by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 156th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with reigning WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs). This is part 2 of the 2 part interview transcript where Hopkins discusses a variety of topics providing his opinions on what it will take for him to retire, why he believes he is in position to once again shock the world, what boxing fans can expect in 2012, and the current Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao situation. Here is the rest of that interview transcript:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Okay Bernard. Speaking of that, one of the things fans seem fed up about on the same token is the fact that for years they have demanded that fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather. It looks like we have a slim chance that it could maybe happen May 5. What’s your take on that whole situation now? Fans are accusing this one of ducking that one and this or that. What’s your take on the whole thing?
BERNARD HOPKINS: Yeah! I thought I had a chance of scoring a girl about twenty years ago, and she just gave me a kiss and shut the door on my face!
CIANI: (laughs)
HOPKINS: Now let me tell you something. Whether the fight happens or not, I think at the end of the day the soap opera of it has kind of run its course. I think you’d agree with that?
CIANI: Yes.
HOPKINS: I think this year to be honest with you is a year, or maybe six months of this year—but I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt. 2012 will determine whether this fight happens, because if it happens of course that’s what it is, but if we go deep into 2012 when we know the calendar is getting real short around November and nothing is announced months before that, because that’s how boxing works with dates, you can really look at about June or July. Now yeah, I know Floyd is supposed to go to jail in June. I don’t think he’s going to go. I really don’t. At the end of the day man, it’s like whether they fight, whether they don’t fight, if they fight, yes, that should become news. But I think right now you’re only going to get a certain mileage out of them whether they will or not.
I think the soap opera is really getting to the point where people are starting to think it’s at its peak now. I think right now it’s at one of its highest peak, where we got some value. We got some water dripping in the cup, but if that cup doesn’t eventually get full then they’re going to look at it a continued foreplay and no action! If they don’t announce that there is going to definitely be a fight between now and June—and I’m stretching that maybe a couple of months, but I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt! That’s half of the year. It’s a rap! I think it just gets to the point man where it loses steam. Think about it! I mean at one time people were saying, and this is a point that I got to make. At one time people were saying hey man! Pacquiao and Floyd. I like Pacquiao. But now since he had that fight with Marquez, he’s starting to lose some swing votes. Again this is sort of like the primaries. We know who’s cutting out and we know who’s still in the race for President. Now some votes are swinging towards Money Mayweather! That’s the same thing that happens when you don’t fight in that ring. You start losing interest. One guy starts losing, or two guys start losing the luster of the hype and the climax of it.
You only could stay up high for so long before you go down. You heard the saying: What goes up, must come down! That goes for hype, that goes for success, that goes for everything, and I’m not talking about coming down 100% in a bad way. You’re just not the man no more! That goes for Pacquiao, that goes for me, that goes for Floyd, that goes for anyone—Ali, Ray Robinson, that goes for everybody! But you got to reach the top first and everyone doesn’t reach the top. I want them to fight May 5. I want them to fight May 5! Hey! They got plenty of time! Floyd Mayweather stays in shape. He don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t eat candy—well he eats candy sometimes. (laughs) I have seen that on 24/7. But Pacquiao’s the same way! He’ll be in shape too! He eats right! He takes care of his body! I’ve been at the gym up there in LA, the Wild Card. Those guys man, they’re cut from a cloth of discipline and training like me! So they don’t go walking around at 200 pounds when they’re fighting at 147! They can fight by May 5!
Do the fight Arum! Do the fight Golden Boy, already! It’s got to happen, but it’s got to happen this year! Golden Boy wants to do the fight! Oscar, I talked to him! He wants to do the fight! He’s trying to get everybody! We want to do the fight! I tell people every day! They ask me! Are they going to fight or not? (laughs) I get a little bit of information, but I get enough to know that Golden Boy wants to do the fight, Mayweather wants to do the fight, Richard Schaefer is working constantly and moving forward wanting to make the fight! But you can’t make nobody fight, man! You can’t make a guy fight! Pacquiao I think wants to do the fight! But I could say one thing that my partner said. The difference between Golden Boy and any other promoter out there—we work for the fighters, the fighters don’t work for us! And you got fighters out there where the fighters work for the promoters. If they want that to change around, and they know who they are—oh, they know who they are! When your contract runs out, then come on over and we might talk to you!
