Bernard Hopkins: “Most people are looking for me to beat Chad Dawson, well they’re absolutely right! But it’s the way I beat him that I think they’re going to be shocked and surprised about.”

by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 144th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with reigning WBC light heavyweight world champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) who made history in May when he became the oldest boxer to ever win a major world championship. Hopkins is scheduled to defend his title on October 15 against “Bad” Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs) in a fight that will be available on HBO pay-per-view. Hopkins spoke about his upcoming fight and also shared his views on a variety of other topics, including the importance of having an old school corner, the key to beating Floyd Mayweather Junior, top boxing trainers, Antonio Tarver, and his vision for a battlefield in the cruiserweight division that would include migrating smaller heavyweights and bigger light heavyweights. Here is a complete transcript from that interview:

JENNA J: It is time for our final guest of this week’s show. He is the reigning defending WBC and Ring Magazine light heavyweight champion of the world. Making his eighth appearance to On the Ropes Boxing Radio we are once again joined by “The Executioner”, Bernard Hopkins. How’s everything going today?

BERNARD HOPKINS: I’m doing fine. I’m looking at some history and just winding down, and then winding back up in another four hours before I head out to the gym.

JENNA: Alright well the fight is less than three weeks away. How are you feeling now?

HOPKINS: I’m feeling good. I mean it’s a thing, a process that started four or five weeks ago. But everything is good. Everything is on time and everything is moving the way it’s supposed to.

JENNA: So what things are you working on in camp with Nazim to deal with someone that has the speed and size of Chad Dawson?

HOPKINS: Basically, you know, be me and do what I’ve been doing for two decades in my career. As you know and for people that haven’t known, this is 13, maybe 12 southpaws that I’ve fought, especially in championship bouts. So I’m very aware of the style and what to do. I’m 12-1 with southpaws and some people could easily argue that I’m 13-0 if you go to the Joe Calzaghe split decision loss. Other than that, I don’t like to use the phrase “business as usual” even though I just said it. I take every fight seriously, but to me it is a thing where I understand where I need to be and I understand what I need to do.

JENNA: Okay well the last time we had you on you said you weren’t fighting Chad Dawson, you’d be fighting Emanuel Steward and have to deal with his legend to win this fight. Emanuel is no longer involved. How do you think that changes the fight?

HOPKINS: Well it doesn’t change the bout for me. I think it changes the bout for Chad Dawson because it’s his situation and it’s not mine. My focus has always been that not only am I going to win the title, but I’m going to defend the title. So I look at it like this. The only way I’m worried about who he has and who he doesn’t have is if God is on his side. If God is on his side I don’t have a chance, but I understand that He’s on mine and I’m going to prove it. So he can have Emanuel Steward, he can have the great Angelo Dundee. It doesn’t matter to me. When I go into the ring, I go in the ring knowing that physically and with my IQ being so far past Chad Dawson’s IQ that a lot of people are going to be shocked by how the fight goes. I think that’s where it’s going to put me in a different stage of conversation again, other than the last two fights. Emanuel left some good wisdom in him I believe. Emanuel worked with him, so I believe that he still gets advice and still gets some good pointers from Emanuel here and there, but whether he’s in his corner or not it’s cool. Just move on to whoever is going to be giving him the information. When it’s said and done, fighters fight! You go in the ring, you got to do what you got to do, and you got to come through when the action is heating up or when the action is in progress. So I’m good. I’m cool! I think it’s more his problem, if it is a problem, because to me it doesn’t matter. It just gives me one less thing to concentrate on. Like you just mentioned and I knew about it, you scratch that out and that’s one situation that I don’t have to deal with.

JENNA: Okay well Bernard, you’re a guy who in your career has always thrived when people doubted you, but for this fight many people are favoring you to beat Chad Dawson. How does that perception change or affect you at all?

