No one doubts the street cred of Bernard Hopkins, who made his living mugging people in the streets before he got paid to do it in the ring. Growing up in the projects in Philadelphia certainly toughened him, as did a five-year stint in prison for his crimes.
No doubt it helped make him the fighter he is, and probably a big reason why he keeps fighting at the advanced age of 46. No one gave him anything, and no one could have predicted when he lost his first fight in Atlantic City in 1988 that he would enjoy a career as remarkable for his achievements as it is for his longevity.
I?ve always liked Hopkins, even admired the way he turned his life around after leaving prison. One night at a boxing dinner we were discussing how fighters tend to blow their money and he pulled out his wallet to show me his Costco card as a sign of how frugal he is with his own sizable income.
