his first knockout since stopping Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, but Shumenov stood his ground and last the rest of the way.

Looking as relaxed as could be in his 63rd professional fight, the only time Hopkins showed his age all night was when he referenced a '70s TV character in talking about his calm demeanor in the ring. "I was so in my living room watching Archie Bunker," he cracked.

Hopkins, playing to the Washington crowd by wearing the colors of the Redskins, burgundy and gold, started slowly, throwing little in the first two rounds. But he came alive in the third round and connected with several rights against Shumenov, who fell to 14-2 with 9 KOs.

Hopkins connected on several hard rights again in the fourth round, mixing it up with hard jabs and using the type of counterpunching that the wily veteran has perfected in 26 years in the ring.

After that, it was all Hopkins as the Philadelphian, now known as "The Alien," schooled Shumenov throughout the fight, getting the partisan crowd of 6,823 worked up into a frenzy.

Shumenov landed just 20% of his punches while Hopkins landed an amazing 49% of his 383 punches thrown.

"I didn't do that when I was 30," he said. "He was really surprised the way I could stand there and let him miss.

"Boxing is a science. If you don't have to get hit, don't. You don't want someone else counting your money."

Hopkins said he will let the historians decide where he belongs in the history of the sport, but said, just nine months before he turns 50, that he should be among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

"The pound-for-pound best fighter in the world right now is Floyd Mayweather," Hopkins said. "I'll tell you, behind Andre Ward, who I believe is second and should be, I'm not that far from the top three. My age and the way I'm doing it.

"I'm just telling you, I'm not done yet."

PHOTOS: Hopkins defeats Shumenov

Hopkins said he wants to further unify the light heavyweight titles against Canadian Adonis Stevenson, the WBC and lineal champion.

"And I want to be the undisputed light heavyweight champion this year," he said with a big smile.

Shumenov, 30, a former Olympic boxer from Kazakhstan, was asked if he thought he won the fight.

"To be honest I wasn't thinking about the scorecard," he said. "I tried hard. Bernard, he was the better man tonight. I chose the wrong strategy and used the wrong style.

"I cannot talk about this. I need to watch the tape and think about it.

"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."

On the preliminary undercard, Former U.S. Olympians Marcus Browne and Sadam Ali both won their preliminary fights to remain undefeated. Browne (10-0, 7 KOs) defeated Otis Griffin by unanimous decision in an eight-round light heavyweight bout, while Ali (19-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Michael Clark, a late replacement for Jeremy Bryan, in the first round.