HOPKINS: Not for me, because that’s when you really need to be on your P’s and Q’s. It could be a strategy of trickery and boring. So you only get bored mentally. You don’t want to think that they’re going to give me anything. I’ve been down that road before. I’ve been down that road with Jermain Taylor. I’ve been that way with Joe Calzaghe. I’ve been that way in my life sentence on different stuff. SO I don’t want to be the underdog and I won’t be the underdog because when I set my mind, which has been my biggest plus, if it’s 3 to 1, 4 to 1, 5 to 1, 6 to 1, 10 to 1, in Bernard’s a favorite I reverse it! So no matter what, I’m always going to think and always going in with that demeanor and that spirit and that hard work that I do in the gym, to know that I got to do above and beyond because I’m 46 years old, because I want to show everybody that I’m fighting like I’m 26 or 36. So that in itself puts me in a situation where whether I feel that I’m the favorite or the underdog, I have to do above and beyond just for what I represent in today’s world of athleticism and sports. That is that you have a senior citizen in the sport where you definitely need, you’re not a heavyweight—you need these things what you call reflexes, speed, endurance, and all of the other things that have to do with youth. I’m going to support that come October 15 and I have to represent it.

I look at it as a brand right now. I look at it as the more I’m successful, the more I can show the opposite of what somebody at home on a couch watching my fight saying, “Wow, I’m 45, I’m 46, I’m 47, I’m 50, and I don’t feel this way. Let me get myself in shape! Let me get some inspiration through Bernard Hopkins”, and I got the chance to make that brand come into existence right now. Why not do it outside of where I come from, and that’s boxing. So I’m putting unnecessary motivation that I need for my own self past boxing, outside of boxing. I have an agenda! I have a commercial agenda, I have an add to my legacy agenda, and I have to make a statement to let people know. Two years ago they were asking me to fight Chad Dawson and made a big deal about it that I didn’t fight Chad Dawson, and they’re going to see the reason why but it ain’t going to be the reason they think. It’s going to be the reason like you said. Most people are looking for me to beat Chad Dawson, well they’re absolutely right! But it’s the way I beat him that I think they’re going to be shocked and surprised about.

JENNA: Alright well Bernard, we are joined by my Co-Host Geoff, also.

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hey Bernard! It’s a great pleasure to have you back on the show.

HOPKINS: It’s good to be on, always!

CIANI: Bernard, going back to Dawson’s last performance against Diaconu on the under card of your rematch with Pascal, what did you of his performance in that fight being he was coming off his first professional loss?

HOPKINS: I think I’d give him about a B. I think he’d been off at that time like 15 months or less and he’d just started meshing with Emanuel Steward. So that’s like a guy or a girl going to a new grade in school. You got to get to know the teacher! So he gets a B. He won the fight. A win is a win is a win, and he just started working with Emanuel Steward to my knowledge on a fighter-trainer basis. So I think he gets a B.

CIANI: Now Bernard, you mentioned Emanuel and the last time we had him on our program he said he was looking forward to going up against not just you, but the great old school corner you have. He said it reminded him of when he was going up against Eddie Futch when he was training Holyfield for Bowe. Emanuel mentioned not only you and Nazim, but Danny Davis. You were talking about your motivation before. What’s it like having that old school mentality in your corner that thinks like you do? How does that help with your motivation and preparations to stay that hungry at this age?

HOPKINS: Oh, it helps absolutely a lot! I mean you need a team, even though I go in there and I’ll do the alternate fight, but at the end of the day you need the team just like you need water for your body to stay hydrated. It’s a thing where the old school is added to the new school, but the old school is the foundation for me. I can’t speak for anybody else, but old school is the foundation for me. And listen, if I have to add the new school of how people look at boxing now or what judges want to see in boxing now, more of how many punches you throw more than how many that land. So boxing has changed in a way where substance is better than quality. So I can do that! You know, listen. My body is tested to do so many things that are good with energy, and moving, and ducking, and sparring four minute rounds for 5, 6, 7, 8, and sometimes 10 when you get close to ending sparring for a fight. So I can do those things. To me the new school is a lot of substance but not a lot of accuracy. Okay, that’s the new school. If you add that on the old school, that’s a guy that’s hard to beat, the guy that’s hard to beat is the guy that has that old school mentality but he doesn’t look strange in the new world that we live in. I’m that antique car that rides down the street that looks so shiny and so good, that even the new cars have to stop and pay homage and look at it and bow down and say, “Hey! That’s a nice classic! That’s a sharp, sharp automobile. That’s me in 2011 even though I’m a 1965 GTO Goat.

