By Keith Idec

The oldest boxer ever to win a recognized world title is inspired by an even older fighter who’ll compete on his undercard Oct. 15 in Los Angeles.

Dewey Bozella’s boxing career might not amount to much more than a four-round fight this Saturday at Staples Center, but Bernard Hopkins is beyond impressed by Bozella’s fighting spirit. The 52-year-old Bozella will make his pro debut two years after his release from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y., following 26 years of false imprisonment for the 1977 murder of an elderly Poughkeepsie, N.Y., woman.

“I went to jail because I did something,” said Hopkins, who spent nearly five years in Graterford (Pa.) State Penitentary for numerous robbery-related offenses. “I wasn’t an innocent man. He went to jail because he was innocent. There’s a big difference, not a small difference. That’s a big difference. So I respect him for having the championship courage to stick to his guns, when he could’ve said after 10 years, ‘I did it,’ signed the papers and walked out of there.”

Hopkins, 46, and Bozella have trained at the same gym in Philadelphia in preparation for their Oct. 15 fights. Bozella, of Fishkill, N.Y., was an amateur boxer before his incarceration and won boxing championships while imprisoned, but Hopkins helped him hone his skills for his professional debut.

“It’s been a challenge, a good challenge, in working and getting Dewey conditioned to not only pass the test [for a California boxing license], but just to get the fundamentals together,” Hopkins said. “Between [trainer] Danny Davis and my fitness guy, Tony, we did a good job and he did a good job, because he had to put the work in. He was really, really focused and animated because he’s been a big fan of mine, as he continued to mention.”

Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs, 1 NC), who’ll defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs, 1 NC) in an HBO Pay-Per-View main event, didn’t hesitate to help Bozella once he learned about Bozella’s hardship, which ESPN recognized by honoring Bozella with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs in July.

“I was just really touched by the story,” said Hopkins, who is a partner in Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, the promoter of the card. “I know Oscar was. I read something that Oscar [said] and I feel the same way as Golden Boy feels. When it was brought to me, about Dewey, and then when I got on the Internet and I started reading [about] the case and how this man stood up and how this man actually could’ve said, ‘Yes,’ to get his freedom and said he did something he knows he didn’t do … I don’t think a lot of people would’ve risked 10 or 15 more years in prison, which happened until finally they set [him] free and gave him his life back.

“That, to me, is bigger than anything that I accomplished. I’m not downplaying all my hard work, because it’s very hard work that I’ve put in for 20-something years. But, I mean, you’re talking about a life that was basically taken, half of his life, and getting a chance to do a four-rounder and getting a chance to get some small token from the boxing world.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.

Tags: Bernard Hopkins