Undisputed middeweight champion, pound for pound king Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins told Boxingtalk.com, "My best friend Zab 'Super' Judah wanted the chance and knew he could beat Cory Spinks. How did he prove that he wanted the opportunity to do what others thought he couldn't do? He didn't let anything stop him from fighting for that championship and he fought him in his hometown. I'm not going to argue back and forth with them, I'm just putting it out there.For years Greg, I got beat in the head by people criticizing me for decisions I made or did not make, but now they're giving me manager of the year."
"But look, Zab Judah went to Cory Spinks hometown and fought him for $100,000 because they understood that they could beat Cory Spinks. So who are they fooling by thinking they're heir apparent? The numbers that you heard are accurate, the deadline Arnold gave you is accurate, talking to Arnold it's like me speaking. They have 24 hours. Jermain Taylor unfortunately doesn't know what's going on from what he's told because unfortunately a lot of boxers are ignorant to the business and ignorance is something that I came from early on when I was ignorant to the business. But I learned that it's best for me not to be ignorant of the business for me and my family."
"I don't even think that Jermain Taylor even knows that he's been offered twice the number that he got for his last two fights. This is the last conversation I'm having about this. For so many years I've been the rabbit and I've been on the run, and I'm not giving up no belt for free, they're going to have to work for it. I got them hostage since 2001 and the IBF since 1995. There's not going to be any free rides here belts are won and lost in the ring. Let me tell you another thing that needs to be put out there and people need to understand. Jermain Taylor might be the heir apparent later on, but right now he has to prove that and the jury is still out if you believe the polls.
"The deadline is accurate Jermain Taylor has 24 hours to get out of town, or better yet, he has 24 hours to get into town. Otherwise I'm not even going to talk about this fight anymore. Schaefer is going to get his orders from Bernard Hopkins and this isn't going to be a back and forth thing. This is the last time I'm going to be dealing with this, I've spent enough time dealing with this. The world sees Lou DiBella, Jimmy Binz and anyone else who advocates they got the heir apparent or they're ready. The question is out on if father time is knocking, I'm saying fine! It was a great promotion that got people talking and Greg has to agree with that. But if they find a way to not make it happen in the next 24 hours, that's on them. My career wasn't based and predicated on Jermain Taylor, Roy Jones, or Felix Trinidad. I don't care if I fight any of these guys again. It doesn't matter to me anymore Greg.
"Right now I'm looking to be fair and firm and I'm only looking to do three more big PPV fights to salvage boxing and to make history whether they're a light heavyweight or middleweight and the only thing that can stop the fights from happening is the other side being greedy because they don't really want the fight. My phone is starting to act funny and it got no bars, but they got 24 to get into town. It's not a threat. If they really feel that they've got the heir apparent, the man to beat the man who ruled the last decade and get paid handsomely for it, while getting a chance to fight for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world. Zab Judah fought for $100,000 gross, not net. And to me, that's a true champion. Maybe DiBella and Jermain Taylor need to talk to Zab Judah about how important it is to be the best by any means necessary."
Hopkins phone cut off before we were able to get any questions in. Look for more with the pound for pound king once his phone juices up.
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