For the fourth time in five fights, Bernard Hopkins found himself paired with an opponent who seemed to only want to wrestle, foul, and survive. The pound-for-pound entrant had been denied a highlight-reel performance in two ugly fights with pretender Robert Allen and his most recent defense, a dull-as-all-hell wrestling match with Syd Vanderpool. Now here he was again, facing an opponent all too willing to break the rules to win. The irony was that the opponent was Antwun Echols, a fighter who had fought a very close (and clean) six rounds with Hopkins a year prior before tiring to a one-sided decision loss.

But Bernard Hopkins would not be denied. Even after Echols flagrantly bodyslammed the champion, a disgusting foul that resulted in a damaged Hopkins right shoulder, The Executioner insisted on making this sour fight a memorable performance. Anyone who thinks Bernard Hopkins is getting too old (and admittedly, we were among that crowd before the fight) needs to think again.

The expectations on Echols were fairly high. In the first bout, taken on short notice, Echols had landed solid blows to Hopkins' face, and a few times seemed to momentarily stun the veteran. Now, with adequate time to prepare, Echols was expected to keep the fight close for the duration. He entered the ring looking the part, an entourage followed him to the ring hoisting not one but four "championship" belts. Echols was the UBSA and NABF champion. Perhaps he was the interim USBA and interim NABF champ as well.

Hopkins came to the ring with an entourage of his own... and one befitting the Marquis de Sade. Hooded guards in B-grade bondage garb escorted a hooded Hopkins to the ring. These trademarks of bigtime wrestling foreshadowed the bout ahead.

This fight was sloppy from the beginning. Echols came right at Hopkins, a mess of herky jerky head movement and epileptic footwork. He lunged with every punch, trying hard to catch Hopkins early and earn some respect. Hopkins merely backed up and fired short quick counters when Echols would miss. Midway through the opening round, Echols pulled an old trick. After Hopkins landed a punch behind his ears (because he was out of position), Echols stood erect, half-turned to the ref, and loudly complained. Hopkins pulled up out of his stance, thinking a break in the action was coming... but Echols instead turned back and popped him flush in the face. Hopkins looked indignant and hit Echols back when the referee finally did get between them to issue a warning on fair play. This exchange set the tone for the entire fight.

Echols continued his wild assault in the second round, and Hopkins grew frustrated when Echols would crash into him, pushing both men into the ropes for some holding and hitting. Both guys were fighting rough on the inside, sneaking in punches on the break, and offering plenty of elbows when the ref was out of position to notice. The fouls took center stage again at the middle of the round when Echols and Hopkins again went into the ropes, and Echols spun out. With his back momentarily to Hopkins, the champion nailed him in the back of the head. Echols immediately dropped to the canvas, flat on his back. The knockdown looked legitimate. Replays showed that Echols did buckle as the punch landed, and when he laid on the canvas he had bleary eyes and looked out.

Referee Tony Weeks urged Echols to get up, which he did, wobbling all the way. Hopkins faced a no-contest if the fight was stopped, or maybe a DQ if the blow was ruled intentional. But instead of giving Echols five minutes to recover. He simply put him in a neutral corner while he warned Hopkins, and then waved the fight to continue. At the time he did so, Echols had been given no compensation for the illegal blow, and didn't exactly look to be on strong legs as Hopkins approached him. But Echols was either faking the entire incident, or the adrenaline started pumping, because within a few moments he opened up on Hopkins, throwing his swiftest and straightest punches of the entire evening. Hopkins took a few shots in one corner, but wasn't hurt and returned the fight to center ring before the final bell. But it would get uglier.

After the second round was complete, Echols' second assistant urged his fighter "just foul this guy," even specifically urging him to hit the champion in the cup. Echols didn't stray low, but he did continue his fouls as the third began. It was an unusual strategy for a fighter that has good skills. But those skills weren't there this night. Echols looked like a rank amateur in the third round. Hopkins had fun picking him off with a short right hand counter punch, a few of which again landed behind Echols' head. But most of Hopkins' rabbit punching resulted after Echols would miss with a ridiculously sloppy punch that would leave him hopelessly off balance after he missed. It wasn't pretty.

Echols' wild lunges continued into the fourth round. Again he and Hopkins spun so that Echols' back was to the champ, and again Hopkins hit him. Another time, Echols missed a telegraphed overhand right so badly that he had turned 90 degrees to Hopkins and was leaning over. Hopkins legally nailed Echols with a huge right uppercut as he stood there out of position. It was a huge punch that drew a gasp from the crowd. But Hopkins risked a DQ himself by not controlling himself when Echols turned. Both men were struggling to fight within the rules.

