Boxing.com

We should all grow old as gracefully as Bernard Hopkins. Although he’s 46, Hopkins is far from being decrepit. He has aged, but he has aged like fine wine. He is no less confident and full of himself as when he was young. But this Hopkins is different. He has matured, mellowed, his resentment is in check, and his intelligence and ease of being are unmistakable and a pleasure to listen to and observe.

On Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Staples Center in L.A., Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) defends his WBC light heavyweight title against 29-year-old “Bad” Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs). After his history-making victory over Jean Pascal in Montreal last May, Hopkins would have been forgiven had he decided to take it easy in his first defense. That’s pretty much what everyone else does. But Hopkins isn’t everyone else. He’s made an art of defying expectations, and taking it easy is not Bernard’s style. If there are still doubters about Hopkins’ superlative athleticism, extreme discipline, and Mensa level boxing IQ, watch what happens when he fights Chad Dawson this weekend.

Hopkins recently met with the press via teleconference call and was the man we’ve grown to know, if not to universally love. He was open, honest, candid and loquacious. But his pace is slower, less frenetic, more contemplative. He’s still Hopkins, a leopard doesn’t change its spots, and he still knows more about boxing than all of us put together.

When asked what we might expect in Saturday’s fight from L.A., Hopkins answered with the cool confidence of a tenured professor, the easy grace of an old pro.

“It could be a technical fight,” he said, “and it could be a non-technical fight. But I think it all depends on the person. And if the person is coming to fight, then that would help me a whole lot. So it all depends. A fight happens and it changes as the fight goes. And you never know. But I know what I’m coming here to do. I’m coming in to make the fight and it takes two to dance. It takes two to fight.”

With a plum position awaiting him at Golden Boy Promotions, many wonder why Hopkins needs to fight at all. He’s made a fortune. He’s in the record books as the oldest man in boxing history to ever win a legitimate title. There’s life after boxing, especially for Bernard Hopkins. So what is there left to prove?

“And as long as I have the desire to continue to win and not embarrass myself and embarrass the sport, I think at the end when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. I can’t think about winning and think about retiring at the same time. That’s very counterproductive. So I figure that instead of worrying about what if’s, worry about where I’m at now. I’m just not ready to go leave the jungle.”

Hopkins has established himself as one of the greatest boxers of his era. He might not be the greatest light heavyweight in history, Bob Foster and Archie Moore and Tommy Loughran would have given him fits, but that was then and this is now, and now is Hopkins’ time.

“I just like to do things different,” he said. “I like to be the person, as an example, that the norm is not something you should put on Bernard Hopkins. Even my life beyond boxing has been against the odds and pulling off the odds. I mean, to me, I just wanted to stay out of the penitentiary and never go back with a nine-year parole, to walk off at 25 years old. Can you imagine that? That overrides titles, belts, money, history, breaking George Foreman’s record. I just wanted to stay the hell out and never go back.

“When I was in prison I was thinking about staying alive—the only thing I was thinking about. It wasn’t about boxing. Staying alive. Staying alive. And not become prey. That’s two things that any smart person that goes through there, that’s the only thing that is on your mind. How the hell to stay alive. And that’s every day.

“I believe that’s in my spirit and my drive just as a human being, which plays heavily into boxing. It’s just who I am. And I think that everybody that’s listening to this should understand. If not, you should know now because I’m saying it and I’ve got credibility to back it up. It’s just who I am. And you know, when it’s said that you’re not supposed to be doing XYZ because of this, because of that, okay, maybe you’re right 90% of the time. But I’m going to be that one out of that 10% that you’ve got to say, ‘Well, he’s different.’ And that’s just me. And it’s nothing I’m trying to actually prove. It’s just in me. And it goes all the way back before I threw the first punch as a professional fighter in 1988.”

Hopkins is a Philly fighter, and he’s got the Philly fighter’s toolbox at his disposal. Chad Dawson, among others, has accused him of being a dirty fighter, and Hopkins doesn’t like it a bit.

