Truth
10-24-2004, 06:11 PM
from:www.easports.com
CHAMPION MIDDLEWEIGHT SETS
THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Bernard Hopkins on His "Altercation" With Mike Tyson
and His Fight Night 2005 Photo Shoot
Still riding high from his decisive knockout of Oscar De La Hoya on September 18, middleweight legend Bernard Hopkins found himself in Chicago recently to be photographed and later digitized by the Fight Night 2005 team, as they strive to achieve the most possible detailed ever seen in a boxing video game.
Imagine Hopkins' surprise when, during the EA SPORTS shoot, he was called by several media organizations looking for a comment on a supposed altercation he and his entourage had with famous heavyweight Mike Tyson outside a club following the Source Awards in mid-October. Not only was Hopkins not involved in any sort of scuffle, he says, but he and Tyson are good friends.
We had a few minutes to talk to Hopkins after the shoot, so he could set the record straight in an exclusive interview given to EASPORTS.com.
EA SPORTS: It's been reported that you and Mike Tyson got into a little dust-up, which you say is news to you. What's the real story with this incident?
Bernard Hopkins: There ain't no real story. I don't know where they got that from. That's something that, I don't know, I mean at least they could have given me somebody my size. Mike Tyson is like one of my top friends in boxing. I mean he comes to my fights all the time. The last three or four fights, I turn around and Mike is there at the press conference, in my dressing room. Now, it's in the [New York] Post or the radio that out there at the Source Awards, that Mike Tyson and Bernard Hopkins and his entourage got into a fight.
Now, I'm telling you right now that that's a lie, and this is the first time I've heard of this today in Chicago. I don't know where they get that from, man. I don't know.
EA SPORTS: Did you guys actually run into each other and talk to each other? What really happened?
Bernard Hopkins: Well, Mike Tyson was at the Source Awards, and we see each other and hugged and everything, and that was it. Everything between me and Mike is cool, man. That's why I'm kind of like Roy Jones, maybe. [Felix] Trinidad, great possibility. But Mike Tyson? No, man. I don't know if that's a good thing that this [story] is out there or a bad thing, but first of all, I was out there with one person. Maybe they said Tyson had the entourage, because he has four or five people around him every time I see him, but definitely not Bernard Hopkins.
EA SPORTS: How often do you find this happens, where the media takes something innocent and blows it completely out of proportion?
Bernard Hopkins: I don't know, man. Now I know how celebrities feel when they read something they really know they hadn't [done]. It's funny to me; I'm not upset. Trust me, even though I know that I didn't have the slightest argument with Mike Tyson, I'm not upset because I'm like, if that's something that somebody could do to bring some excitement that's already in my life now since September 18, so be it. I guess when Mike Tyson gets asked that question, he's going to be as totally bewildered as I was. I thought it was a joke, for real.
EA SPORTS: Yeah, this seems like a weird one.
Bernard Hopkins: It's not weird that Mike Tyson would get in an altercation, but it's weird that it's with Bernard Hopkins, who never had anything that had to do with fighting boxers in the room or at a press conference to hype up the situation. Me and Mike Tyson are never going to fight in life. I mean, he's my friend. I have respect for him. I've known Mike for years.
EA SPORTS: What's going on in Chicago with the Fight Night 2005 shoot?
Bernard Hopkins: It was work, but good work though. See, there's good work, and work when you don't want to work it's not something that you're excited about when you know you have to be somewhere, and you really don't want to be there. But this was great. It's my first time being in the situation where you're getting that exposure to another entity of the sport. To be able to show your legs and your muscles and get everything down detailed so the guys can put something together right for you I tell, it's respect that I'm given for hard work and being a winner. It's stuff that comes with the territory. It's a blessing to be a part of that.
CHAMPION MIDDLEWEIGHT SETS
THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Bernard Hopkins on His "Altercation" With Mike Tyson
and His Fight Night 2005 Photo Shoot
Still riding high from his decisive knockout of Oscar De La Hoya on September 18, middleweight legend Bernard Hopkins found himself in Chicago recently to be photographed and later digitized by the Fight Night 2005 team, as they strive to achieve the most possible detailed ever seen in a boxing video game.
Imagine Hopkins' surprise when, during the EA SPORTS shoot, he was called by several media organizations looking for a comment on a supposed altercation he and his entourage had with famous heavyweight Mike Tyson outside a club following the Source Awards in mid-October. Not only was Hopkins not involved in any sort of scuffle, he says, but he and Tyson are good friends.
We had a few minutes to talk to Hopkins after the shoot, so he could set the record straight in an exclusive interview given to EASPORTS.com.
EA SPORTS: It's been reported that you and Mike Tyson got into a little dust-up, which you say is news to you. What's the real story with this incident?
Bernard Hopkins: There ain't no real story. I don't know where they got that from. That's something that, I don't know, I mean at least they could have given me somebody my size. Mike Tyson is like one of my top friends in boxing. I mean he comes to my fights all the time. The last three or four fights, I turn around and Mike is there at the press conference, in my dressing room. Now, it's in the [New York] Post or the radio that out there at the Source Awards, that Mike Tyson and Bernard Hopkins and his entourage got into a fight.
Now, I'm telling you right now that that's a lie, and this is the first time I've heard of this today in Chicago. I don't know where they get that from, man. I don't know.
EA SPORTS: Did you guys actually run into each other and talk to each other? What really happened?
Bernard Hopkins: Well, Mike Tyson was at the Source Awards, and we see each other and hugged and everything, and that was it. Everything between me and Mike is cool, man. That's why I'm kind of like Roy Jones, maybe. [Felix] Trinidad, great possibility. But Mike Tyson? No, man. I don't know if that's a good thing that this [story] is out there or a bad thing, but first of all, I was out there with one person. Maybe they said Tyson had the entourage, because he has four or five people around him every time I see him, but definitely not Bernard Hopkins.
EA SPORTS: How often do you find this happens, where the media takes something innocent and blows it completely out of proportion?
Bernard Hopkins: I don't know, man. Now I know how celebrities feel when they read something they really know they hadn't [done]. It's funny to me; I'm not upset. Trust me, even though I know that I didn't have the slightest argument with Mike Tyson, I'm not upset because I'm like, if that's something that somebody could do to bring some excitement that's already in my life now since September 18, so be it. I guess when Mike Tyson gets asked that question, he's going to be as totally bewildered as I was. I thought it was a joke, for real.
EA SPORTS: Yeah, this seems like a weird one.
Bernard Hopkins: It's not weird that Mike Tyson would get in an altercation, but it's weird that it's with Bernard Hopkins, who never had anything that had to do with fighting boxers in the room or at a press conference to hype up the situation. Me and Mike Tyson are never going to fight in life. I mean, he's my friend. I have respect for him. I've known Mike for years.
EA SPORTS: What's going on in Chicago with the Fight Night 2005 shoot?
Bernard Hopkins: It was work, but good work though. See, there's good work, and work when you don't want to work it's not something that you're excited about when you know you have to be somewhere, and you really don't want to be there. But this was great. It's my first time being in the situation where you're getting that exposure to another entity of the sport. To be able to show your legs and your muscles and get everything down detailed so the guys can put something together right for you I tell, it's respect that I'm given for hard work and being a winner. It's stuff that comes with the territory. It's a blessing to be a part of that.