The fifth continued at the same pace, and then things got really weird in the sixth frame. At center ring, Echols missed a punch and was leaning forward, as though he was bowing to Hopkins before the sumo match that was about to ensue. Hopkins countered with a left hook which, because of Echols' leaning, clipped him behind the ear. Echols stood up and loudly complained to the ref about Hopkins' fouling. But because this blow was not intentional, the ref said nothing. A frustrated Echols then blatantly dipped his knees, grabbed Hopkins by the waist, picked him up and then threw him down to the canvas. Hopkins landed on his right shoulder, and immediately grabbed it and cried out in pain. Tony Weeks should have DQ'd Echols on the spot.

Hopkins was sprawled on the canvas, holding his shoulder as his corner and doctors surrounded him. He had clearly hurt himself badly, and was swearing about the misfortune of another fight ending under bizarre circumstances. At some point in the mess, there was discussion of stopping the fight. Hopkins almost certainly feared that they would rule him unable to continue and hand the belt to Echols, because next thing you know, he's on his feet, shaking his head and INSISTING that he can fight on. NSAC Executive Director Mark Ratner looked stunned, as did the doctor. And so, Echols lost two points to an intentional foul and the fight continued. As the referee admonished Antwun, the challenger had the audacity to insist that Hopkins had fallen on his own.

But Hopkins could not move his right arm, and when the bout continued, Hopkins was on his toes and throwing only his left. Hopkins glided across the ring with ease, jabbing and hooking every time Echols got close. Hopkins was fired up now, and his hooks were thrown with bad intentions. Hopkins was beating Echols with one hand, and beating him badly.

Between rounds, the doctor returned to Hopkins' corner and asked him to raise his right arm. He couldn't. She asked again, and Hopkins meekly waved his wrist and said "Here, I raised my arm, see?" The doctor simply said "I can't let you fight if you can't use your right." Hopkins simply told her "Well, I'm using my left right now." And then the doctor left the corner and the fight was allowed to continue. Now I'm not saying the fight should have been stopped, although it's highly questionable whether Hopkins should have been allowed to continue merely because he wanted to, but what is the function of the doctor if they have no authority? When a doctor comes to a corner and orders a fighter to demonstrate basic functionality, and the fighter refuses, shouldn't the doctor insist? Dr. Flip Homansky, the longtime Nevada ring physician who has been sidelined by a promotion to the State Athletic Commission, wouldn't have let Hopkins continue. Homansky needs to teach his replacement a lesson in assertiveness.

But Hopkins' insistence that he continue made for one exciting contest. He stormed out in the seventh round, again throwing only the left. But he did so with such intensity that he twice rocked Echols and forced him to clinch. Jabs, left hooks to the body, left uppercuts, you name it... Hopkins was trying it. Echols became so frustrated with Hopkins' success that when the two clinched, he again threw Hopkins down to the canvas. And again, the referee did nothing. Hopkins got up and was pissed. He attacked Echols with a wild flurry, even throwing his tender right. A big hook swiveled Echols' head and sent him across the ring on his heels. Hopkins was on top of him, and after Echols hit the ropes and ate another punch, he went through the middle ropes horizontally and crashed back first onto the apron of the ring. As we said, Hopkins was not going to be denied. A stunned Echols beat the count just as the bell rang.

The eighth round was more Bernard Hopkins. Slowly but surely, Hopkins began throwing his right hand again. At first the rights were mere token punches designed to show Echols that he still faced a two-handed opponent. But as the round wore on, Hopkins began throwing the right with more authority. Then, in a clinch, Hopkins pushed Echols' neck down, and Tony Weeks called time. He deducted a point from Hopkins this time, despite no verbal warnings on that particular foul, and no verbal warnings of any kind for several rounds.

The fight slowed in the ninth, and Hopkins flirted with a DQ of his own. Twice in clinches he again pushed down on Echols' head, and on two other occasions in this round, he punched a turned-away Echols in the back of the head. The referee did nothing. Echols was looking for a Hail Mary pass, and his looping overhand rights were countered again and again and again by Hopkins' effective, albeit damaged, short straight right hand counter. In fact, Hopkins was really dropping the hammer on Echols, and the challenger was beginning to look like he'd rather just go home.

Both men stepped up the pace in the tenth, going to toe to toe on the ropes. Again Hopkins rocked Echols with a left hook, and beat the dazed challenger from one side of the ring to the next. After punishing Echols with head snapping blows on three different sets of ropes, Echols finally managed to get a clinch. Tony Weeks pushed the fighters apart for a break and pushed Hopkins too hard. Hopkins was shoved back onto his heels and he went down to the canvas. It was eerily reminiscent of Mills Lane accidentally shoving Hopkins out of the ring in the first Robert Allen fight. Unlike that night, Hopkins was not injured by the push, and he got up to end the fight.

Returning to the action, Hopkins again began putting his punches together and soon Echols was stunned again. At one point, Echols looked out of it and turned to the referee. If he had his wits about him, he might have said "Enough," but instead he simply stared at the ref. Hopkins, not told to stop, simply punched his straight in the face. Echols' head snapped back and he staggered into the ropes. Hopkins was again all over him, throwing bunches of punches. After a few more clean blows landed, and Echols looked to be merely running away, Weeks called a halt to the action. Hopkins KO10.

