Dewey Bozella vs Larry Hopkins Full Fight Highlights — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00Emanuel and I will call it for you while
- 0:02Max Kellerman goes and seeks an
- 0:05interview with referee Pat Russell. So
- 0:07there's a look before the fight at both
- 0:09Bozella and that's the opponent Hopkins
- 0:12across the ring. He's 52 years old. He
- 0:15boxed in prison, but this is his first
- 0:17ever professional fight. And Emanuel
- 0:19Stewart in round one, Bozella looked as
- 0:22though he had not yet developed any ring
- 0:24comfort at all. No, he seemed to have
- 0:26been real uncomfortable, mostly
- 0:28defensive minded and kept his head up
- 0:30too high, which made him get hit with a
- 0:32couple of good overhand rights earlier
- 0:34in the fight. I was surprised the way he
- 0:36came back so strong, got strong and
- 0:38strong each round and was just about 10
- 0:40seconds short of scoring a knockout in
- 0:42the final round. Ultimately, we're going
- 0:44to watch all four rounds, Emanuel. So,
- 0:45the audience will eventually see that.
- 0:48What they're going to see here in the
- 0:49first round is a much more tentative
- 0:51Dewey Bozella who was eventually hit
- 0:54with a right hand here that won the
- 0:56first round for Hopkins and made it look
- 0:58as though Bazella might be in danger of
- 1:00getting knocked out in this fight. Well,
- 1:02I in fact I was very much concerned
- 1:04about him being knocked out after the
- 1:06first round.
- 1:09Two minutes to go in the first round
- 1:11here. Again, we're going to show you all
- 1:13four rounds. Hands are up. Let's go.
- 1:15Dwey Bosella in the black trunks with
- 1:17green trim. 52 years old. Spent 26 years
- 1:21in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- 1:23Turned down a deal from prosecutors
- 1:26which would have allowed him to walk
- 1:27after 10 years if he had acknowledged
- 1:29guilt. Said I would rather die in prison
- 1:31than admit to a crime I didn't commit.
- 1:34Was there for another 16 years before he
- 1:37was released.
- 1:40The Innocence Project is finding people
- 1:43all around the country, particularly
- 1:45those for whom DN evidence, DNA evidence
- 1:48can prove that they were falsely
- 1:50convicted. And the Innocence Project was
- 1:53instrumental in helping Bozella to get
- 1:55his case reheard. Now, a minute to go in
- 1:57the first round, and Bozella still had
- 1:59not been able to assert himself here
- 2:02against Henry Hopkins,
- 2:07excuse me, Larry Hopkins.
- 2:10May his name be remembered correctly.
- 2:12It's Larry Hopkins.
- 2:15We were going to say Bernard.
- 2:17You okay? And if you left the room for
- 2:1920 minutes and you're wondering why
- 2:20you're looking at Larry Hopkins instead
- 2:21of Bernard Hopkins, we'll fill you in.
- 2:24More on that later. Max Skellman is
- 2:26looking for an interview with referee
- 2:27Pat Russell right now to clear it all
- 2:29up. 43 seconds as you see left in round
- 2:32one of the four rounder for Dwey
- 2:35Bozella.
- 2:37He won the Arthur Ash Courage Award
- 2:40given by ESPN.
- 2:42He's been publicized on other networks
- 2:45and other news outlets. So, there are
- 2:46many in the country perhaps tonight who
- 2:48bought the pay-per-view hoping to see
- 2:50this and were privileged to be able to
- 2:52bring it to you.
- 2:53[Music]
- 2:57At this point in round one, you could
- 2:59see that Bosella was beginning to get
- 3:01his feet on the ground. Yeah, he was
- 3:02starting to get a little more
- 3:03comfortable. He was very stiff in the
- 3:04beginning and for a man who's been
- 3:06locked up all the years to be in a big
- 3:08situation like this here in Las Vegas
- 3:11HBO world championship fightation
- 3:15that ended the round brought the crowd
- 3:16to life. Yes.
