http://www.boxingscene.com/hopkins-moving-down-eyes-final-bout-with-champion--84138
Bernard Hopkins will return to the ring despite losing to Sergey Kovalev last weekend. The 49-year-old former champion on Tuesday ended speculation that he was ready to retire by saying he would fight "one more time".
Hopkins, who failed to win a round on any of the scorecards in the light heavyweight title unification bout against Kovalev, said in a telephone interview with Fox Sports:
“Who will I fight? I don't know. But it will be somebody I will be an underdog against because I want to be the underdog. If this is the last time I'm going into the ring, I will not cheat myself. It will not be a freak show. I will never short-change myself and my dignity."
Hopkins, who defended world middleweight titles a record 20 times from 1995 to 2005 and has never been knocked out, was knocked down in the first round when he faced the Russian, 18 years his junior, last weekend.
But “The Executioner” was back in the gym on Monday. "Physically, if you see me today, you'd think I didn't have a fight [on Saturday]," he said.
"But inside, trust me … my arms and the back of my head and the top of my head, oh yeah, I was in a fight. I've been in the hot tub for the last 48 hours."
Kovalev, who now lives in Los Angeles, retained his WBO title and took over Hopkins's IBF and WBA belts. He boosted his record to 26-0-1, including 23 knockouts.
"I had the most underrated chin in boxing but I think that changed on Saturday," said Hopkins. "I've never been in this business to prove I can take a punch. That's why I've been around so long.
"People said I was crazy to fight him. Whether it's in boxing, sport or even in life, you just have to man up. And you know what I've been hearing? People who started off rooting for the young guy ended up rooting for the old guy."
Hopkins, who turns 50 in January, has compiled a record of 55-7-2, including 32 knockouts, in his 26-year career.
He insisted he would not "cherry pick" his last opponent.
"It will be somebody that's a champion," he said. "It will be from a division beneath me but where they're comfortable and I'm comfortable. It will be someone that's dominating today.
"I'm going to do it the way I've done it my whole career. People respect you for fighting fights that others run away from. I want to fight the best, no matter how it pans out."
http://www.fighthype.com/news/article18438.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
According to Matt Breen of philly.com, future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins is eyeing one more farewell bout in 2015 before he calls it a career. "It isn't going to be a cheap, cheesy one. 'I'm done, I'm going, had a great time, bye ya'll.' This is going to be a thing where I want you to get dressed up. I want you to come. I want you to have a little hors d'oeuvre. I want you to get ready for the fight," Hopkins stated when asked about retirement. On Monday, the 49-year-old was reportedly already back in the gym following his disappointing shutout loss to unified WBA, IBF, & WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
"The word is if. I'm not doing it unless it's what I want. If it's the one I want and we do it - and it can be done - I won't stay," Hopkins continued, explaining that he's hoping for a "one and done" ending to his storied career. The question is, who is the one? Some might think that the living legend would want a soft touch after going 12 rounds with the hard-hitting Kovalev in a bout that saw him take more punishment than he ever has in his career. But such is not the case with Hopkins. The man he's hoping to face is yet another hard-hitting, albeit smaller, wrecking machine...undefeated middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
"This is the Brett Favre of boxing leaving. This is Roger Staubach in his time leaving the game. This is Michael Jordan leaving the game, playing in the Finals one more time," Hopkins added. Although Hopkins was unable to mount any type of competitive offense against Kovalev and it appears Father Time has indeed caught up to him, the fact that Golovkin would be the naturally smaller man in the fight makes the idea of Hopkins vs. Golovkin somewhat intriguing. Time will tell if this is just talk or if the fight could actually come to fruition in the future.
@krackdagawd
Bernard Hopkins will return to the ring despite losing to Sergey Kovalev last weekend. The 49-year-old former champion on Tuesday ended speculation that he was ready to retire by saying he would fight "one more time".
Hopkins, who failed to win a round on any of the scorecards in the light heavyweight title unification bout against Kovalev, said in a telephone interview with Fox Sports:
“Who will I fight? I don't know. But it will be somebody I will be an underdog against because I want to be the underdog. If this is the last time I'm going into the ring, I will not cheat myself. It will not be a freak show. I will never short-change myself and my dignity."
Hopkins, who defended world middleweight titles a record 20 times from 1995 to 2005 and has never been knocked out, was knocked down in the first round when he faced the Russian, 18 years his junior, last weekend.
But “The Executioner” was back in the gym on Monday. "Physically, if you see me today, you'd think I didn't have a fight [on Saturday]," he said.
"But inside, trust me … my arms and the back of my head and the top of my head, oh yeah, I was in a fight. I've been in the hot tub for the last 48 hours."
Kovalev, who now lives in Los Angeles, retained his WBO title and took over Hopkins's IBF and WBA belts. He boosted his record to 26-0-1, including 23 knockouts.
"I had the most underrated chin in boxing but I think that changed on Saturday," said Hopkins. "I've never been in this business to prove I can take a punch. That's why I've been around so long.
"People said I was crazy to fight him. Whether it's in boxing, sport or even in life, you just have to man up. And you know what I've been hearing? People who started off rooting for the young guy ended up rooting for the old guy."
Hopkins, who turns 50 in January, has compiled a record of 55-7-2, including 32 knockouts, in his 26-year career.
He insisted he would not "cherry pick" his last opponent.
"It will be somebody that's a champion," he said. "It will be from a division beneath me but where they're comfortable and I'm comfortable. It will be someone that's dominating today.
"I'm going to do it the way I've done it my whole career. People respect you for fighting fights that others run away from. I want to fight the best, no matter how it pans out."
http://www.fighthype.com/news/article18438.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
According to Matt Breen of philly.com, future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins is eyeing one more farewell bout in 2015 before he calls it a career. "It isn't going to be a cheap, cheesy one. 'I'm done, I'm going, had a great time, bye ya'll.' This is going to be a thing where I want you to get dressed up. I want you to come. I want you to have a little hors d'oeuvre. I want you to get ready for the fight," Hopkins stated when asked about retirement. On Monday, the 49-year-old was reportedly already back in the gym following his disappointing shutout loss to unified WBA, IBF, & WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
"The word is if. I'm not doing it unless it's what I want. If it's the one I want and we do it - and it can be done - I won't stay," Hopkins continued, explaining that he's hoping for a "one and done" ending to his storied career. The question is, who is the one? Some might think that the living legend would want a soft touch after going 12 rounds with the hard-hitting Kovalev in a bout that saw him take more punishment than he ever has in his career. But such is not the case with Hopkins. The man he's hoping to face is yet another hard-hitting, albeit smaller, wrecking machine...undefeated middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
"This is the Brett Favre of boxing leaving. This is Roger Staubach in his time leaving the game. This is Michael Jordan leaving the game, playing in the Finals one more time," Hopkins added. Although Hopkins was unable to mount any type of competitive offense against Kovalev and it appears Father Time has indeed caught up to him, the fact that Golovkin would be the naturally smaller man in the fight makes the idea of Hopkins vs. Golovkin somewhat intriguing. Time will tell if this is just talk or if the fight could actually come to fruition in the future.
@krackdagawd
Last edited:
