Hopkins becomes oldest man to win major boxing title
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Bernard Hopkins (left) poses for a photo with referee Earl Brown after defeating Tavoris Cloud in their IBF light heavyweight title in New York on March 9, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK (AFP) - Bernard Hopkins became the oldest boxer to win a major world championship here on Saturday, breaking his own record by beating Tavoris Cloud at the age of 48.
Hopkins scored a unanimous 12-round decision to dethrone Cloud, who is 17 years his junior, for the International Boxing Federation's light heavyweight title and beat his own record.
"The 40 and up club still rules," Hopkins said. "I got a history. I got a history of destroying young champions and you never seen them again." Hopkins was 46 in 2011 when he beat Canada's Jean Pascal to win the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight crown.
Now 25 years after his first professional fight, Hopkins made history again in his 31st championship bout.
