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Exclusive by Ben Cohen: Earlier this week, Secondsout's Tim Smith broke the extraordinary news that former middleweight King Bernard Hopkins was contemplating a move up to the heavyweight division.
Having already jumped two divisions to give Light Heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver the drubbing of his life, the 'Executioner' seems hell bent on pushing himself beyond the boundaries of probability. His proposed foray into the division of the big men involves the slightly limited but very heavy-handed WBC champ Oleg Maskaev.
According to Tim Smith, Hopkins stated that he would not go forward until he was guaranteed that the famous sports nutrition guru Mackie Shilstone would help him again. Well, SecondsOut can verify that Shilstone is indeed up for the job, and believes Hopkins is more than capable of making the leap to Heavyweight.
Having put a functional 15lbs of muscle onto Hopkins lean frame for his bout with Tarver, Shilstone sees no problem in packing on the needed mass for the big men.
"You have to remember, when we fought Tarver, we where in the ring at 185lbs", said the excitable New Orleans training legend.
"People think that he was a Light Heavyweight, but he was only a Light Heavyweight to weigh in. At 185, that's only 5 lbs south of Cruiserweight."
Given Hopkins has weighed in as low as 156lbs, can he realistically add the muscle mass to go all the way to Heavyweight?
"I think Bernard fight easily at 195-202", he replied firmly.
Telling Smith he needed 9 months to acclimatise his body to the heavyweight division, Hopkins obviously does not think this will be an easy task. The ever-optimistic Shilstone amazingly disagrees.
"I read the story, and he said he needed 9 months to prepare. I disagree. He needs 8 weeks".
"Now remember, I'm the only man in history to take a man and move him up, you're talking to the only man who has ever done it successfully", Shilstone continued confidently.
And that he has. In 1985, Shilstone took former Light Heavyweight champion Michael Spinks from a lean 175lber to a rock solid 199 ½ lbs, winning the Heavyweight title from Larry Holmes. Almost two decades later, he did the same for Roy Jones Junior, moving the former middleweight titlist to 193lbs to fight John Ruiz for the Heavyweight title.
"I don't need to reinvent the wheel, I wrote the book", said Shilstone emphatically.
Perhaps most importantly, Shilstone knows exactly what Hopkins is capable of, because he has worked with him intensively before.
"I probably know Bernard now as well as anyone. I knew him for 6 weeks and when you spend four hours a day with a man and go through what we went through you don't need a lot of time to understand what he is capable of".
So convinced is Shilstone in his and Bernard's ability to succeed, that he does not even think it would be close.
"I have never lost with a man moving up. Remember that, never lost moving a man up. Not only does he beat Maskaev, but I think he knocks him down".
"Compared to all the other people I have trained, Bernard is at the top of the class. He sits up there as the role model. He is the most disciplined human being I have ever met. He is in such good health, he performs the same as a 25 year old, and believe me when I say that, because I have trained a lot of people."
If Shilstone is up for the job, it would logically follow that the fight should happen. With Hopkins retirement looking as legitimate as one of Julio Cesar Chavez's, the only obstacles will the sanctioning bodies, and the financial arrangement. Hopkins reportedly wants millions in the double digits for this fight, which means negotiations could go on for a while.
"I haven't spoken to Bernard", said Shilstone. "The first I heard of it was the link to the report on your website. I've heard he is talking to the networks, so I'll be expecting to hear from him after that."
Having already jumped two divisions to give Light Heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver the drubbing of his life, the 'Executioner' seems hell bent on pushing himself beyond the boundaries of probability. His proposed foray into the division of the big men involves the slightly limited but very heavy-handed WBC champ Oleg Maskaev.
According to Tim Smith, Hopkins stated that he would not go forward until he was guaranteed that the famous sports nutrition guru Mackie Shilstone would help him again. Well, SecondsOut can verify that Shilstone is indeed up for the job, and believes Hopkins is more than capable of making the leap to Heavyweight.
Having put a functional 15lbs of muscle onto Hopkins lean frame for his bout with Tarver, Shilstone sees no problem in packing on the needed mass for the big men.
"You have to remember, when we fought Tarver, we where in the ring at 185lbs", said the excitable New Orleans training legend.
"People think that he was a Light Heavyweight, but he was only a Light Heavyweight to weigh in. At 185, that's only 5 lbs south of Cruiserweight."
Given Hopkins has weighed in as low as 156lbs, can he realistically add the muscle mass to go all the way to Heavyweight?
"I think Bernard fight easily at 195-202", he replied firmly.
Telling Smith he needed 9 months to acclimatise his body to the heavyweight division, Hopkins obviously does not think this will be an easy task. The ever-optimistic Shilstone amazingly disagrees.
"I read the story, and he said he needed 9 months to prepare. I disagree. He needs 8 weeks".
"Now remember, I'm the only man in history to take a man and move him up, you're talking to the only man who has ever done it successfully", Shilstone continued confidently.
And that he has. In 1985, Shilstone took former Light Heavyweight champion Michael Spinks from a lean 175lber to a rock solid 199 ½ lbs, winning the Heavyweight title from Larry Holmes. Almost two decades later, he did the same for Roy Jones Junior, moving the former middleweight titlist to 193lbs to fight John Ruiz for the Heavyweight title.
"I don't need to reinvent the wheel, I wrote the book", said Shilstone emphatically.
Perhaps most importantly, Shilstone knows exactly what Hopkins is capable of, because he has worked with him intensively before.
"I probably know Bernard now as well as anyone. I knew him for 6 weeks and when you spend four hours a day with a man and go through what we went through you don't need a lot of time to understand what he is capable of".
So convinced is Shilstone in his and Bernard's ability to succeed, that he does not even think it would be close.
"I have never lost with a man moving up. Remember that, never lost moving a man up. Not only does he beat Maskaev, but I think he knocks him down".
"Compared to all the other people I have trained, Bernard is at the top of the class. He sits up there as the role model. He is the most disciplined human being I have ever met. He is in such good health, he performs the same as a 25 year old, and believe me when I say that, because I have trained a lot of people."
If Shilstone is up for the job, it would logically follow that the fight should happen. With Hopkins retirement looking as legitimate as one of Julio Cesar Chavez's, the only obstacles will the sanctioning bodies, and the financial arrangement. Hopkins reportedly wants millions in the double digits for this fight, which means negotiations could go on for a while.
"I haven't spoken to Bernard", said Shilstone. "The first I heard of it was the link to the report on your website. I've heard he is talking to the networks, so I'll be expecting to hear from him after that."
to your mom..
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