Hopkins Wins Title At 48, Bernard Hopkins is more grill master than grill pitchman, willing to fire it up for hunks of organic chicken or fresh salmon. Maybe some buffalo.
When he’s not always cooking his own meals, Hopkins shifts interests toward tasteful decor. He keeps his eyes peeled _ and behind Prada glasses _ for the latest trends in interior decorating so he can spruce up his Philadelphia condo or other properties.
When he’s not always cooking his own meals, Hopkins shifts interests toward tasteful decor. He keeps his eyes peeled _ and behind Prada glasses _ for the latest trends in interior decorating so he can spruce up his Philadelphia condo or other properties.
“I’ve sort of got an eye for nice things,” he said.
And that’s a good thing. Because Hopkins can land another accessory that he can’t buy at Whole Foods or charge at a swanky retail store. At 48, Hopkins is not only still fighting, he’s trying to break his own record as the oldest boxer to win a major championship. His longevity is legendary in a sport that can chew up and knock out the best long before 40, or, at worst, leave an aging prize fighter a battered shell of his prime.
His 63rd career pro bout ahead, Hopkins has no interest in growing into another sad statistic. He vows he’ll leave the sport the same way he’s spent his career _ on his feet and on top.
At some point, Hopkins will retire. He has to, right? He’ll get beat bad and go out with critics howling he hung on too long or win a belt and quit as an I-told-you-so champion.
Either way, Hopkins will eventually decide it’s time to hang up the gloves. Hopkins will not fight until he’s collecting Social Security.
Then again, Hopkins heard the calls to retire at 40. And at 45. The years go on.
Yet, here he is, still eschewing booze, desserts and any desire to retire on anyone’s terms but his own. Hopkins will try to prove he’s still championship material when he fights undefeated Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs) for a piece of the 175-pound light heavyweight title Saturday night at Barclays Center in New York. Hopkins dethroned George Foreman as the oldest boxer to win a world title when he beat Jean Pascal in 2011. Foreman was 45 years, 10 months when he knocked out heavyweight champion Michael Moorer in 1994. Hopkins was 46 years, 4 months and 6 days in his bout with Pascal.
Hopkins hasn’t fought since he dropped the WBC light heavyweight title in a majority decision to Chad Dawson in April 2012. One more loss, and Hopkins could find title fights and premium cable network bouts dry up as a new generation of fighters _ like fellow Philadelphian Danny Garcia _ take charge.
“I know my performance is going to make some people happy,” Hopkins said, “and it’s going to make some people wish I’d get out of the way.”
Hopkins has never been about glitz and knockout power, but of crafting a disciplined career straight from the pages of March Madness. Survive and advance. Never a stylistically crowd-pleasing fighter, Hopkins hasn’t knocked out an opponent since Oscar De La Hoya in September 2004 _ 14 fights ago.
His bouts have been decided by decision since, except for a draw in the first Jean Pascal fight in 2010 and an ugly no-contest in the first Dawson fight.
So why keep fighting? Why not retire? Hopkins will answer some form of that question more times in a news conference than all his fights over a decade.
He has no shortage of answers for why he’s facing Cloud, from money (“I’m just getting what was there years ago, but they gave to James Toney and Roy Jones.”) to finishing off faded promoter Don King’s dwindling stable (“I’ve made a career off his guys.”) to proving he’s still the ferocious competitor of a decade ago when he successfully defended his middleweight title a whopping 20 straight times (“It takes away from my legacy when I don’t win.”).
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/8/at-48-hopkins-still-chasing-championship-history/#ixzz2NB9s22Ur
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