With AARP knocking on his door and a real-life Ivan Drago awaiting in the ring, Bernard Hopkins can be forgiven if he can’t understand why he still has to talk up his accomplishments, which are unprecedented.
For Hopkins, 50 is the new 25. And on Jan. 15, the outspoken Philadelphian who calls himself “The Alien,” will celebrate a half century of life.
Yet, through unimaginable discipline that never wavers ? though he did reward himself with a piece of cheesecake after becoming boxing’s oldest champion in 2011 ? Hopkins has maintained the body of a man half his age. Doctors have confirmed it. He’s accomplished this by rarely putting anything unhealthy in his body and an unquenchable thirst for training. And perhaps most important, by living the boxer’s credo: Hit and don’t get hit. He’s never been knocked out or stopped.
Before he reaches a milestone no active boxing champion has come close to seeing, Hopkins will fight for the last time as a 40-something on Saturday night.
He puts his spartan-like discipline to the ultimate test in what could be his toughest battle in a decade when he faces undefeated Russian knockout artist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, 31, in a 12-round light-heavyweight title unification bout at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (HBO, 10:45 p.m. ET). It will be Hopkins’ 17th fight since turning 40.
He has remained a champion in a sport that has proved too brutal for much younger men, let alone one weeks away from “The halftime of life,” as Hopkins puts it. He has held off Father Time by regularly outsmarting disbelieving boxers young enough to be his son. He swears it’s because he’s different from the rest of us. He’s an alien from another world, he tells anyone who will listen.
Breaking down Hopkins-Kovalev
Hopkins vs. Kovalev happens Saturday, Nov. 8 live on HBO beginning at 10:45 p.m. ET/PT.
“I don’t mind that it took this long for people to understand that everything I’ve talked and preached about ? and I did a lot of talking ? is manifested now,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “The way I took care of my body and the way I go back in the gym win, lose or draw after a fight, and keep my weight to where it ain’t 30, 40, 60 pounds (to lose), it’s 8 or 10 pounds.
“These things pay big, big interest in what I’ve invested in. The principal is me. The interest is what you’re seeing.”
What you’re seeing is a fighter who sets records every time his hand is raised in the ring. He’s already boxing’s oldest champion and the oldest to unify titles. And he strongly believes that his story is underplayed.
He told ESPN.com this week that he’s not getting the attention he deserves because he is black. But that ignores the fact that Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather are black and remain among the most popular fighters of all time.
Still, it’s hard to believe that what Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) has achieved is not one of the great sporting feats of all time.
He holds the record for most consecutive successful title defenses as a middleweight (20) and prides himself on not ducking anyone during a 26-year career that began with a loss. At 39, Hopkins knocked out future Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya, when the Golden Boy was in his prime. He stopped Felix Trinidad in 2001, when Trinidad was 40-0 with 33 KOs.
He believes that’s what will ultimately set him apart from Mayweather, who is unbeaten but has been criticized for not fighting the best, including Manny Pacquiao.
B-Hop’s greatest hits
Take a look at the career of the oldest boxer to win a world title. Hopkins vs. Kovalev happens Saturday, Nov. 8 live on HBO beginning at 10:45 p.m. ET/PT.
“The fans are my judge, and the historians, when I’m done boxing, they will be my judge, too, and they will say, ‘Yeah, Bernard has some losses on his record, but he fought everybody’,” Hopkins says.
“Love me or hate me, distasteful press conferences or not in the past, at the end of the day, Bernard Hopkins never ducked no one. I’d rather go with that on my tombstone. Ray Robinson, Ali, Joe Frazier, Marvin Hagler, Ray Leonard, I’m not them but I’m cut from that cloth.”
Which is where he finds himself this weekend, facing a man with punching power so devastating that Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) actually beat a man to death in the ring. Roman Simakov lapsed into a coma and died three days after their brutal bout in 2011. But that only whets Hopkins’ appetite for a challenge some see as beyond his capabilities.
“This is important to me. If I gotta be carried out, dammit, get the stretcher ready for me,” he says. “Because that’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to win this fight. It’s significant to Plan B and C and D in my life. There’s no compromising on my end.
“When you see a man that’s two months and seven days away from being 50 years old fighting a ‘pure’ Russian, if you’re not motivated by that, I can’t help you.”
Kovalev is aware that Hopkins has consistently gotten in his opponents’ heads, and understands he’s not facing an aging fighter, but one of the smartest to ever lace up the gloves.
“I know this is a dangerous fight,” Kovalev said this week. “Fifty is just a number. I think nothing of his age. If he was old he would be retired, but he’s still in there.
“He’s not an old man, he’s a young alien. I think when he’s 60 years old, he’ll be in the same condition.”
Kovalev, who has 13 consecutive knockouts sandwiched around a technical draw, is concerned about Hopkins’ reputation as a dirty fighter. He says if Hopkins fights dirty, he will resort to the same. Hopkins shrugs that off like he’s ducking a punch.
“I’m not a dirty fighter, but I’m a smart fighter,” Hopkins says. “Fighters do what they can get away with. The referee is the third guy in the ring, and he will oversee what’s dirty and what’s not dirty.
“Listen, you’re making millions of dollars in 36 minutes, and somebody says you’re a dirty fighter? Show me a clean fighter. What is a clean fighter? Fighting is not clean. Things happen.
“Just watch on Nov. 8. I’m going to show you how dumb he is and how smart I am. It has nothing to do with reading, nothing to do with spelling. He might be smarter than me in both of those. But when he gets in that ring, you’re going to see a Ph.D and a GED.”