CIANI: Bernard, I have a lot of friends that are causal fans of boxing and these are the kind of people that will text me around the times that Pacquiao and Mayweather are fighting, but they don’t watch much boxing otherwise and they haven’t been too entertained by Pacquiao or Mayweather of late. But during your last fight with Jean Pascal I can’t tell you how many texts I got from people that normally don’t watch boxing who were super interested, that were tuned in and actually thought it was an exciting fight. How does it feel at this late stage in your career to finally be getting that top star recognition that escaped you for much of your career?

HOPKINS: I mean it feels like it was premeditated by me. I don’t go in the ring trying to fight boring, but I fight the style that I need to fight to win the fight and a lot of that has gotten lost in the history and the legacy of boxing. To me, boxing is looked upon as a sport that you don’t have to have brains to be a marquee fighter. You just have to be able to withstand the punishment and bring crowds to the fights based on how much you can take and how much you can give. But I was taught different, that old school to hit and not get hit. Some people I understand want to get their money’s worth, and I understand if you go to a movie and it’s not a good movie, you want to leave because you haven’t seen any killing in the movie, you haven’t seen anyone get shot, and you haven’t seen anybody get his head cut off. I understand that, too. But if I want to be around for other things then I have to duck, I have to move, I have to have strategy, and sometimes people don’t have the patience to see the strategy play out. At the same token, they’re spending their dollars, they’re spending their time, and they deserve to pay for and get what they want to see.

I realize that I honestly am leaving the best for last, and leaving the best for last is showing that I can go back to that old grime Philadelphia type of fighter that I started off in my career to be. But to save myself, to save my brain, to save my speech, to save my charisma, to save all these things I must learn how to duck some, I must learn how to work on the things that I’ve been taught by the late great Bouie Fisher, I must learn how to learn to use the things from training with Smokey Wilson at Graterford State Penitentiary, from Nazim Richardson, from Danny Davis, even from Emanuel Steward, Buddy McGrit, Georgie Benton God rest his soul, he just passed away. These trainers, some of them have never been in my corner but I have been around them. I got tapes! I got TV! I watch fights and I watch what the trainer says. I’m the kind of guy that always learns even to the day at 46. So to me, Emanuel Steward trainer me. To me, Eddie Mustafa trained me. To me, all the great trainers that came from yesterday, and some of them are still hanging around or hanging in there, I took a page out of their book.

That’s what makes me undetected. What I mean by ‘undetected’ is that makes me hard to pin down. When Chad Dawson has to get sparring partners to fight Bernard Hopkins, they’re getting Yusaf Mack from Philadelphia. I don’t fight like Yusaf Mack! I don’t do anything that Yusaf Mack does! It’s very hard to pinpoint what Bernard Hopkins you are going to get on fight night, and that’s what the fans spoke about to you, that it was an exciting fight, that they got their money’s worth, that they were texting you because I went back in my old bag! I went back to the old Bernard Hopkins but with some charisma, and some knowledge, and some youth. This is the best time to save the best, and I’ll use the word “last” not to say the end, but I’ll use the words “the best for last” because I am 46. So why not give you all the best for last? Why not have people standing up to see I had it in me? I showed you all when I started my career, I saved myself, I made history, I broke records and set records, and now I’m showing you all it’s time to get down and dirty, Philadelphia old style! Let’s do it! So that’s what you’re all seeing, and I’m glad people are paying attention to it and noticing it, and I’m glad that I’m starting to get a fan base that understands, “Hey! This man is 46 and he’s doing pushups in between rounds”. That’s what I want them to see.