- 3:20Now Bazello was trained for this fight
- 3:22by Danny Green or uh Davis. Danny Davis
- 3:26I should say, excuse me. Danny Davis
- 3:27who's a part of Bernard Hopkins team, an
- 3:30assistant trainer in Hopkins corner and
- 3:31a good one. You finish the round off.
- 3:34Pretty strong, right?
- 3:37This guy don't got nothing. Use your jab
- 3:40a little bit more and keep your hands
- 3:42up. Let's throw a little bit more
- 3:43punches. You don't have to be curless.
- 3:45Okay, just we just need combination like
- 3:48we just finished. We ended the round off
- 3:50pretty strong. All right, let's relax.
- 3:53Here you see Mazelle get it with a
- 3:55looping right hand
- 3:58mainly because he keeps his head up and
- 4:00he doesn't move his head too much. But
- 4:01he's probably not used to punches coming
- 4:03at him anyway. And if he did box prior
- 4:06to this, most of the time was always
- 4:08with a head gear on. Probably not so
- 4:10well exposed as it was in this fight
- 4:12here. What a beautiful patient job Danny
- 4:15Davis did coaching through this fight.
- 4:19Gave him all the right instructions, but
- 4:20also just his condition. And you would
- 4:22think he would be the one to retire. And
- 4:24the way he's going on, it looked like
- 4:26he's getting stronger and stronger as
- 4:27the fight goes on. Yeah. You're going to
- 4:28see that over the course of the next
- 4:30three rounds, rounds two, three, and
- 4:32four, as Hopkins begins to fade. And
- 4:35Bozella at age 52 in what he says will
- 4:38be the only professional fight of his
- 4:39life started to come on. It begins here
- 4:43in round two.
- 4:45And one thing you pointed out about him,
- 4:47Emanuel,
- 4:48and this is unusual for a relatively
- 4:50inexperienced fighter, is he's really
- 4:53more advanced as a defender than as an
- 4:54offensive fighter. Yes, very, very
- 4:56defensive man. Moving around good,
- 4:57kicking and parrying punches. Seems to
- 5:00like a little bit, want to do a little
- 5:01Allen move here and there. Seems to be
- 5:03really enjoying himself. Capable
- 5:05eventually of blocking and parrying
- 5:07Hopkins right hand with his left. Did an
- 5:09amazing job on the defense. In fact, his
- 5:10defense was probably more effective than
- 5:12his offense.
- 5:19[Music]
- 5:22So at this point, the fight was evening
- 5:24up after Hopkins had won the first
- 5:26round.
- 5:28And the possibility began to emerge that
- 5:30Bozella might win the second. Yeah,
- 5:32Mozilla is starting to be a little bit
- 5:33more aggressive now. He's starting to
- 5:35punch a little bit more. Before he was
- 5:36really enjoying his defense, but right
- 5:38now you see him getting a little bit
- 5:39more comfortable doing a few things,
- 5:42jabbing, throwing a lot of right hands
- 5:43now. Even though he's not landing them,
- 5:45he's still throwing his right hands
- 5:46where before he very seldom threw his
- 5:48right hand.
- 5:53That was the sweeping right hand Hopkins
- 5:55was able to land in the first round. You
- 5:58saw him throw it there and it was easily
- 6:00blocked by I think he had a lot of
- 6:02anxiety probably too when he first come
- 6:03out in the fight. You know, having never
- 6:05been in no situation like this, not like
- 6:07an amateur that's coming from national
- 6:09tournaments and all of that. And he
- 6:10seems to be relaxing a little bit more,
- 6:13picking punches, enjoying himself, the
- 6:15fact that he did his little dance, he's
- 6:17getting comfortable now. And of course,
- 6:19as you pointed out earlier in one of our
- 6:21undergard fights, it's not all that
- 6:23unusual to see guys get caught cold in
- 6:25the first round before they've really
- 6:26warmed up and gotten their feet wet.
