One of the most prolific and charismatic prizefighters in boxing, Bernard Hopkins was in the Rio Grande Valley in his role as an associate partner of Golden Boy Promotions, which is promoting the "Valley of Legends" fight card. Hopkins lays out the gauntlet on a big announcement through Fightnews. "Still got the fire still got the legs, I'm out of retirement, this is the first announcement. Bernard Hopkins is out of retirement!"
Hopkins also commented on the match up between Floyd and his partner Oscar.
"Oscar De La Hoya stops Floyd in the later rounds, takes him to school first and then he gets rid of him," said Bernard about the upcoming Cinco De Mayo battle between the Golden Boy and the Pretty Boy.
Talk to us Bernard.
First of all, I would like to thank all my fans over at Fightnews that have followed me for over ten years now, which is the most if not the undisputed website on the Internet for boxing. I Feel great, I'm here as a partner of Golden Boy Promotions to run the company. Oscar will be here tomorrow, my nephew is fighting for the number one spot of the IBF and he's defending his USBA championship in the same process. He is fighting a tough guy whose been known to hang in there with the best and then you got Marquez, I mean what can I say about Marquez but good stuff? He is a future Mexican legend that's ready to show his skills to his fans and to the people around the world in boxing, who should take a look at this guy on HBO boxing after dark which is here (Rio Grande Valley) for the second time now but you know hopefully we can bring more shows with Golden Boy here to the Valley.
You like it here?
Oh, (with a grin and smile) do I like…come on? I'm in Hooters, you are in Hooters. You got a smile on your face, I got a smile on my face. Soon as I got off the plane man, people recognized me in the airport. Not that I was overly shocked but I mean but it's easy to get recognized in New York or Philly or big towns and you know Texas is real big, even in this part of the Valley man where 99.9 percent are Mexican culture and they respect me. Having fought two legends of Hispanic history like Tito (Felix Trinidad) in 2001 and, of course, Oscar De La Hoya in 2003, people respect me for not only my deeds in boxing but because I am a humble but a confident man. Now that Oscar is my partner, I got a few girls looking at me saying I'm a cute man all of sudden and I don't know if that comes from being around Oscar or somehow I'm starting to transform in peoples' eyes than the way they looked at me before. This is hard work but it's fun work. Golden Boy is here to stay for a long, long time. I want to go on record and say that we are the premiere promoters, not only in this era but as time goes on in the future. We are the promoters that the fighters want to be with. They said this relationship wouldn't work, people mocked us, they talked about us and they laughed at us. But as Ghandi said "at the end, we win" and we are going to win at the end. In the next year, ten years, twenty years. Time is on our side, as businessmen, as promoters, God is on our side. The time we live and die on this earth, age-wise, time is on our side. Every other promoter can not say that. I'm not going to mention names, but time is on our side.
You look good Bernard, in fact maybe 185? (Hopkins put on muscle weight on his biceps and shoulders and looks like might have been on a weight gain training program)
You are very, very close Jose. It's no secret that I weighed on the scale today.They weighed me, the guy in the white shirt (Dickie Cole, Official for the State of Texas Athletic Commision) weighed me, 190, I feel good dawg.
You look like you are ready to get back in the ring. Last time we saw you in the ring, you picked apart Antonio Tarver, who was considered the best light-heavy weight in the world and you made it look easy.
Yes and yes it was.
What's this I hear about you and Oleg Maskaev?
If the opportunity lays out to be fair on my side, fair on the Golden Boy side, you will see the most historic, the most anticipated, the most courageous thing that anybody in boxing will ever witness. Bernard Hopkins for one of the first times in over ten years, went up two weight classes and dethroned Antonio Tarver, who at that time was considered the legend killer. Now I'm telling the world and I'm telling the critics. I am telling the United States sports fans and even corporate people and I hope they get on board to witness a middleweight champion, who became a light-heavyweight champion, and will jump up two more weight classes past 190 which is cruiserweight and take on a heavyweight champion and dethrone him.
That is the only thing in boxing that I can see that can outdo what I did with Tarver, June 10th 2006. That's the only thing that will get Bernard Hopkins back to the ring, which is to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, to be motivated to leave a legendary performance that will supersede and pass the June 10th with Antonio Tarver. That is the only risk that I will be motivated to train as hard as I always did. To go in there with the mentality of upsetting the world, upsetting the critics and cementing my name further more in boxing history for all times. That's the motivation, that's history and a lot comes with that, when you do that.
What are your thoughts about James Toney and how he has handled his transition from middleweight to heavyweight? By no means is he in the fit shape that you would be at going up in weight but his skills can not be denied.