CIANI: Bernard I want to go back to you for a minute here. After the Pascal rematch you were on top of the world, you made history, and it was a tough act to follow. In the next fight there was the disappointing ending with you and Chad Dawson that never reached its logical conclusion. It’s kind of like a big see-saw swing for you. Do you think that puts you in position to once again shock and exceed people’s expectations where there are a lot of people counting you out again?
HOPPKINS: Yes! Yes! Yes! It’s been like that! The Roy Jones fight, he’s out! He’s done! He should retire! You heard it! Pascal said, “I want to fight Hopkins”! Listen! Look, a lot of people ain’t fooled out there. You got a lot of reporters out there, they might not have liked me but they’ll say wait a minute! You give this guy a reason to prove us wrong, he’s got that reason now! This is Chad Dawson, and if Chad Dawson it is then yo! What he’s thinking! Now wait a minute! How many times has Bernard Hopkins been more successful in rematches? Oh yeah. You right. You right. Robert Allen, Antwon Echols, Jean Pascal. Okay the Jermain Taylor people are still talking about. I won that one. You’ve seen what happened to his career. You think Kelly Pavlik did that? Well he finished him off but he didn’t do that. Come on. Let’s keep it real. Why do you think Kelly Pavlik is running into trees and poles? You think Kelly Pavlik was running into trees and poles before he faced me? Don’t ya’ll understand that I destroy fighters? I destroy their souls, I destroy their minds, and I destroy their careers!
That’s what I do, and that’s why they make it hard for me. That’s why they try to make it hard for me to get that light. But I took it anyway! So listen, that’s what I do! They put me in a position where my straight up style, you put me in position to get in shape and let me show you again! Let me show you again! See that’s where I’ve got a track record ya’ll! I’m not just blowing smoke! Look at my record! Forget what I’m saying! I’m not telling you nothing that I don’t have a track record on! If you think that I don’t have a track record, go to the archives! You got the pages! Flip them! Now I have a meaning behind a meaning to say okay! If they think they’ve seen something where they think I’m done. If they think they’ve seen something, then let’s watch this!
JENNA J: Bernard let me ask you a question, and we just have a couple more left for you here. At this point in your career you now turned 47, you’re still proving people wrong. But when for you do you think you’ll reach that time where you say, “You know what? I’ve done all I can do. I’ve proven all I can prove. I’ve had enough”. When do you think that day will come to you? What will make you say that?
HOPKINS: When I don’t feel like I can compete and be the best in my division, and win fights without a struggle, and do what I’ve been doing in spite of my age. All of those things factor into play. Whether I want to take my body through the weeks and sometimes months of hard core training that I’m used to, but it’s still working. I ain’t the $6 million man. I have aches and pains, I get massages, I jump in the ice whirlpool bath sometimes, and I hop in the hot and I drop in the cold. So if anyone out there thinks that I’m not human, I am. So I’m one of those guys that I can’t look at a calendar, but I can tell you I can’t do that forever. I know that’s the obvious answer, but that’s an obvious situation. Until I see that I didn’t clear out any doubt, in anybody’s mind or even mine, my biggest motivation is—you can’t do this!
There will come a time where I can’t do everything that somebody says or I say I can do. Yes! I’ve witnessed that in my life. I can’t do everything! But one thing that I can do is fight my ass off. So I’m going to keep doing that until I feel in my heart that I can’t do it with a level of respect, and winning, and also be champion! When that time comes where I can’t win and I can’t win on the top level, and I can’t win in a top competition like I’ve been doing for years, then you got to let it go. Like Teddy Pendergrass said, it’s just another love TKO. So I will keep moving on and showing what old school boxing means in this new world of boxing. I’m going to show the world that the old school boxing in a young body that can survive in this world of athleticism in boxing is not because I’m that good! It’s not because I’m that lucky. It’s a combination of things and one of them is lifestyle, hit more than you get hit, reflexes, defense—look at Floyd Mayweather. Nobody had really seen Floyd Mayweather hurt until he fought Sugar Shane Mosley and he handled it well, surprisingly to me. You know I was on Shane’s side. I’m one of those guys I can’t be in denial of greatness. I’m a loyal guy! I don’t jump ship, but at the end of the day you got to give a person his props, and it takes a man to do that. A lot of people ain’t a man! They won’t do it in spite of! I witness in my own life and my own career! I proved people wrong so much they try to con me out of boxing! You don’t have anything to prove. How long can you do it? You’re 47! You already did everything! You already did this! Well what if I want to make history of breaking the Mongoose’s record. Mongoose had more defenses as light heavyweight. I’m not making up history. Just tell me he didn’t do it and I’ll retire tomorrow. But tell me he defended it at 40-something two times or three times and I got more reason to fight now.