- 6:28Bozella did get clocked with the one big
- 6:30right hand in the first round, but
- 6:31weathered it very well. He weathered it,
- 6:32but he's very good at picking off and
- 6:34parrying punches with his hands. One of
- 6:36the fighters that did that so great was
- 6:38George Foreman, who's a master of
- 6:39controlling a fight by just using his
- 6:41arms. And for this guy to never had that
- 6:44many amateur fights or any fight in many
- 6:46years, I think he's doing a fantastic
- 6:48job defensively. A couple of uh couple
- 6:51of sequences ago, you saw Bozella land
- 6:53an uppercut with the right hand. We've
- 6:55seen veteran fighters 10, 12, 15 fights
- 6:58into their career who haven't yet
- 6:59mastered the art of throwing the
- 7:01uppercut. No, it's a very dangerous
- 7:02punch. When you throw an uppercut,
- 7:04you're very vulnerable to get caught
- 7:05with a straight right hand yourself. So,
- 7:07you have to be very careful before you
- 7:08throw up. And by the way, Bosella threw
- 7:09it from too far away and he wouldn't get
- 7:11away with that against a better
- 7:12opponent. Well, to hear it was all
- 7:14right. Well, at least this was his one
- 7:16and only fight.
- 7:19Take a deep breath. All right, listen to
- 7:21Davis again. He was brilliant. Let them
- 7:23hands go. How you doing? Okay, you
- 7:25doing? Listen, you doing that was a
- 7:27better round. Better round. You giving
- 7:30me good jabs, but let this damn right
- 7:31hand go. Let it go and come back with
- 7:34that good hook of yours. Just give me
- 7:42Take a deep breath. Deep breath. Look at
- 7:44us. Look at us. Deep breath. Listen,
- 7:47this is working fine. I'm not worrying
- 7:49about this. Let this go. Come back with
- 7:51the hook. Hands up. Cuz all he got is
- 7:53that over hand and work that body. You
- 7:56do a couple body shots and then you
- 7:58stop. All right.
- 8:00Listen. Listen. No. Listen. This guy
- 8:04This guy
- 8:10So, two rounds in the books and now we
- 8:12move to the third of a scheduled four
- 8:13between Dewey Bozella in the green
- 8:16trunks or the black trunks with green
- 8:17trim and Larry Hopkins in the black with
- 8:21red, white, and blue. And you see that
- 8:23Harold Letterman on his unofficial
- 8:25scorecard gave the second round to
- 8:26Bozella, evening up the fight.
- 8:30So, now the question became, has a
- 8:32pattern developed? Would Bozel Bozella
- 8:35be able to build on what he had
- 8:37accomplished in round two? And here it
- 8:39comes. You can see that Bozella listened
- 8:42to what Danny Davis told him and began
- 8:44throwing the left right combination.
- 8:46Yes, he's becoming more aggressive at
- 8:47throwing punches more where before he
- 8:49was primarily defensive. He's re relaxed
- 8:52now a lot more, picking punches off,
- 8:54seeing the punches come. But the main
- 8:56thing is this volume of punches has
- 8:58picked up.
- 9:03New Bosella was not without any boxing
- 9:06experiences in prison. He learned how to
- 9:09box while at Sing. In addition to
- 9:11getting a GED and a bachelor's degree
- 9:14from college, he's now involved in
- 9:17public speaking on behalf of the
- 9:19Innocence Project and is a counselor to
- 9:22inmates. Does a variety of different
- 9:23things in his brand new life since
- 9:26leaving Sing Singh as an innocent man.
- 9:34has developed friendships with both
- 9:36Paulie Malinagi and specifically of
- 9:39course Bernard Hopkins who helped him
- 9:41get into this position on the undergard
- 9:43for this one pro fight. Shows very good
- 9:46ring gentlemanship in addition to good
- 9:48defensive skills. You notice when they
- 9:50got closer how he ends up turning his
- 9:53opponent where his opponent ends up in
- 9:54the ropes in the corner and he finishes
- 9:56up with his back to the center of the
- 9:58ring. While at Sen, he was actually in
- 10:00the ring with a much better fighter than
- 10:01Larry Hopkins. He fought Lou Dvalo, who
- 10:04was a contender for the light
- 10:05heavyweight championship of the world
- 10:07for a while. And Dval later told people,
- 10:09"It was a very hard fight with Dwey
- 10:11Bozella. If I hadn't been able to cut
- 10:13him, I'm not sure I could have beat
- 10:14him." That's a hell of a compliment.