CIANI: You’re coming off an historical win where not only did you become the oldest fighter to win a world championship ever, you broke an icon’s record in George Foreman. How do you top that now?

HOPKINS: By knocking out Chad Dawson. I haven’t had one in four or five years. I haven’t been close to having one. I’ve been punishing guys and taking their careers from them, but I haven’t had that signature knockout that I am craving for. I know that’s out of character for me saying that, because I don’t look at myself as being a knockout puncher but I don’t look at myself as being a light puncher, either. I systematically take their careers in the ring over twelve rounds. There are a few fighters out there who if they’re honest with themselves can tell you that they’ve never been the same. I am craving for that but in a smart and systematic way. That’s my goal and that’s what I’m gunning for. That’s how to top that. I know that might be falling short for some. Hey, a knockout is just a knockout but what you did with George Foreman was a million times higher than that, and it still would be.

But I have to top myself by winning and right now at 46, that I continue to keep promoting as my brand—the 46 brand, the 46 club,the 40-and-up club I call it. You top it by continuing to win. You top it by doing what Jersey Joe Walcott did when he won the title, doing what Ezzard Charles did when he won the title, and even “The Old Mongoose” when he won the title. He defended it. I’m going to defend it as long as I can and to me, that’s making history because now that I’ve made history I can now make history by breaking the records of “The Mongoose” and the defenses, whether it’s 3, 4, 5. Can you now hold on to it and fight the best? I ain’t talking about tomato cans. Fight the best out there, whether they’re in Europe, whether they’re in the States, whether they’re in China, no matter where they are at. Can you continue to not only win it but defend it? George Foreman won it and he relinquished it after Michael Moorer. I’m not doing that, not doing that at all!

JENNA: Alright now Bernard, fundamentally between Chad Dawson and your last opponent Jean Pascal, how can you describe the differences in what type of opponent you’re facing?

HOPKINS: It’s night and day! Their styles are totally different. I mean Jean Pascal is an elusive guy. He’s a wild swinger and he’s basically all over the place. Chad Dawson is a sniper. You know how a sniper snipes! A sniper doesn’t jump over anything, he doesn’t shoot and roll around on his back and then get back into position. He sits there and he snipes. So it’s two different styles. It’s two different fighters. So you got the sniper versus the uzi. The uzi is all over the place and there is a lot of fire coming out of that barrel, and the sniper is looking for one, or two, or three shots and he’s got you. So it’s two different styles, and that’s why there was a problem when they both fought. Chad couldn’t understand him, and Pascal understood him.

JENNA: Okay well last time we had Chad Dawson on he said the reason why he believes he is going to win is he believes he is hungrier than you. He believes he has the desire to win back his title, and that’s something that you don’t quite have at this point because you are a champion, that you are content. You’re 46 and you already proved everyone wrong. What do you think about his opinion on that?

HOPKINS: Oh, that’s great! I mean that’s great. (laughs) Whether he’s wrong or right it doesn’t matter to me, because if that’s the way he feels he sounds like a guy who is with me 24 hours a day 7 days a week to tell me whether I’m hungry or not. I don’t know where he gets his report card and his information, but if that’s what he feels he needs to tell himself—that I’m 46 and I’m just glad to have the title? If he’s going into the ring like that, then don’t get any popcorn. Don’t even go to the bathroom!

JENNA: Okay well after this fight, and people are already looking beyond it when they really shouldn’t, Jean Pascal’s name has come back up. He claims that if you win this fight that he will have a third fight with you, that HBO has already promised him that. Is there any truth to that?

