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“Believe It Or Not!: Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson” is a 12-round bout for Hopkins’ WBC Light Heavyweight Championship taking place on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Bernard Hopkins met the media yesterday to discuss his title defense against former beltholder Dawson.
Bernard Hopkins:
“I chose to continue to fight and defend what I worked so hard to get. So why not get all of the benefits of what I’ve been doing for 20-something years and then walk away when it’s time?
“I think that it’ll come down to who is the better fighter. The better fighter, the better person, the better strategist and who wants it the most.
“It really would be gratifying to me and happy for me to sit back in my 60’s and hear commentators say, “This guy is four fights away from beating Bernard Hopkins’ record.
“In today’s world where, unfortunately, most athletes, either don’t stay as focused long enough after they get a taste of what we call success in life, or just run into the wrong match, the wrong person. So I’m going to have fun in the second half of my life.
“Well, Chad Dawson said something that made sense. He’s going to be throwing a lot of punches, but I’m going to be connecting a lot of punches. He’s going to throw all the punches he wants, but I’m going to be connecting more than he is throwing.
“I’m coming in there with an aggressive game, but a smart game. If people think that the last two fights of my career were the old Bernard Hopkins from the Blue Horizon to Atlantic City days in the early 90’s, then I’m saying that they should watch this fight.
“The bottom line is they are going to see a better, a more aggressive, smart fighter in me when I beat Chad Dawson.
“When you look at my résumé compared with his [Dawson’s] résumé, you must say, or must agree, that my résumé is a Ferrari and his is a Mercedes.
“Keep an eye on [Danny] Garcia. He’s got a fight coming up [on October 15] that’ll prove he belongs in the pound for pound contender’s bracket.
“At the end of the day, what Dewey did is beyond anything that I’ve done in the ring; it is beyond anything I accomplished outside of the ring in my personal [life].
“I want my gray to be in the ring. I want Chad Dawson to see I have gray hair. I want to look like his father-well, I could be his father. I’m not, but I could be! That age difference is appropriate for me to look like I’m gray and I have gray, because realistically, if you do the math, he could be my son.
“There are a lot of people that are 46 and younger that feel lousy today that never took a punch. Well, change your lifestyle. Change what you do. I did it years ago, so I’m ahead of the game. I’m not feeling like I’m 26 every day. I always say if I have to put a number on myself, the way I feel today, I feel like I am 36. So if I’m 36 to 46, that means I’m 10 years ahead of the game.”