- 10:19Deval once knocked down Roy Jones at the
- 10:21peak of Jones's career. In fact, Deval,
- 10:24I think, was a light heavy champion one
- 10:25time. Very good left-handed style. title
- 10:28belt. Yes, the title belt.
- 10:32Here's the action as it heated up in
- 10:34round three. And you can see a greater
- 10:36sense of urgency for Larry Hopkins now
- 10:39as he realizes that Bozella is beginning
- 10:41to get the better of him in the fight.
- 10:46So Hopkins ups his punch output and
- 10:49tries to land a haymaker. The same right
- 10:51hand that he was landing the first round
- 10:53on Bazella. He cannot land it. Fazella's
- 10:55defense has really got good. Instead of
- 10:57saying straight up, now he goes
- 10:59underneath the right hands.
- 11:04[Applause]
- 11:05[Music]
- 11:06Footwork so much better as the fight
- 11:08went on. Yeah, he's going forward now.
- 11:10Putting a lot of pressure on him.
- 11:13And that's the end of round three.
- 11:27show six weeks. This is what he do. Take
- 11:30a deep breath. Let's get this.
- 11:33Well, we good. Take a deep breath. How
- 11:35we feel? Good. How we feel? Good. Okay,
- 11:38then. Show your ass off this round. Show
- 11:42your Don't back up. Show your
- 11:44ass. He ready to quit.
- 11:47He ready to quit, baby. That was a
- 11:49beautiful round. Beautiful round. Don't
- 11:52let him back in a fight. All right.
- 12:01Here you see getting hit with I think it
- 12:03was a a a shot to the body. But the main
- 12:06thing is his defense still is so good.
- 12:08And the main punch that he was getting
- 12:10hit with in the first round, he's taken
- 12:12away from Hopkins. That was the overhand
- 12:15right. I'll tell you one thing, Emanuel.
- 12:18As great as you are, if I ever have one
- 12:21fight, and I am a couple decades to
- 12:23Larry Merchant, if I ever have one
- 12:24fight, I think I want Danny Davis in my
- 12:26corner. Excellent job. Yes. He's working
- 12:29and telling the guy to do exactly what
- 12:31he's capable of doing. Exactly. Right.
- 12:33He's telling him, "Don't let him get
- 12:34back in the fight. You're taking control
- 12:35of the fight." You know, did a great
- 12:37job. But in addition, as I said, just
- 12:39having him be in this kind of condition
- 12:40physically though is major. So there's
- 12:43the first dropage of the mouthpiece. And
- 12:45what you're about to see unfold in this
- 12:47round becomes fairly remarkable.
- 12:49Now they take Copkins back to the corner
- 12:52and put the mouthpiece back in. But you
- 12:54heard Danny Davis telling Bozella he's
- 12:56ready to quit. And what happens over the
- 12:59course of the next two and a half
- 12:59minutes in this round suggests that
- 13:01Danny was right on target.
- 13:11[Applause]
- 13:19[Music]
- 13:20Uppercut again by Bozella and it backs
- 13:23Hopkins up. It's turning out to be a
- 13:25very good exciting fight. Almost getting
- 13:27to be a brawl at the stage right now.
- 13:29And there goes the mouthpiece for the
- 13:31second time.
- 13:32And the referee's going to warn Hopkins
- 13:34that if it happens again, he'll take a
- 13:35point away. Just told him that.
- 13:42Still two minutes to go. And at this
- 13:43point, we were wondering, okay, is
- 13:45Hopkins going to spit the mouthpiece
- 13:47again? And you told me, yes, absolutely
- 13:49he will. And there it goes again. What
- 13:50was that? He's really wanting to quit.
- 13:53He's really want the referee to
- 13:54disqualify him. The referee did a great
- 13:56job in this case, Sheriff, taking points
- 13:58away, but never disqualify him, Larry.
- 14:00Because he was worn out. He wanted to
- 14:02fight the end. He wanted to go home.
- 14:03Suck it in.
- 14:05Go.
