In 19 years as a professional boxer, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins has accomplished more than anyone except perhaps Evander Holyfield. He’s dominated (not just beaten) the best fighters in his generation and set the record for title defenses in the middleweight division. At one point, he was undefeated for ten years, which is practically unheard of in the sport. Hopkins could walk away from the sport with nothing left to prove, having secured his legacy and earned the respect of everyone, from casual observers and trainers to writers and fighters. Instead, on July 21, 2007, Hopkins will face Winky Wright at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to once again prove he knows himself better than anyone else. Hopkins' generally recognized world light heavyweight championship will be on the line in this 170-pound catchweight fight.
“I always have something to prove. I wouldn’t be taking this fight if I didn’t have anything to prove. That’s what keeps me going—that I’ll always have something,” Hopkins says flatly. “To you all it may seem like I’ve done everything. But every time I step in the ring, I fight [having] something to prove.”
Should Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KOs) defeat Wright, it would mean more than simply besting a defensive, counter-punching genius who has not lost since 1999. It would mean more than emerging victorious against the next best fighter in Hopkins’ generation, one who has routed elite fighters such as Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad and Ike Quartey. It would mean more than having surmounted every obstacle he’s ever had to tackle. It would mean Hopkins hasn’t softened one bit, despite being 42.
“Beating a Winky Wright to me at this age [means] I still continue to do it my way,” says Hopkins simply. “No one can make me think and feel physically that I’m [this old] because they got to constantly remind me of it.”
Oddsmakers have already attempted that by making Wright the betting favorite one week before the bout. For most fighters, being designated the underdog is quite upsetting. Hopkins, though, takes it in stride even if it may bother him a little.
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be written, ain’t it? I operate off that,” Hopkins says. “I was the underdog in my personal life. What else is new? This is what I like. I wouldn’t be comfortable if I wasn’t the underdog. This is where I need to be.”
In the shadows.
For much of his life, Hopkins has gone about unappreciated and overlooked, trudging a rocky path away from the spotlight. He doesn’t have an Olympic medal of which to speak of. He’s never had a pretty face to help him get the big fights, like his promotional partner Oscar De La Hoya. Yet his discipline and persistence have helped him develop into the consummate athlete, one that has outlasted fighters with supposedly more charisma.
Having trekked the path of anonymity for so long has hardened Hopkins. It’s made him a veteran who can trounce opponents on pure grit. Hopkins believes this gives him an edge over Wright.
“Winky’s a passive guy. It’s called personality. My personality is not like Winky’s, my upbringing is not like Winky’s. I think I’ve been through a little bit more than Winky,” Hopkins says. “I’m not in a passive game. And so, I fight the way I talk and I talk the way I fight, and I mean what I say, and I go in that ring and I give myself that thousand and million percent chance of doing what I say.”
Hopkins respects Wright, but it’s evident he is not awed by what his opponent has accomplished over the years. In his last several bouts, Wright has baffled and shut out even the most spirited opponents with his tricky southpaw style. Hopkins, though, isn’t even remotely impressed.
“He’s not the slickest southpaw I’ve fought. I’ve fought many of them. I’ve seen every southpaw that I could imagine on tape or even in the ring and Winky Wright is not one of the slickest ones. He’s one of the adorable ones,” Hopkins says amusedly. “Winky Wright has the ability to absorb a lot of punishment, and that’s where you’ll see a reincarnation of Bernard Hopkins and William Joppy, because I will never stop punching. But his face will change from round one to round two to round three or whenever his corner and the referee feel that he’s had enough.”
To this day, Hopkins’ win over William Joppy in 2003 remains one of his most convincing. While he didn’t knock out Joppy as he predicted, he did register the most dreadful beating to any fighter over twelve rounds in the last several years. After that bout, Joppy’s face was a grotesquely swollen caricature, while Hopkins emerged completely unscathed.
This is what Hopkins thinks he can do to Wright. Why? Because he believes he’s the tougher man. Hopkins knows Wright is intelligent and dedicated. He knows Wright is just as motivated as he is. But as far as pure toughness, Hopkins believes he is simply too much for anyone. Since the bout will be fought at 170 pounds, Hopkins says he’ll have more strength to do anything he wants in the ring.
In the last year of Hopkins’ middleweight reign, he no longer looked like the punishing mauler he was, in say, 2001 when he bum rushed Felix Trinidad. Perhaps fighting at 160 pounds for so long had finally caught up to him.
So Hopkins opted to move to light heavyweight. Against Antonio Tarver a year ago, Hopkins was the physically smaller fighter, yet, he outmuscled his opponent with relative ease. Round after round, Hopkins pressed the action for three whole minutes, battering Tarver with stinging blows from every angle. This surprised observers, who were definitely surprised to see Hopkins could still fight at such a brisk pace.
Though his bout with Wright will be at five pounds lower, Hopkins says he will perform better than he did a year ago versus Tarver. After all, in this fight, Wright, who fought most of his career at 154 pounds, will be the smaller man.
“I’m definitely going to outdo June 10th of 2006. I’m going to make him get out of character and force him to drive a different way, to spear a different way, to fight a different way. I’m going to force him to run,” Hopkins says. “When I was a middleweight, I had to reserve certain things because of certain things that I had to deprive myself of for so many years. Now that I don’t have to do that, I can go full blaze.”
Over the years, many of Hopkins’ opponents have complained he is a dirty fighter when fighting at full blaze, alleging he routinely resorts to head butts and borderline low blows. In the last few days, Wright, too, has called Hopkins dirty. Never one to hold his tongue, Hopkins has quite a lot to say about the matter.
“You mean to tell me my history is based on filth? That what I’ve established in boxing is based on being a dirty fighter? I’ve been called worse names than dirty—I take it as a compliment. If you think I’m dirty for whatever reason, I think you should throw in a Rocky Marciano tape or throw in a Benny Briscoe tape, or go back to the 40s and 50s when they was fighting real fighting. Some boxers, and I’m not going to say all, have became wussies,” Hopkins says. “Winky Wright comes out saying things later on but when he’s in front of me he’s totally different. Right now he wants to plead his case. Winky has the right to defend himself by any means necessary if he feels I’m doing something. He’s just trying to put people on notice for him when things don’t go his way. No matter what: I’m going to kick his ass.”
Such frankness is what people have come to expect from Hopkins. For that reason, Hopkins says those who can should watch him and treasure every minute he throws a jab or circles the ring.
“I’m going to show that Bernard Hopkins is going to be very missed when he leaves. I don’t like being on a stage and telling you what happened and what didn’t happen. I like to tell you what I said I told you prior to it happening. Some people ain’t comfortable on telling you what they’re going to do and live and guide by that. Some people just don’t have it,” says Hopkins. “Be careful what you ask for because when I do go, this must be a time when you say, ‘We wish Bernard Hopkins was around at least for a sound byte.’ If you can do it with pride and you can do it with dignity and not embarrass yourself, your family and your sport, fight on because everybody don’t get the luxury of doing that.”
