By Bill "Two Scoops" Emes
IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins fired off a list of names, of fighters he fought over the years, who win or lose were never the same afterwards - including Jermain Taylor, Chad Dawson, Kelly Pavlik, Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Tavoris Cloud.
On November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Hopkins (55-6-2, 32KOs) faces what might be the most dangerous opponent of his entire career in WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23KOs).
"I was 35 when I fought Tito Trinidad, and they started calling me old. They started calling me old at 35," Hopkins said.
"The fighters that won are not around. You get punished every time you come against me with the pen. I have enough patience to wait to see that punishment be displayed. Some have dropped off the face of the earth, dropped dead, literally. And some have sacrificed their own meal ticket, for their kid's school, because they got a win but they didn't get a career. You sacrifice through politics to get a win and lose a fighter. I can name ten of them who could have been champion right here today. "
