By Dave Sholler
Former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins scoffs at those that say he’s lucky to still be fighting at 43 years old. Having overcome both personal and professional hardships in his life, Hopkins argues that his longevity in boxing is only a testament to his work ethic.
Hopkins, who in the 1980s spent time in the Graterford State Prison in his native Pennsylvania, believes his desire for a better life is the reason he blossomed into a boxing star.
“It’s not luck,” Hopkins, who fights Kelly Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) on October 18 in Atlantic City on HBO PPV, said. “Luck didn’t get me out of the penitentiary. Luck didn’t get me out of the ghetto and turn my life around.
“This goes way beyond boxing. When I made my decision that I wasn’t going back to the penitentiary, I had no money, I had no fame, I had no star power. So luck and Bernard Hopkins’ doesn’t (sic) go together.”
While he doesn’t believe luck has played a role in his success, Hopkins (48-5-1, 32 KOs) does credit his consistent training regimen as a major reason why he has enjoyed a 20-year career in the sweet science. Preparing for his 170-pound fight with the 26-year-old Pavlik, Hopkins says that he has learned to listen to his body. Once again training in the warm weather climate of Miami, Florida, Hopkins feels the sync between body and mind will aid him when he steps in against the reigning middleweight champion.
“I know my limitations and I know my body,” Hopkins said, adding that he took two days off from sparring recently because he felt he was peaking too soon. “That’s because I know when my body tells me ‘Bernard, you need to take two days of not boxing.’
“And that’s the edge of having experience, having been there, done that.”
Experience aside, Hopkins is complimentary of Pavlik’s skills and does believe that the Youngstown, OH native will offer a stern test. In facing the undefeated Pavlik, an offensive-minded fighter with a menacing right hand, Hopkins realizes that he cannot afford to be sluggish. Considering his opponent’s 88-percent knockout ratio in 34 professional bouts, Hopkins understands the importance of respecting “The Ghost.”
“I respect Kelly Pavlik,” Hopkins, fresh off a decision loss to Joe Calzaghe in April, said. “It’s the perfect match.
“You’ve got an offensive guy and you’ve got a defensive guy. You’ve got a guy that comes forward and a guy that specializes in guys coming forward. He won’t quit. He won’t run. And he’s not going to try to be a boxer all of the sudden. That’s where he falls into the hands of ‘The Executioner.’”
In the end, Hopkins is confident that he has all of the tools necessary to defeat Pavlik. Having overcome personal and professional dilemmas throughout his entire career, Hopkins knows that come October 18, he’ll be more than ready to square off with one of boxing’s best young guns.
“I’m not the same fighter that I was at 20 or 30,” Hopkins, who made his professional debut on October 11, 1988 in Atlantic City, said. “But I have enough at this stage of the game of boxing in 2008 to not only win, but to survive and win, and bring the experience in the ring to be able to offset any young energy, any young brash energy that thinks that they’re just going to run in there and steamroll the old man.”