“He sounds like he’s already complaining about something and we haven’t even thrown a punch yet. Again, that’s the difference between being a veteran and being not necessarily a rookie but inexperienced to the point where you watch what you say and understand when you say things, you’ve got to have a reason to say it. So he’s trying to put it out there to people that I’m a dirty fighter so maybe you can look for something that might look dirty.

“I don’t have to fight dirty to win…Watch the performance. Watch the ageless warrior systematically break a young, strong, tall light heavyweight that everybody had high hopes for two years ago. And now they’re reserving that because they’re not sure because Bernard Hopkins is fighting him…Chad Dawson said I’m dirty…I’m coming to win a fight and I don’t have to be dirty to win a fight. But I’m in the fight. And when you’re in the fight, things happen he might say is an accident. Things happen I might say is an accident. It’s up to the referee. The public will believe and see what they see. And I leave it like that.”

Hopkins was asked to assess Dawson’s skills. He was generous and forewent trash talk, but danced around the question as much as he dealt with it head on.
 
“He has skills. From one to ten, I would give Chad Dawson a seven and I also would give him an extra bonus point or two. Why? Because every fighter that I can remember when I became champion until now, when you fight Bernard Hopkins they normally step up their game a notch or two. You know, nobody comes, that I know of, to the ring in the last ten years and not be prepared to fight Bernard Hopkins. They come with their A+ game. In most cases it still wasn’t enough, but that’s what keeps me on my game.

“I’m just hassled with titles. I haven’t caught up to the majority of society that likes to throw around the word ‘great’ all the time. I hear it in baseball. I hear it football. I hear it more in boxing. Great. Even the greatest, even the good young guy coming up is not great until you accomplish great things. So I guess it’s just part of the language. It became a language thing more than an accurate thing. He beat a lot of fighters that I beat. I can name a couple if you need me to. If not, then that’s cool. I mean, he brings youth to the table. And we all know what youth is. Youth normally wins. An older person who is working in corporate America who’s been there too long and a young person comes up and the old goes out and new comes in. So I mean that’s the battle.”

As tough a customer as he is, Hopkins has suffered some losses. But he says the toughest opponent he ever faced wasn’t in the ring, the “toughest opponent has been the boxing system. Because it’s like anything else that has old, ancient rules of how you’re supposed to be and how you’re supposed to act and how you’re supposed to not be involved or speak in a way of representation. It’s just the whole thing of being an athlete and knowing that that’s what I do but it’s not who I am. It’s always a struggle amongst those who want you to be just one thing.

“I know who I’m fighting. I see who I’m fighting. I feel who I’m fighting. But outside of the ring, there’s a whole different fight that you have to be even skillful enough, way more than the physical, to be able to not only withstand the endurance of it, but also to actually make the right moves and the right decision to be able to fight like you’re in the ring but handle your business like you fight outside the ring, and counter to counter and come out on top. That itself is a struggle because you’re sort of fighting in the dark. And I don’t know the last time you ever fought in the dark, it isn’t fun.”

Fighting in the dark isn’t fun. Either is fighting in the light. But fight is what Hopkins does. It’s not all he does. It’s just what he does best at this point in his life.

“I want to stay in the game and I still want to continue to do something special in the sport and continue to build that thick book that I’ve already established, and that means I’ve got to be the excitement. I’ve got to do what I did in Canada. I’ve got to be the guy that makes the excitement and doing that is a risk for me. I understand that.

“When you’re coming to the target, things happen. But I’m going to save the best for last, and that’s what people have been saying my last two fights. And so when I say last, it doesn’t mean that after I win this fight that it’s over. It means that I know I’m on my way out. I’ll be out of here, but when I leave I’m going to leave with what they call the fireworks. The grand finale.”

It ain’t over till it’s over, and win, lose or draw, Hopkins’ fight with Chad Dawson won’t be his last.

“I still love the fundamentals of boxing,” said Hopkins. “I still love the art of boxing. I still love the hit and not get hit in boxing. And I still love that you can be aggressive but you can be aggressive smartly.”

Bernard Hopkins is conscious of his legacy and knows he’ll never be forgotten. But he wants everyone to remember that “Boxing is not who he is. Boxing is what he did, but boxing is not who he is.”