By Mark Vester
IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green (28-3, 25 KOs) is planning to destroy Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KOs) if the two fighters ever lock horns. Green loves to end his fights by knockout. He knows Hopkins will try to slow down the pace and make it a boxing match. Green tells the Philadelphia Daily News that he wants find out the hard way on which strategy will play out.
"I come to destroy my opponents," Green said. "Over 90 percent of my fights have ended in knockouts. My style is no secret. Bernard is a defensive genius. He's going to try to shut my offense down and hold out for a decision. I don't think he can do it, but there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"
The fight would make the most money in Australia. Hopkins' rematch with Roy Jones Jr. was crushed when Green stopped Jones in a single round on December 2. Hopkins sees the first round KO of Jones as the selling point for the Green bout. The fight taking place in Australia will not become a deal-breaker.
"Nobody's mentioning Danny Green but me," Hopkins said. "I'd get on a plane for 13 hours if that's what it took. Why not piggyback off [Green's wipeout of Jones]? I can see the promotion now: Can Danny Green do the same thing to Bernard Hopkins that he did to Roy Jones?"
Promoter Gary Shaw, adviser to Green, told the paper that he thinks Hopkins will be up for the fight - because of the money involved.
"At this stage of Bernard's career, he's going to follow the scent of the money," Shaw opined. "He knows what HBO is willing to pay for him to fight [Chad] Dawson, and it won't be enough to get a deal done. I don't believe he'll get [WBA heavyweight champion] David Haye in the ring, whether it's here or there [England], because after Haye fights and wins his mandatory against John Ruiz, he'll be forced into a rematch with [Nikolai] Valuev. So that fight's off the table, too."
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