"People don't respect men no more. I am a man."

At every turn, Bernard Hopkins has avoided becoming a cliche. Young black kid running the streets of Philadelphia lands himself in jail. The odds say that he will spend the better part of his life there. Makes good time and never goes back. Loses his first professional fight. Is he destined to become an opponent for other young pros? Within two years he fights his way to a title shot. Goes the distance but loses the decision to Roy Jones, the most dominating fighter in recent memory.

Now Hopkins fights his way to another shot and earns a draw on his opponent's home turf. Discouraged? Wins the rematch. Makes 13 title defenses, is ducked by every star in the sport, underrated from every direction, exploited and underpaid. Does he become bitter? Never. Does he wind up broke and punch drunk? He has all his money and all his marbles. Coming from nothing, is he prone to ostentation? No. He owns his modest home in a well-to-do suburb, owns one car. Is married to the same woman, has one child. Finally, a boxing story of hard work, honesty, intelligence, justice and vindication, a story that is winding down to a happy -- no -- a perfect ending. From Mountain Rivera to Primo Carnera, from Joe Louis to Riddick Bowe, boxing fans have been waiting for the Bernard Hopkins story for over a hundred years.

"I want the world and the public to judge me, and I can live with whatever they come up with."

	“	All things considered, simply one of the most impressive performances in the history of boxing. ”
		— Kellerman

Quick, what is this: Bob Fitzsimmons, Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, Tony Zale, Sugar Ray Robinson, Carlos Monzon, Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins? A chronology of the greatest, most dominant middleweight champions ever. How about this: Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Roy Jones, Floyd Mayweather, Felix Trinidad, Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricardo Lopez, Mark Johnson, Naseem Hamed? The top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world. In order.

What a fight. What a fighter. Bernard Hopkins validated his greatness with a masterpiece, a performance for the ages. And for all of the revisionists out there who can't wait to retroactively rewrite the circumstances surrounding this fight, Felix Trinidad is a great fighter, he is a real middleweight, he fought as well as he ever has, he is as good as advertised. Well, maybe not as good as some advertised, but I had Tito ranked as high as second in my pound-for-pound list. In the days leading up to the fight, arguments abounded in boxing circles over how Trinidad would have fared against Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. We will never know the answer to those questions, but we do know for sure that Bernard Hopkins threw him a beating.

The undisputed champ told us all along that he was fighting for greatness, that he was a throwback, that he would make his mark on history, that he would reduce the most feared fighter in boxing to nothing, that it would be an easy fight. And the man with the highest boxing IQ in the world (and that includes pundits and trainers and yours truly and everyone else), proved himself right.

Bernard Hopkins' performance at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Sept. 29th, 2001, was historical because he became the first undisputed middleweight champion since Marvelous Marvin Hagler 15 years ago (actually, Ray Leonard should be considered the last undisputed middleweight champ before Hopkins, but that is a story for another day). It was historical also because he tied Carlos Monzon's quarter-century old record for title defenses (14). And because he became the first man to officially beat Trinidad, the first to knock him out. And because he emphatically won the first great sporting event since the outbreak of this new war. And because at a time when this country needed to hear it, he told us that he is the embodiment of the American Dream. And because he refused to allow anyone to disrespect the American flag before it became fashionable to be patriotic, so that when, after the fight, he chanted "USA!" it had meaning, it had credibility, because he had credibility.

Credibility. No word more aptly describes Bernard Hopkins the man or Bernard Hopkins the fighter. He is, before anything else, credible. In and out of the ring. He is incredible in both places as well.

Hopkins dominated a prime Felix Trinidad (who himself was coming off the most impressive performance of his career) more thoroughly than any fighter I can think of has ever dominated a prime, Trinidad-level opponent. Doubt it? Looking for examples to contradict such a ludicrous notion? Foreman-Frazier I? Frazier had not fought a significant opponent in two years, and in terms of his level as a fighter, was visibly no longer in his prime. Roy Jones-James Toney? Jones gave away a few rounds and did not knock Toney out. Joe Louis-Max Schmeling I? Louis was more competitive than Tito was, and he was still on the way up, not in his prime like Tito. Louis-Schmeling II? Schmeling was on the way down, and he was certainly no Trinidad.

Scoring the fight live, I gave Tito one round -- the third. Watching the fight at home on tape, I gave the third to Hopkins, but the sixth could have gone either way. From 11-0 to 8-3 is the possible range of competent scores. For all intents and purposes a shutout. And the 10th round was a clear 10-8 round for Hopkins. All things considered, simply one of the most impressive performances in the history of boxing.

The champ fought a perfect fight: he controlled the action with a crisp jab, lead right hands, body and combination punching, tight defense, lateral movement. He punched as hard as was defensively responsible. When Trinidad hit him once after the bell, the champ responded with a return combination. When Trinidad winged his lethal left hook, the champ weaved it and countered. When Trinidad squared up to throw his right hand, the champ stepped in with hard lead rights of his own. When Trinidad broke through at certain moments and turned the fight into a brawl, the champ got the better of the exchanges.

Shane Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya, one of the five best pound for pound fighters in the world at the time, thereby ascending to the top of the majority of boxing's pound-for-pound lists. Bernard Hopkins beat Felix Trinidad, who was nearly unanimously regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, much more thoroughly than Mosley beat De La Hoya. Should Bernard and his undisputed title and 14 title defenses not also ascend to the top of the lists?

"In my heart I knew that if I were to ever get another chance in life to redeem myself, from what I used to be to where I am now, I could show an example, not just for boxing, but for life ... I am the American Dream."

You are, champ. You are also the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world. And one of the greatest middleweight champions of all-time. And a man. I am sorry that I underrated you for so long. It will never happen again.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.