- 14:07So, we've had three mouthpiece ejections
- 14:10so far by Hopkins. As Emanuel Stewart
- 14:12tells you, he was seeking a way out of
- 14:15the fight. It's better to be
- 14:16disqualified than to be knocked out or
- 14:19beaten on points by a 52y old man. There
- 14:21goes the mouthpiece again.
- 14:23Hopkins must have thought at this point
- 14:25he'd be DQed. Yeah, he thought he was
- 14:26going to be disqualified, but the
- 14:28referee won't let him quit. It's going
- 14:30to make him fight.
- 14:38putting one in mind of the referee in
- 14:40Hamburg, Germany, who ultimately ruled a
- 14:42knockdown against David Haye for all the
- 14:44flops. Yes.
- 14:47Body punches by Bozella. Left hook,
- 14:50another body shot. Combinations,
- 14:54energy output, thorough dominance,
- 14:56backing his opponent up against the
- 14:58ropes, firing away at will.
- 15:03An exhausted Larry Hopkins spat the
- 15:06mouthpiece again and the referee simply
- 15:08said, "Fight on for the moment." You
- 15:10know, all of the years that he's been
- 15:13sleeping in those jail cells, he could
- 15:15have never even dreamed if he had to lay
- 15:17his own strip out in a dream that he
- 15:19would be able to do what he's doing like
- 15:20he's doing it and where he's doing it at
- 15:22here in Las Vegas. A man who spent 16
- 15:24extra years in prison because he refused
- 15:27to admit his guilt and ultimately was
- 15:30released when it was found that he had
- 15:33not committed the crime of which of
- 15:35which he was convicted. How much time?
- 15:38Now here the referee is thinking of
- 15:39disqualifying, but when he finds out
- 15:41there are less than 30 seconds to go, he
- 15:43makes the right decision and puts the
- 15:44mouthpiece right back in. Go take your
- 15:47medicine, Larry.
- 15:49More than 30 seconds to go, but you get
- 15:51the point.
- 15:53Larry Hopkins. Larry Hopkins. When you
- 15:55say, I'm not talking about Merchant.
- 15:56Yeah, I know. A lot of medicine thing.
- 15:58Nobody tells Merchant to take his
- 16:00medicine. All right. We know that.
- 16:05[Applause]
- 16:09You hear the noise here. You may not
- 16:11think that's much, but this was at 5
- 16:13p.m. This was not a large crowd. This
- 16:17was a rockus, lively crowd enjoying
- 16:19every second of what Bozella pulled off.
- 16:23One last mouthpiece spit, one last right
- 16:27hand, and Bozella's victory was
- 16:29complete.
- 16:34Age 52,
- 16:36he won it by unanimous decision.
- 16:39What a night. 5246 along with Antonio
- 16:42DeMarco who scored a remarkable comeback
- 16:44victory over the amazingly skilled Jorge
- 16:46Lonaris. Bozella is the hero of the
- 16:49evening.
- 16:54Posing for the obligatory Ring magazine
- 16:57photograph.
- 16:59What a thrill. You know, outside of the
- 17:03frustrated ending, I would you would say
- 17:04for the main event, it was a good night
- 17:06for boxing. Some great fights. This year
- 17:08fight here was really just about as big
- 17:11as the tracks as you get for an
- 17:12undercard. So many emotions involved
- 17:14with this particular man here.
- 17:17These are the replays of the conclusion
- 17:21of round number four showing Bozella's
- 17:24thorough dominance down the stretch of
- 17:26the fight.
- 17:32But the victory did not tempt him into
- 17:35saying that he would seek a second
- 17:37fight. He's going to stop while he's
- 17:39ahead. He's undefeated. He's going to
- 17:40stay undefeated.
- 17:46So, Dewey Bozella retires at one and
- 17:48zero. Tell the
- 17:51feels.
- 17:55Ladies and gentlemen, after four rounds
- 17:56of boxing action, we go to the judges
- 17:59scorecards. Judge Pat Connelly scores
- 18:01the about 3936.
- 18:03Judge Tom Taylor scores about 3837 and
- 18:06Judge Jonathan Davis scores about 3836.
