The shocking facts of where Bernard Hopkins grew up

[kayjay]

As a Philly native I didn't need to do any demographic research, but I did it anyway.

Germantown is one of the more peaceful and affluent neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Bill Cosby is from there as well, as was Sun Ra. White collar workers outnumber blue collar workers by about 9/2. The median income is over $40,000/ year.

Crime rates are some of the lowest in the city.

I didn't grow up in the roughest "hood" either, but even I grew up in a tougher Philly neighborhood than Hopkins did, with higher crime rates and lower median income. So I can't help but laugh when he refers to his tough background: he's a middle class kid! Sure he went to prison, but anyone can do that.

He's built a false image on being "street." But it's not him. Sorry if you thought he would be too "street" for Calzaghe or anyone else, but you have the wrong guy.



Click this link for details:

http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood...ographics.aspx

[Bea5T]

he was stabbed in the back and front if im not mistaken

[BrooklynBomber]

As a Philly native I didn't need to do any demographic research, but I did it anyway.

Germantown is one of the more peaceful and affluent neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Bill Cosby is from there as well, as was Sun Ra. White collar workers outnumber blue collar workers by about 9/2. The median income is over $40,000/ year.

Crime rates are some of the lowest in the city.

I didn't grow up in the roughest "hood" either, but even I grew up in a tougher Philly neighborhood than Hopkins did, with higher crime rates and lower median income. So I can't help but laugh when he refers to his tough background: he's a middle class kid! Sure he went to prison, but anyone can do that.

He's built a false image on being "street." But it's not him. Sorry if you thought he would be too "street" for Calzaghe or anyone else, but you have the wrong guy.



Click this link for details:

http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood...ographics.aspx

One of the boxing myths despelled.

[Bea5T]

actually it was only in the front


Bernard Hopkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 5, 1965. Life for the undisputed middleweight champion has not always been rosy. The son of Bernard and Shirley Hopkins, he grew up in Philadelphia as one of eight children. From an early age Hopkins was an aggressive child and seemed to attract trouble. In 1979 at the age of 13 he was stabbed on the subway and suffered a punctured lung. The knife narrowly missed his heart, and he spent six months in the hospital recovering from the attack. As he got older he began to intimidate people. Stealing chains, clothing and money landed him in front of a judge on many occasions. While his high school classmates were graduating, Hopkins was graduating from reform school to the penitentiary. One judge handed the 17-year-old eleventh grader two sentences--one for five to twelve years and one for three to six years. Hopkins told Ron Heard of **********.net about his time in prison: "I saw a lot of things in prison that aren't clean or nice to talk about. I was seventeen years old. I didn't consider myself dangerous, but I was surrounded by killers, rapists, child ******ers, skinheads, Mafia types, so I was in a dangerous situation. I saw a guy stabbed to death with a makeshift ice pick in an argument over a pack of cigarettes."

Despite the hardships of life behind bars, Hopkins was grateful for his prison experience, because he woke up from his life of petty theft. After almost five years behind bars, the 22-year-old was released, having earned a GED and learned some hard lessons. Hopkins went back to his old Philadelphia neighborhood with nine years of parole hanging over his head, but he also had a resolve to make something of his life despite the odds against him. He decided his avenue to success would be through boxing.

[kayjay]

he was stabbed in the back and front if im not mistaken

Listen, depressed suburban kids slit their own wrists. Hopkins is closer to this than he is to any real "street" activity.

**** my grandma was mugged at the mall, does that mean she is tough now. Does it excuse her every ignorance and suggest that a euro*** could never beat her in a fight?

Facts are facts, he did not have a hard life, except for what hardships he brought upon himself. As a young adult he found a little trouble, as did many of us. That's not growing up hard though

[sonofisis]

As a Philly native I didn't need to do any demographic research, but I did it anyway.

Germantown is one of the more peaceful and affluent neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Bill Cosby is from there as well, as was Sun Ra. White collar workers outnumber blue collar workers by about 9/2. The median income is over $40,000/ year.

Crime rates are some of the lowest in the city.

I didn't grow up in the roughest "hood" either, but even I grew up in a tougher Philly neighborhood than Hopkins did, with higher crime rates and lower median income. So I can't help but laugh when he refers to his tough background: he's a middle class kid! Sure he went to prison, but anyone can do that.

He's built a false image on being "street." But it's not him. Sorry if you thought he would be too "street" for Calzaghe or anyone else, but you have the wrong guy.



Click this link for details:

http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood...ographics.aspx

You fool. Hopkins grew up in Raymond Rosen housing projects and moved to Germantown later. Similar to my situation. I grew up in Oakland, CA and we moved when I turned 15 to get away from the bull****. Calm down. I don't see how a keyboard set tripper has any value as far as input anyways.

One of the boxing myths despelled.

Not really.

[kayjay]

actually it was only in the front


Bernard Hopkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 5, 1965. Life for the undisputed middleweight champion has not always been rosy. The son of Bernard and Shirley Hopkins, he grew up in Philadelphia as one of eight children. From an early age Hopkins was an aggressive child and seemed to attract trouble. In 1979 at the age of 13 he was stabbed on the

You don't think his managers wrote his wikipedia article? "As he got older, he began to intimidate people." That even SOUNDS like a contrivance.

Click on the link I posted and see where he grew up. That's fact. It's a soft, white-collar neighborhood.

[kayjay]

You fool. Hopkins grew up in Raymond Rosen housing projects and moved to Germantown later. Similar to my situation. I grew up in Oakland, CA and we moved when I turned 15 to get away from the bull****. Calm down. I don't see how a keyboard set tripper has any value as far as input anyways.

I'm calm, I'm providing facts here. He did not "grow up" in North Philly. His parents did, as did mine.

[Orange Sneakers]

That would have only made his five-year jail-stay tougher

I'd rather be running any street than locked away for five years with psychos raping eachother...

[kayjay]

This is like the final scene in "Eight Mile," when the phony suburban gangsta gets exposed. Except this is a true story.

It makes little sense . . . why does he want so badly to be street?