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By Thomas Gerbasi - There is no topic off limits when talking to Bernard Hopkins. So while other athletes who are getting up in years may get offended when the taboo topic of age comes up, “The Executioner” is more than willing to not only talk about – but celebrate – being 48 years old in a young man’s sport.
“As people keep saying 48, 48, 48, I want them to keep mentioning that because someone across the world is gonna say ‘wow, this man is 48 years old and he’s doing this and he’s winning. I’m inspired.’”
He’s right. There are plenty of people (and you can count me in that group of 40-somethings) that look at what Hopkins has done since turning the Big 4-0 and simply smile. It’s not an ear-to-ear grin like when George Foreman shocked Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight title in 1994, but it’s a sneaky, sly grin, one that matches the style of Hopkins during the years in which he was supposed to be enjoying the fruits of a 20 successful defense reign atop the middleweight division.
But who knew that after back-to-back losses to Jermain Taylor, he was just getting started. In the process he took the time when boxers’ legacies get destroyed or at least tarnished, and he made his even greater. And he knows it.
“I’m doing something that ain’t supposed to be done,” said Hopkins. “Now it becomes something different, and that’s what I am: different. That’s strange to people that are ordinary. Everybody looks at me different and thinks that it’s a problem because they are ordinary. And that word just means that there are a lot of you.” [Click Here To Read More]
“As people keep saying 48, 48, 48, I want them to keep mentioning that because someone across the world is gonna say ‘wow, this man is 48 years old and he’s doing this and he’s winning. I’m inspired.’”
He’s right. There are plenty of people (and you can count me in that group of 40-somethings) that look at what Hopkins has done since turning the Big 4-0 and simply smile. It’s not an ear-to-ear grin like when George Foreman shocked Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight title in 1994, but it’s a sneaky, sly grin, one that matches the style of Hopkins during the years in which he was supposed to be enjoying the fruits of a 20 successful defense reign atop the middleweight division.
But who knew that after back-to-back losses to Jermain Taylor, he was just getting started. In the process he took the time when boxers’ legacies get destroyed or at least tarnished, and he made his even greater. And he knows it.
“I’m doing something that ain’t supposed to be done,” said Hopkins. “Now it becomes something different, and that’s what I am: different. That’s strange to people that are ordinary. Everybody looks at me different and thinks that it’s a problem because they are ordinary. And that word just means that there are a lot of you.” [Click Here To Read More]
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