He failed to address his intergalactic rebranding during yesterday?s conference call. He did, however, talk about Bernard Hopkins?
It?s easier to change one?s ring moniker than it is to change one?s essence. If you don?t believe me, just ask Bernard Hopkins.
The IBF light heavyweight champion recently changed his longtime nom de guerre from The Executioner?which along with the oversimplified X and the hip-hop tinged B-Hop are the nicknames by which he was best known?to the mysterious, otherworldly The Alien.
Presumably James Cameron wasn?t consulted. Neither was Klaatu, the turbocharged creature from outer space in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Hopkins failed to address his intergalactic rebranding during yesterday?s teleconference call (to the chagrin of sci-fi fans the world over). He did, however, talk about Bernard Hopkins
?It?s good to be back home in Atlantic City where my first fight was at in 1988,? he said. ?I?ve been there a few times, but to come there again at this stage is pretty exciting. It?s pretty exciting in a lot of ways. This never gets old for me. That?s been a love that?s still there and the energy is still there because this never gets old for me. You can?t do it all your life, but it never gets old. And when it gets old it gets kind of through the motions. When that happens there can?t be nothing positive come out of that.?
Not everyone is thrilled that Hopkins is fighting Karo Murat, but he was only too happy to explain.
?I know that there?s light at the end of the tunnel. In this case, there?s what I consider a superfight at the end of this title, whether it?s my division or some other division. But I know one thing, before you get to the Tootsie Roll you?ve got to do a lot of licking. That?s not in a disrespectful way, but it?s in a way of knowing that you got to get through the prize before you get down into that box of the Cracker Jacks and you get the prize.?
You might ask yourself what Tootsie Rolls and Cracker Jacks have to do with boxing, but if you do, you don?t know Bernard Hopkins.
Hopkins is many things. He is legendary. He is megalomaniacal. He?s the fight game?s Harry Houdini. But Hopkins, say what you will, has stood the test of time, just as time as stood the test of him.
?I?m in the second era of somebody else?s era,? The Alien said. ?I?m in the Broner and the Danny Garcias and the other fighters I could mention era. I extended the era of my era to this era, and I just have to just go ahead and just go in there with that youthful thinking?I don?t think nobody really, really, if they look at, are surprised that I?m really here. I guess they?d be surprised why I?m still doing it because I shouldn?t mentally and physically be motivated to do it anymore, but that?s not necessarily true when it comes to me because I?m ready, I?m ready and I?ll always be ready.?
Murat spoke disparagingly of Hopkins? ?gray beard? and ?gray hair.?
?When he said gray, he?s talking old. No question, I have gray. No question, when my hair grows I?m a gray beard and gray everything, but the gray is wisdom. Obviously he?s not paying attention to the guys that I?ve fought that are ten years younger than him, or at least eight or nine years younger than him. When you?re young, you try to find excuses why a 48-year-old guy shouldn?t beat you, and when you get in the ring, and you realize you in the ring with me, and you see that it isn?t as easy as you might see, that?s the ultimate shock and surprise. Always, always catch a person that?s not prepared off guard.
?The unknown is not actually knowing or not knowing what you see. He?s seeing what he thinks he?s seeing, but it?s a whole new different story, and this is an experienced guy talking to you. When you get in that ring, you realize that you?re not faster than me. You realize that you?re not an all-around fighter better than me. You realize that there are stages in life like there are stages in boxing.
?When you get in that ring and you come with a checkerboard, and you?re trying to beat me, and I got a chessboard, playing chess, then you in a situation where you?re like, ?Oh my God, he really is an alien.? He?ll start admiring my work.?
Someone asked Hopkins the most important lesson he learned in boxing.
?Never take anyone for granted or lightly. Always look at your opponent as the enemy who?s trying to take your spot, who?s trying to take everything you work for or try to enhance his career off of your legacy?Never underestimate your opponent. Never underestimate your enemy. Never underestimate the next general.?
Inevitably, Hopkins was asked about possibly coming down in weight to fight pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
?I had no conversations,? Hopkins said, ?but it was a conversation said to me. They didn?t act like they were joking, and we?re talking powerful people. So I?m sitting back saying, ?Okay, hey, you know,? because no one else is going to beat Floyd Mayweather in their 20s and even in their early 30s. Not this checkerboard man colony, young fighters who can be great later, but right now they just don?t have the degrees to do it. So that?s the only reason I threw my hat in there.
?So my thing is it will be at 160 pounds. I look at Henry Armstrong and look at all them other guys, even De La Hoya, who?s not a big middleweight, who came up to challenge Bernard Hopkins at 160 because I cleaned everybody out for the only belt that I didn?t have, which was a WBO belt. So this happened in history before. You hear people say, ?The guy?s too big. The guy?s too small.? But it?s been done by historic great fighters before so that?s what I?m saying. I live in a different era than my era. It?s kind of a little strange to me, but I understand. I don?t accept, but I understand.?
