Bernard Hopkins turned his bout with Karo Murat into a brawl and retained his share of the light heavyweight championship with a unanimous decision on Saturday night.
Hopkins (54-6-2) battered Murat for most of the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds to help successfully defend his championship at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
“I really wanted the knockout, but he was tough,” Hopkins said. “You know you’ve got to take some punches. Yeah, I have a little bit of blood on me, but this is what they want to see. They wanted to see the knockout, so I took some shots.”
Photo: AFP
The 48-year-old extended his record as the oldest fighter to defend a major championship. He had winning scores of 119-108, 119-108, 117-110.
Murat (25-2-1) lost a point in the seventh round for hitting after the break and was warned several times for questionable blows. Referee Steve Smoger shoved Murat in the face after another hit after the bell to end the 12th round.
Hopkins retired the “Executioner” nickname he has had for most of his nearly 25-year career and became the “Alien.”
Hopkins walked to the ring in a green mask with black eyes and a cape. He had the Alien emblazoned on the green waistband of his black trunks.
The Philadelphia fighter also had the crowd on his side, with chants of “B-Hop, B-Hop,” echoing through the arena with each right hand in the late rounds.
Hopkins finally busted open Murat in eighth, with cuts above the left eye and the cheek. The blood did not appear to seriously affect Murat.
Murat, born and raised in Iraq before moving to Germany, came out swinging and attacked Hopkins from the opening round.
Hopkins built a successful career with a methodical style of doing just enough in the ring to win, but he answered Murat and they spent most of the bout exchanging big punches.
In the co-main event, Peter Quillin retained the WBO middleweight title with a 10th-round technical knockout of Gabriel Rosado.
Rosado was busted open above the left eye and could not stop bleeding, forcing the ringside doctor to call for the stoppage. Rosado was irate and yelled profanities from the top rope.
“They knew he was getting hurt and they stopped it,” Rosado said. “I was hurting him in the later rounds. I deserve a rematch.”
Quillin, one of the best knockdown fighters in the sport, sent Rosado to the canvas in the second round and was ahead on the three scorecards when the bout was stopped 40 seconds into the 10th.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS