Hopkins' Trainer: Bernard is Motivated By The Danger

By Bill "Two Scoops" Emes

Naazim Richardson, trainer of IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32KOs), is not surprised his boxer pursued a unification clash with WBO champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23KOs). The fight is scheduled for November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

From Felix Trinidad, to Jermain Taylor, to Kelly Pavlik, to Antonio Tarver, to Jean Pascal in Canada, to Chad Dawson - Hopkins never avoids a fight. Hopkins even entertained the idea of going to cruiserweight to fight James Toney and to heavyweight for a battle with David Haye.

"For him, he will probably look around and look for the most dangerous situation. Firemen run into the fire, other people run away from the fire. In boxing he runs to the danger when other people walk away from it. His legacy is solid, but I think he deserves full credit [for what he's going to do]," Naazim told BoxingScene.com.

"To me, to gather all the belts at middleweight and then gather all the belts at the light heavyweight division - I don't think he should have to wait five years [to get in the Hall of Fame]. I'll be ready to take him from the venue to Canastota that night and put his ass in that place."