You got to remember I’m not trying to get a title. I have a title! If you got the chicken, the fox will be there to try and get the chicken. Remember that ya’ll! When you got the chickens in the chicken coup you don’t have to go looking for the fox. They’re coming to get those chickens! I still got the WBC belt which is the oldest belt in boxing and I’m the oldest champion in boxing history. It works good. Think about it! I represent the oldest sanctioning body in the world around the oldest boxing champion’s waist in the world! I mean that just came on my mind right now! See I find these hooks like a rapper, like Rick Ross and Little Wayne. They got hooks, and if you listen to the song you’ll find they’ll be repeating those hooks. So that’s the hook of the song. You know there’s more than one hook, there’s a couple of hooks about what you’re saying about, or talking about, or rapping about. But I just came up with something. I got the oldest belt in boxing around the oldest fighter in boxing history’s waist! (laughs) Yeah. They’re going to try and kick me out and say oh, that was a TKO! Huh? (laughs) And they say the mob is still not in boxing, they just don’t wear hats and glasses anymore. Oh! They have a different way to skin you now. Hey! We’re not living in the 1930s or 1940s! It’s a little dressed up now! They got a little fancy! Same thing, different time, that’s all. Racism, same sh*t, different plan, it’s a different way of icing the cake. You get candles on it and you light the candle, oh! Free at last! Everything is great. No it ain’t. Just watch.
JENNA: Alright well Bernard I have one final question for you. You were talking a lot about the boxing world and everything going on. We’re in a brand new year, 2012. What can the fans expect, not just from you, but for the rest of the boxing scene this year?
HOPKINS: It’s really up to the fans, because see the fans are the best matchmakers in the world. It’s not what the fans should expect. It’s what the fans like the people that have the people—for the people, by the people. They are the fans. The fans have a magic wand in their living room. It’s called a remote control. And when it says $55 to buy bullsh*t they have the opportunity to say up! I’m going out to dance, or I’m going to go to the movies, or I’m going to watch UFC because they got better fights. So what are you talking about? What the fans should expect? It ain’t what the fans should expect because what they expect is what they’ve been getting! The fans have the power. I said it an hour ago. The fans have the power to become matchmakers in boxing, to force the power to be to put the fights that they want to spend their hard earned money on when they can do other things—buy bread, buy clothes, pay a light bill!
So let’s look at the fans like the play callers. If you want to get that person out of government what do you do? They vote him out! Okay. So now the fans should expect nothing from boxing because what they expect is what they didn’t get. They control what the industry would do for 2012, 2013, 2014, all the way up! The fans will know when the ratings go down. They will know when pay-per-views are low. They would know when they got a killer fighting a mouse. They would know when they got a prospect fighting a journeyman. So I just gave the blueprint. I just let the fans know that they had power. I just let the fans know, that they didn’t know at first, but now they know they got the power. If they go over to East Side Boxing and tune in to this they know that B-Hop said we got the power! So it’s up to them to use it. Now I took them to the well, but I can’t make them drink. I can’t!
JENNA: Alright well Bernard, it’s been a great pleasure as always having you once again on On the Ropes, and all you fans out there, you heard it from Bernard. You have the power to make these big fights out there, so wake up! But Bernard it was a great pleasure again having you on, and thank you again for your time, and we wish you all the best going forward in 2012.
HOPKINS: Thank you very much.
CIANI: Thank you very much, Bernard. Take care.
HOPKINS: Alright, thank you.
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For those interested in listening to the Bernard Hopkins interview in its entirety, it begins approximately twenty-one minutes into the program.
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