HOPKINS: Um, there’s not any truth in that to me. I don’t know where he heard that from. Maybe he’s talking to somebody else that’s telling him something that ain’t true, but I’m concentrating on Chad Dawson and I have no reason. I’m 2-0 fighting that guy. There is nothing in it for me. Right now there is just Chad Dawson, and whatever comes after that I will sit down and look at it. But to me, it’s a step backwards as far as I’m concerned. I’m 2-0 in Canada.

CIANI: Speaking of fighting in Canada, what was that whole experience like going in there at first as an enemy, as a guy that they were assuming Pascal would win. By the end of the fight, that they warmed up to you and your style, was that something you were expecting and how did you feel during the course of that transition?

HOPKINS: That was nothing that I expected, but I also know that even ten years ago when I was in Madison Square Garden, as I talked about recently with the 911 anniversary and I know I fought that month. I told people when they were hollering “Tito” in Madison Square Garden, around the sixth or seventh round they were yelling “B-Hop” and 80% of them were Hispanic people. So I said listen man, the fans should be loyal to their countrymen. They should be, just like I expect my fans to be loyal to me if I’m fighting somebody from Europe or somebody from somewhere else that’s not in the States. You should root for your man, but something that happens and it’s one thing about sports. If you’re winning, and I don’t care what damn sport you play in or for what team, when you’re winning and you’re winning the way you’re winning, there are two things that are going to happen. They’re either going to be quiet, or they’re going to cheer, especially if they see something they didn’t expect.

I get a lot of support based on being a guy that’s way over 35. It’s people sitting in those stands who are my age or older. People are living longer. People are paying attention to how can this guy do this four years from being 50 fighting guys that he can be their father. He can literally by their father! And if you do that, I don’t give a damn if you’re in Canada, I don’t care if you’re in Africa, and I don’t care where you’re at! They’re going to pay attention to that and they’re going to forget who they’re supposed to be rooting for when history and something unusual, that’s the word, is happening in front of your eyes that you never witnessed and might not 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now! So they get caught up in a good way. They get emotional and they forget that they’re supposed to be rooting for the other guy! Canada is another home base for me. I loved to fight in Canada! I would love to go back there. They treated me fantastic, even in the first fight maybe because they thought I was going to come in there and lose and they wanted to be good hosts. Maybe that was the case, but boy oh boy in Montreal! That felt like my town. That felt like my city. So as I’ve said over and over and over again, I’m glad I went to Canada.

I’m glad that I didn’t take the fight to the States with the second Jean Pascal fight. I believe I gave Canada something that they will never forget, and they are always going to know who B-Hop is, and they always will invite me back whether I’m a fighter or not. That’s something that I have to pat myself on my back along with Golden Boy, and Richard Schaefer and everybody, and my team. That was a great choice and I’m glad I fulfilled that second rematch in Canada. It’s another home base for me. And speaking of Canada, they will see this fight on pay-per-view. On their pay-per-view, this fight will be live! If they’re listening or reading this article, they will see this quote that the fight will be in Canada. So they will be able to watch B-Hop make another historic move come October 15.

CIANI: I have to ask you quickly, fans were really disappointed with the way the Floyd Mayweather Junior fight ended recently. A lot of fans, the same kind of guys who text me during your rematch with Jean Pascal, they tune into these fights to see Floyd lose. As a fighter with an old school mentality, in your opinion what is the key for somebody to beat Floyd Mayweather?

HOPKINS: There is no key.

There is no key.

There is no key to beat Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather right now in that weight class that he fights in, up and down, a notch up and a notch down—so whatever weight is a notch down, junior welterweight and I guess a notch up is junior middleweight. With his style, his old school style and his IQ, he can box until he’s 50 if he wants. Yeah! This isn’t the first time that I’ve said this. See, you take all of that stuff that you think about a person. You got to remember, I’m the one that jumped in and got Shane in the buzz to do that fight when HBO and Max Kellerman were doing an interview. I said, “Fight Shane”, and he beat Shane easily! It started off rough, but he showed me moxie. He showed me that he had something where nobody had ever seen him in that position.

