By Mark Vester

A few weeks ago, the news broke that a proposed Bernard Hopkins vs. Tomasz Adamek bout had fallen apart. Adamek, the IBF cruiserweight champion, considered the offer of $500,000 dollars, from Hopkins and Golden Boy Promotions, to be a lowball offer that undervalued his drawing power in New Jersey, where the fight was likely going to land. Kathy Duva of Main Events went on the record and said her fighter made the same amount of money for opponents with much lesser names.

Hopkins laid out his side of the story to boxing writer Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, claiming that it was Adamek and Duva who blew the deal, and the two of them should have jumped at the opportunity to fight him.

"Adamek and [promoter] Kathy Duva should be disappointed. They had a chance to fight a 44-year-old legend that he doesn't have on his résumé for a half-a-million dollars. I fought William Joppy [in 2003] and I was a champion with 16 title defenses," Hopkins said.

"I made $300,000. Let's keep it real -- outside of the Polish race, who knows Adamek? Ask the nearest Mexican about Adamek and they will ask, 'who?' He beats Hopkins, he's marketable. I beat Adamek, so what? At the end of the day, some promoters negotiate for themselves first and think about the fighters second. That's what happened here."

Hopkins has given himself a June deadline to find a fight or walk away for good. With the very low level of potential opponents out there, the veteran fighter believes there is a good chance that he may never fight again.

"There is a great chance you won't see me fight again," said Hopkins. "That's not bad. You got to see one of the greatest fights of my career [against Pavlik]. Every football player who has won rings will say it's great to win one on the way out. The clock isn't on my side. It's hard to start this old cart engine up and shine like I shined against Kelly Pavlik. I'm no fool. I'm financially secure and I have a nice family. That's enough."

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