To see James Toney fight at 160, 168 and then 175 right to heavyweight. I believe he fought at 190 at one time. That shows you that it can be done. The only thing James Toney in his whole career had problems with, was his weight, up and down. You take that (having to make weight) away from James Toney. Toney, was to me in my era, the most defensive, the hardest to hit fighter in my era. He had a style, the roll with your shoulders, the roll with your head. I adopted that style and added on to what I've been doing over the years, that's why people started to recognize what I had and have as the most underrated defensive fighter of all times, because people never took a look at the great defense. You can ask Jermain Taylor or any other one of my opponents, I'm not the easiest guy to hit. As a matter of fact, It's a job, it's a strategy. It's a whole new different plan, how to hit Bernard Hopkins, how get to Bernard Hopkins. James Toney contributed to that, whether he knew that, whether he believes that, me and James Toney are friends but the difference between me and James Toney was that I always took care of my body the correct way. I never ballooned myself out of 160 and didn't balloon myself out of 175, so I'm at weight right now that by the end of December I will be a considered and a bonified serious, serious player at least for this particular fight, for the heavyweight championship of the world. I can feel that in my shoulders and my height caries the weight. Just think about it, how hard was it for me to make 160 if I'm carrying this weight this well. When people have really witnessed this and start to pay attention. They are saying "wait a minute, he looks better". I had to work hard for those years and I still made history in those years and still I wouldn't do anything else, probably a Hall of Famer in one ballot. Now that I have this, which is what I consider now to be a new body, much older, 42 in January. Still got the fire still got the legs, I'm out of retirement, this is the first announcement. Bernard Hopkins is out of retirement. Bernard Hopkins is going to fight until he can't fight no more. Bernard Hopkins has a good three to four years of boxing to give the world what they need. Boxing right now needs Bernard Hopkins. Boxing needs the personality of Bernard Hopkins, boxing don't need me per say as an athlete but they need my personality. No one in the world does an interview like Bernard Hopkins, no one holds it down like Bernard Hopkins, love me or hate me. You will get a sound byte whether you agree or disagree with me and at the end of the day when you sit ringside, you know Bernard Hopkins will give a Bernard Hopkins performance. Win, lose or draw Bernard Hopkins is going to be Bernard Hopkins. Love me or hate me, they will never be another one like me, there will never be another determined athlete who would take the risk and the chance to become great. There is not too many people that have the same spirit that Bernard Hopkins have.
Speaking of great fighters like yourself, your associate Oscar De La Hoya is set to fight on Cinco De Mayo against the proclaimed pound for pound best fighter in the world Floyd Mayweather.
Floyd right now is the pound for pound best fighter in the world and that is the only reasons that I believe Oscar De La Hoya is fighting him, because he is the best and for Oscar to go out, if he goes out, I hope he don't because Oscar has more fights, I am going on record right now, saying that my partner Oscar De La Hoya stops Floyd Mayweather late in the fight. He knocks Floyd Mayweather out, KO, TKO, stops the fight. However you want to look at it, Oscar De La Hoya stops Floyd Mayweather in the later rounds.
Do you think Floyd will stick around (exchange hard punches with Oscar) to get hit? Maybe he will (get on his bicycle) run around?
Floyd don't run from nobody, Floyd is not a guy that runs, I have never seen Floyd run. I have seen Floyd counter punch, I have seen Floyd move. I have seen Floyd use his speed, use his quickness but I have never seen Floyd box. Floyd don't box, he hasn't had to box, over the years because he had fighters, most of them, that stood in front of him trying to outmatch his wit, his speed and his accuracy of being able to counter. Never to pull the guy in and make the guy miss and make the guy pay. Oscar De La Hoya is not a one-punch methodical fighter. Oscar De La Hoya throws punches like a machine gun firing. He is not going to be there to get countered with the roll. You have got to look at it. Oscar De La Hoya is being trained by a guy (Floyd Sr., Jr's. father) who taught Floyd Mayweather Jr. So, If I'm a mechanic and I put a car together, I can teach the guy how to drive the car. A guy not driving the car, would be in the situation that he would have to find his way. But I'm the guy that made the car, and I could be the guy that could destroy the car, I know the potholes in the car, I know how the car handles, I know how the car grips, I know how the car takes off and I'm going to teach the driver how to handle the car. There so many things in that fight that I see that would be great and what better place -- I think personally the fight should probably would take place in LA, Staples Center. Bring out all the stars. You will see Barbara Streisand, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, you will see Majic Johnson and you will see some people coming back from the grave.
How would like to close the interview Bernard?
I would like close this interview with you by saying that in the year 2007 Golden Boy Promotions will go even further in the boxing world. We will bring out the corporate sponsors that left us 20 years ago. 2007 is going to be a year that the Golden Boy company will cement his legacy for the future.
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