Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat

Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat was a professional boxing match contested on October 26, 2013, for the IBF light heavyweight title.[1]

Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat
DateOctober 26, 2013
VenueBoardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineIBF light heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Bernard Hopkins Karo Murat
Nickname The Alien
Hometown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Kitzingen, Bavaria, Germany
Pre-fight record 53–6–2 (2) (32 KO) 25–1–1 (14 KO)
Age 48 years, 9 months 30 years, 1 month
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) 5 ft 10+12 in (179 cm)
Weight 172 lb (78 kg) 174 lb (79 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition IBF
Light Heavyweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 1 Ranked Light Heavyweight
IBF
No. 1 Ranked Light Heavyweight
Result
Hopkins wins via unanimous decision (119–108, 119–108, 117–110)

Background

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Earlier in 2013, Bernard Hopkins had defeated reigning IBF light heavyweight Tavoris Cloud to become the oldest world champion in boxing history.[2] Before facing Cloud, Hopkins had agreed to the IBF's prerequisite that he would face their top contender, the largely unknown German fighter Karo Murat should he win.[3] True to his word, Hopkins quickly came to terms to face Murat just a month after his victory over Cloud admitting that facing the obscure Murat was an "obligation" that he wanted to get out of the way in lieu of a "better option."[4] Originally set for July 13, 2013, that date was cancelled in June after Murat failed to be granted a visa from the United States Department of State.[5] Murat eventually settled his visa issue and the fight was rescheduled for October 19, though Showtime pushed the fight back one week to October 26 to avoid competition with rival network HBO, who were broadcasting a Mike AlvaradoRuslan Provodnikov fight on HBO World Championship Boxing on that night.[6]

For this fight, Hopkins would discard his previous nickname of "The Executioner" and rechristen himself as "The Alien", in reference to his "supernatural" ability to continue winning fights despite his advanced age.[7] Hopkins complemented his newfound nickname by wearing green accented ring gear as well as an alien mask in place of his customary executioner hood during his pre-fight walk to the ring.

The fight

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Hopkins put forth a dominating effort, winning by a very lopsided unanimous decision. Two judges had Hopkins winning all but one round with each scoring the fight 119–108 while the third scored the fight 117–110 (9 rounds to 3). Through the first half of the fight, Hopkins implemented his usual defensive-minded approach, but he abandoned this approach midway through the fight, aggressively attacking Murat and landing a high amount of punches during the later rounds, eventually opening a cut above Murat's left eye.[8]

Aftermath

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Hopkins admitted after the fight that he was in fact trying to gain a knockout victory after having not obtained one in almost a decade since his 2004 fight with Oscar De La Hoya.[9]

Fight card

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Confirmed bouts:[10]

Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Notes
Light Heavyweight 175 lbs. Bernard Hopkins (c) def Karo Murat UD 12/12 Note 1
Middleweight 160 lbs. Peter Quillin (c) def. Gabriel Rosado TKO 10/12 Note 2
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Deontay Wilder def. Nicolai Firtha KO 4/10 Note 3
Featherweight 126 lbs. Braulio Santos def. Dave Clark TKO 1/8
Super Middleweight 168 lbs. Dominic Wade def. Roberto Ventura TKO 1/8

^Note 1 For IBF light heavyweight title
^Note 2 For WBO middleweight title
^Note 3 For WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
  Australia Main Event
  Germany ARD
  United Kingdom BoxNation
  United States Showtime

References

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  1. ^ "Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. ^ Bernard Hopkins, 48, wins IBF belt, ESPN article, 2013-03-10 Retrieved on 2024-08-27
  3. ^ Bernard Hopkins vs Tavoris Cloud set for March 9 at Barclays, pending IBF approval, Bad Left Hook article 2012-12-16 Retrieved on 2024-08-27
  4. ^ Hopkins to defend title against Murat, ESPN article 2013-04-10 Retrieved on 2024-08-29
  5. ^ Bernard Hopkins July Bout With Murat Called Off, ESPN article 2013-06-14 Retrieved on 2024-08-29
  6. ^ Hopkins fight set for Showtime, ESPN article 2014-11-10 Retrieved on 2024-08-29
  7. ^ Bernard Hopkins, the Not-So-Ageless Alien, The New Yorker article 2013-08-13 Retrieved on 2024-08-29
  8. ^ "Bernard Hopkins beats Karo Murat to defend light-heavyweight title". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  9. ^ Hopkins otherworldly in decision win, ESPN article, 2013-10-26 Retrieved on 2024-08-29
  10. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Bernard Hopkins's bouts
26 October 2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by
vs. Sandro Siproshvili
Karo Murat's bouts
26 October 2013
Succeeded by
vs. Leo Tchoula