Then of course you have to understand, he has a father that’s an encyclopedia! When I start talking about Emanuel Steward and the great trainers, you know Freddie Roach, the IQ, Eddie Futch. Freddie Roach learned from Eddie Futch! When you start talking about these guys you can’t rule out Floyd Senior and Roger Mayweather. You can’t rule out these guys, man! That is history there! In today’s crop of fighters, and there are some good ones—even in Golden Boy, even on our side, even on Top Rank’s side—with today’s fighters, being 30-plus years old, seasoned, he keeps his body clean, stays in shape all the time. The only negative is that he doesn’t fight as often, but he doesn’t abuse his body where he’s 200 pounds. Me and you both know you have fighters who take off two months and then they’re 80 pounds overweight! No name, no blame. We ain’t got to mention names. But at the end of the day man, you asked me a legitimate question and I have to give you a legitimate answer. If he wants to fight until he’s 50, with the style, the IQ, and the father and uncle in your mind, hey man—the only person who could beat Floyd Mayweather is Floyd Mayweather!

JENNA: Alright well Bernard, we just have a couple of more questions before we let you off the line. In the past you had mentioned that you were considering a move to heavyweight if the option was right. Heavyweights have taken a lot of hits of late. The fight with David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko didn’t please too many fans.

HOPKINS: That knocked me out! That took me out of the boxing picture. David Haye didn’t win.

JENNA: Do you think that division will ever return to the way it was thought of in the past?

HOPKINS: Yeah, around the time my daughter gets married and she’s 12—and I told her she can’t get married until she’s 30. The heavyweight division is in a coma right now. We don’t know when it’s going to wake up. We just hope and pray that it does. It’s in a coma right now, a massive coma! It doesn’t look good. The big name that I wanted to do was beat the guy that beat a Klitschko and David Haye didn’t do that, so I have no interest in fighting at heavyweight. I think they should just cut the heavyweight division out of the 20-something plus divisions there are, until it gets a life again. Seriously.
I mean we don’t need the heavyweight division right now, do we? It’s doing just fine with the little guys and hopefully the junior middleweights, the light heavyweights, and the cruiserweights will start getting light, the Cunninghams of the world and guys like that. Tarver just won a title. I mean there is some cruiserweight action that could happen! You know what I mean. There are a lot of small heavyweights and a lot of big light heavyweights.

Maybe that cruiserweight division should be the next heavyweight division? You can make more fights down there with light heavyweights going to cruiserweight and smaller heavyweights coming down! Hey! This might be breaking news right here! Let’s just cut the heavyweight division out until it comes out of the coma, and let’s focus on the light heavyweights! So anybody out there that’s weighing a little bit less than a big heavyweight would be and you’re not that tall then think about the cruiserweights! Anybody that’s a light heavyweight that wants to go up that’s struggling, you know Chad Dawson after he loses this fight here, he’s 6’2”. He can pack on another twenty pounds like our friend Adamek did who he went up and fought a Klitschko. It’s been done before. Michael Spinks! He went from one weight class to another from light heavy. He wasn’t a huge light heavyweight. Yes, when he fought Mike Tyson it was a different story. But he did beat two or three old legends and that was Larry Holmes and I believe one more person.

So hey! That’s breaking news. The big light heavyweights and the small heavyweights migrate to the 190 pound cruiserweight, oh it’s 200 pounds! I just had a flash through my memory bank. It ain’t 190 no more, it’s 200 pounds. So that’s it! I fixed the boxing problem now! Breaking news, I just fixed boxing right now! You heard it here on East Side Boxing—the cruiserweight division is the new heavyweight division! Let’s make it happen! (laughs)

JENNA: (laughs) So if you are victorious, would you consider going to the new heavyweight division of cruiserweight and maybe taking on Tarver, or James Toney who’s been calling you out of late?