Hopkins dropped to his knees and smiled. He had averted controversy, had overcome an injury, had turned an ugly fight into a memorable performance, and improved upon his first outing with the same fighter. He looked simultaneously satisfied and relieved. Ice was immediately applied to his shoulder, which he would later say popped when he landed on it.

Hopkins improves to 38-2-1/28. After the fight he called out the winner of Trinidad-Vargas. That will be a tough fight to make. If Trinidad wins, he's likely to face fellow Don King stablemate William Joppy at 160 lbs. first. If Vargas wins, he'll seek to become undisputed junior middleweight champion against Javier Castillejo. Another option is a rematch with Roy Jones at 168, but it remains to be seen whether Roy Jones is interested in any real challenges. Hopefully Hopkins will get a defining fight. He turns 36 in January, and while he proved us wrong by defying father time again tonight, it's a trick that cannot go on forever.

On the undercard, Marco Antonio Barrera turned in one of the most impressive performances of his career in a six round hammering of veteran Jesus Salud. From the opening bell, Barrera looked sensational. Looking much more trim than he did in a sluggish tune-up against Jose Valbuena, Barrera began the bout with a crisp jab that snapped at Salud across the distance. Salud was looking for Barrera's famed left and was surprised when Barrera began punishing him to the body and head with a solid right hand. Barrera was really dropping the right hard on Salud, and the WBO titlist walked Salud from one corner to another, battering him with combinations each time Salud was trapped.

The story of this fight was the variety of punches Barrera was throwing at Salud. Barrera was finding amazing success by turning over the knuckles on his heavy right and following with a left uppercut. Time and again this two punch combo landed bullseye. And just when Salud seemed to figure it out, Barrera dug his left hook to the body or followed his left uppercut with a quick right uppercut as well. One such uppercut combo really stung Salud at the end of the second round, and the challenger knew he had to pick up the pace or else be blown away.

But when Salud pressed the action in the third, it was Barrera's turn to use some footwork and box. Barrera mixed boxing and brawling perfectly. He would glide away from Salud, get him to follow, then stop and unleash a flat footed combination. Barrera was incredibly accurate tonight, and in these flurries nearly every punch seemed to land. In fact, the only time Barrera missed was when Salud would put his gloves in front of his face to block the repeated left uppercut-right uppercut combination. But after four of five of these combos pushed Salud's gloves into his own face, his eyes began to swell.

Salud acquitted himself nicely... for awhile. He was able to stand in with Barrera, and even catch the Mexican star with a few counters of his own. But mostly he was catching, and Barrera was bringing the fastball to the plate. Before his losses to Junior Jones, Barrera was drawing comparisons to Julio Cesar Chavez, primarily because of his hook to the body and his then sterling 43-0 record. But this night he really looked like prime Chavez. There wasn't a single spot above the waist, including arms, ribs, sternum, ears and face, on which Barrera hadn't landed cleanly at least twice. During one unanswered flurry in the fourth round, Barrera threw and landed 10 punches. Six were to the body, two were uppercuts and a hook and straight right capped off the set. It was a masterful breakdown of a quality fighter.

But the beating got really bad in the fifth. Salud's output dropped to nil, and Barrera simply kept throwing and landing. Barrera looked great. He rarely threw one punch at a time. He used angles incredibly well, never allowing Salud to detect a rhythm. Referee Joe Cortez seemed on the verge of halting the bout for most of the final minute of round five, as Salud began retreating to and leaning on the ropes as Barrera teed off. But Barrera's attacks always seemed to be a single punch shy of the flurry necessary to bring Cortez in. Barrera would fire three punches, step back, reset, and then launch three more. You got the feeling that if he just threw four or five Cortez would gladly halt the bout. A clear 10-8 round without a knockdown.

Unfortunately for Salud, the sixth was more of the same. His right eye had slammed shut and the left was not far behind. After three more minutes of cruel one-sided punishment, in which Cortez again couldn't find the flurry long enough to step in, he finally waved the fight off as soon as the bell sounded to end the round. Jesus Salud may not get out of bed for a week.

So Barrera (now 52-3/38) is lined up to face Prince Naseem Hamed in March. What a fight that could be. Barrera will not have an advantage in speed, and he won't even be the heavier puncher... but if he can continue to put together consistent combinations, he will give Hamed serious problems and a real beating. The real question is how he will react when faced with Hamed's bizarre style. Will he freeze up, like so many opponents before him? Not knowing what to make of the Prince's bending waist and switching stance, will he be wary of Hamed's bombs and simply stare... or will be press the issue as he had with all his opponents? Clearly these two men are the best featherweights in the game today (sorry Morales, you lost to Barrera)... and their bout could be a classic.

.....Chris Bushnell