- 18:09For your winner by unanimous decision,
- 18:13do it.
- 18:16[Applause]
- 18:18[Music]
- 18:22[Applause]
- 18:32So the message is clear.
- 18:34Did you ever have a dream that you
- 18:35thought was out of reach? Maybe it's
- 18:38not.
- 18:59What a story. Dewey Bozella now with Max
- 19:02Kellerman in the ring. Well, I'm here
- 19:05with everybody's favorite fighter, Dewey
- 19:06Bazella. Dewey, what are you feeling
- 19:09right now? Um, first and foremost, I
- 19:12would like to thank God for this
- 19:14opportunity. You know, it's something
- 19:16that was taken away from me when I was a
- 19:17kid. And just to have this opportunity
- 19:19to come in here and win. This is my
- 19:21first and my last fight. So, I thank
- 19:22y'all very much. You know, this is a
- 19:24young man's sport. You know, this isn't
- 19:28this isn't for oldtimer like me unless I
- 19:30was 20, 30 years younger. So, I wanted
- 19:32to thank y'all for, you know, the
- 19:33support you give me right now. And it's
- 19:35very much appreciated, you know. And I
- 19:37would definitely like to thank Oscar De
- 19:39La Hoya for giving me this for for
- 19:41giving me a chance. Uh definitely uh
- 19:43Bernard Hopkins, Danny, and all the
- 19:46people was working with me, man, to get
- 19:48ready for this fight. It's very much
- 19:49appreciated. But what are you feeling
- 19:52locked up for 26 years for something you
- 19:54didn't do, dreaming of having a
- 19:57professional fight, it comes at the
- 19:59Staples Center on the undercard of a
- 20:01Bernard Hopkins fight. What does it feel
- 20:04like? It's one of the greatest moments
- 20:06of my life, you know, just like, you
- 20:07know, receiving the Arthur Ash courage
- 20:09award, you know, and I would like to
- 20:11thank all the fans, man, for supporting
- 20:13me, you know, and thank you. Thank you
- 20:15very much, man, you know, for everybody
- 20:17what they have done for me. Thank you,
- 20:19Dwey. He came out fast in the first
- 20:21round and he was hitting you with
- 20:23overhand rights. We thought you lost the
- 20:25first round. What adjustments did you
- 20:27make going forward? Well, I I realized
- 20:30that, you know, um when you ain't fight
- 20:32for over 21 years, you know, you just
- 20:34getting right back out in the ring at 52
- 20:36years old, it's kind of difficult, you
- 20:38know, and so, you know, once I got the
- 20:39hang of what he was doing, I stepped up
- 20:41my game and I was able to take him out
- 20:42in the fall. That that's what it's all
- 20:44about. You looked like you were thinking
- 20:46about closing the show strong, were you
- 20:48got did you want the knockout at the end
- 20:50of the fight? Absolutely. If I can get
- 20:52it, definitely that that way it leaves a
- 20:53not to the judges and it falls in my
- 20:55hands. Did you think he was spitting out
- 20:58his mouthpiece on purpose? Absolutely.
- 21:00Why? Um, he was tired and I seen it and
- 21:04I took advantage of it.
- 21:07We understand why you don't want to
- 21:08leave it to the judges, by the way,
- 21:10Dewey. The judges are aren't always or
- 21:12the juries, right? Absolutely. What's
- 21:15your next fight, Dewey Bazella? My next
- 21:18spot is to work with kids. You know, uh
- 21:21the Dewey Repzella Foundation, you know,
- 21:23that's what I'm trying to get started to
- 21:24work with kids to keep them up off the
- 21:26streets and let them know through boxing
- 21:27they can turn their life around. That's
- 21:29what this is all about. Congratulations,
- 21:32champ. Anything else you want to say?
- 21:34Hey, you know something? I would like to
- 21:36say that, you know, dreams do happen if
- 21:38you never give up hope and to always
- 21:41believe in yourself. Don't let nobody
- 21:42tell you what you can't do. And I want
- 21:44you to know you're one of my favorite
- 21:45announcers. Thank you.
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