HOPKINS: No man! Tarver is delusional, man! Listen, Tarver needs to beat Cunningham and if he beats Cunningham he is the legitimate guy. Cunningham is the guy you need to beat, seriously. Everybody will tell you that Cunningham is the guy he should beat, and once that division becomes something there are two or three fighters that it could happen if you come down from heavyweight. Those small heavyweights that are trying to fight heavyweights that know they really ain’t got a shot, and those big light heavyweights that are only a door knock away from being a cruiserweight. Then you know, there can be a lot of rhythm down there. That division could be hot right now with the younger guys! Because the younger guys need the older guys’ names, right? It’s the concept of the young taking over the old and they become the new era. So there is an opportunity for everybody to stand up and be accounted for, and also to make a name for themselves!

JENNA: Bernard, a lot of people have stated that boxing has been on a slow decline. With stars like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Junior, and yourself getting a little bit older, you can’t box forever. Who do you think will be the next stars of boxing and where do you think boxing will be in the next few years?

HOPKINS: I’m hoping it will be in good shape. You still have Andre Ward who I’m really high on. You also have a couple of great, great superstars that are coming up. Let me tell you something. I’m going to sound like I’m biased and maybe I am. Golden Boy has a lot of talented fighters that are going to hold down the fort. And look, Top Rank has some good fighters here and there. There are a lot of fighters all over spread out who can hold the fort. Trust me! We just need now a breakthrough of more weight classes to have one star in each division. Then it will be fantastic. It will be right what we need. In the meantime, boxing will never die and boxing will never diminish to the point where people won’t even talk about it, because they will. They just need the matches that they made now. It’s great. Fights are being made now that people want to see. You know what? When that happens people get interested, and then they want to see bigger fights, superstar fights. So at the end of the day we’re alright!

Boxing I think is better now than it was three years ago or four years ago. If you’re waiting for that heavyweight division to wake up out of the coma, then you’ve already shot boxing in the foot. The heavyweight division is what it is right now. But now, you get the best of both worlds. You get the little fast guys, you got the big strong giant that can hold the fort and has held the fort. So as long as we have that, the middle of the body—where the heavyweights are the head of the body, then if the head falls asleep then the middle of the body is still keeping the body standing. So let’s enjoy that. Let’s watch these young prospects come up, and watch these new superstars and make them the new guys. You’re not going to get another Oscar De La Hoya, you’re not going to get another Bernard Hopkins, you’re not going to get another Marvin Hagler, you’re not going to get another Sugar Ray Leonard, but let’s get the next this guy, let’s get the next that guy. Whoever breaks through, that’s the next guy, and if he reminds you of the past then that’s even better. But right now, boxing is okay.

JENNA: Alright well Bernard, I have one final question. This fight with Chad Dawson is going to be on pay-per-view. I want you to tell the boxing fans out there why they should buy that and what they should expect to see?

HOPKINS: They should buy the fight come October 15 on HBO pay-per-view, because this is the best light heavyweight fight before the year ends, and this is a fight where B-Hop will do something special: (A) win the fight, (B) you’ll learn something, (C) you’ll never forget this performance just like you never forgot the performance a couple of months back. But you’re only as good as your last fight, so let me worry about this one. The fans, HBO pay-per-view! Watch this fight. I need a knockout. I want a knockout. I need a knockout for me, but I want a fantastic fight and I need two people to do that, myself and Chad Dawson, and when that happens you will see a good fight!

JENNA: Well Bernard, it’s been a great pleasure having you once again appear On the Ropes. I myself as a boxing fan am looking forward to this: youth versus experience on October 15. I can’t wait to see it!

HOPKINS: Thank you.

CIANI: Thank you very much, Bernard. Best of luck in your fight!

HOPKINS: No problem. Thanks.

***

For those interested in listening to the Bernard Hopkins interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and fifteen minutes into the program.

RIGHT CLICK and ‘SAVE AS’ TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE #144

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