Hopkins, Cloud Talk Again About Their Fight This Saturday

Ahead of their 12-round fight for the IBF Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday, March 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, champion Tarvoris Cloud and challenger Bernard Hopkins met members of the press.

Bernard Hopkins:

“Any athlete who goes in there and knows they are 100 percent ready physically has an advantage. Athletes deal with aches and pains, but I was able to rest for the whole summer of 2012 and I had a chance to heal my body 100 percent.

“Tavoris Cloud might actually be hungrier than me. How often do you hear a fighter say that his opponent is hungrier than he is? I don’t need hunger. I’m motivated by my desire to prove that I’m different and that I can still silence the critics.

“You will have reason to be surprised on March 9. You’re not going to see a new Bernard Hopkins. I’m too old for that crap. I think what you will see is something different that I know I am capable of doing.

“There’s always a chance you will see something new in a fight. Especially in boxing. I’m going to avoid Cloud’s strengths and expose his weakness.

“The media here know that there’s the possibility that I can pull this off. I’m confident. Confidence comes with work. When you prepare yourself and you know you’re going into combat with all of your bullets, you have the confidence to go into battle.

“I want to be the poster child for taking care of yourself after 40. Obesity is an epidemic in this country and I’m a living, breathing example of what it means to stay healthy.

“I’m not going to give up. If you pay attention to my plan and the way I live and the way I eat, then you have a chance to extend your life a few more years.”

Tarvoris Cloud:

“Whatever comes with the fight, I’m ready. He [Bernard Hopkins] called me out. I’m just going in to win the fight.

“I’m going to give the people their money’s worth…true sports entertainment for their dollar. I’m the undefeated IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion making my fifth title defense. The crowd will be with me because everybody wants to be with a winner.

“I’d be a fool to get caught up in Bernard Hopkins’ mind games. That’s a fool’s game buying into those traps. When the bell rings on Saturday night, we’re both equals. I’ve got to go in there and hit him to show his tactics will not work against me.

“I switched to my new trainer Abel Sanchez to add versatility to my game. I’m coming to fight a serious fight. If I knock him [Hopkins] out, it will just put another feather in my cap. I’m predicting a win, but I never look for the knockout because that’s not my game plan. If my punches result in a knockout, so be it.

“In this fight I want to show people who are in poverty, downtrodden or denied that you can succeed. I want my performance to be an inspiration to people. You have to stay in the moment and keep moving ahead. I just want to show everyone that you can find answers to your problems and afflictions with hard work and perseverance.

“I came from nothing out in the woods near Tallahassee, Florida. My mom was a single mom raising five of us. It wasn’t easy but she found a way to raise us to adulthood. We made it somehow.”

“You have to go in there and hit him. Show him that his tactics don’t work. Bernard Hopkins is a fighter that you have to get straight to the point with. You can’t lollygag and bullsh*t because that’s his game. Being serious and doing my job throwing punches in the ring, that’s my game. I don’t come to put on a show for the people. I come to give the people a fight and give them their money’s worth; give them real entertainment.”

“He [Hopkins] is a good fighter. He’s earned his keep, but I just don’t think he can hit me. I think he trains hard and he lives his life right. He’s made sacrifices to increase his longevity, but you know it’s been too long.

“I was hungry and I was looking for a way to better my life. With boxing, I didn’t have to make a team. It wasn’t like baseball or football. I could just walk in the gym and start doing something that I liked.

“I’m ready. I feel like I can’t be beat. You have to feel like that being a fighter. I just feel like this is a bigger type of energy. I feel like I’ve beaten so many odds. I feel kind of invincible. It’s going to be a good fight.

“Saturday we’ll see it all come to fruition. God brought me out of nowhere. I know he isn’t going to turn his back on me now.”

Hopkins vs. Cloud, a 12-round fight for Cloud’s IBF Light Heavyweight Championship will take place Saturday, March 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Don King Productions and sponsored by Corona, AT&T, Ford and Rocawear.

The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. The co-main event will be a 12-round fight between top rated undefeated contender Keith Thurman and former World Champion Jan Zaveck for Zaveck’s WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight Championship.

Tickets, priced at $200, $100, $85, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling 800-745-3000.