Hopkins, 51, aims to finish with KO flourish
Tucked away in Bernard Hopkins’ pocket for some time was a reminder.
A 3.370-by-2.125-inch memory of why he continues to fight, even one month shy of his 52nd birthday.
The card is emblazoned with the letter Y, followed by the numbers 4145. It’s the prison identification card Hopkins was issued during his nearly five-year stay at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Graterford.
When Hopkins waved goodbye to the joint in 1988, the warden snidely remarked that he’d see him again soon. Of course, Hopkins never returned and made it his life’s mission to prove all the doubters — and there were many — wrong.
Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) will seek to do just that — one final time — Saturday when he faces light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. in a farewell fight (HBO, 10 p.m. ET) at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
There’s no old-timer’s day in boxing.
This is an unforgiving sport, and it’s rare for a fighter to leave on his own terms, nevermind in a billed goodbye — Final 1.
Mike Tyson’s final foray was a stoppage loss to journeyman heavyweight Kevin McBride. Muhammad Ali exited the sport with back-to-back defeats.
Marvin Hagler once famously explained the troubles of completing the arduous training boxing demands after you’ve made it big: It’s hard to get up and run at 5 a.m. when you sleep in silk pajamas.
And yet here’s Hopkins — with tens of millions in the bank, a lifetime of accomplishments and his health intact — fighting into his 50s. And he’s not just fighting, he’s also competing against credible opponents as the favorite (Smith’s last outing was a firstround knockout of contender Andrzej Fonfara). The secret? “Easy,” Hopkins said. “You nev- er buy silk underwear. I didn’t go to high school. This is easy. If you understand that silk underwear can be contagious, then you don’t buy silk underwear.
“In the summer, they’re hot, they stick to you and they’re all sweaty, I heard. So you buy cotton briefs.”
Sacrifice long has been the bread and butter of Hopkins’ ways. He’s always in shape. He has always remained hungry.
“This here is in shape whether I fight today or tomorrow,” Hopkins said as he pointed to his chiseled body covered by a vest and a white shirt. “And when I retire, I’m always going to look good, because that’s my mind-set. It’s a lifestyle.”
Why does Hopkins continue to fight? It’s the same reason Warren Buffett continues to make deals, despite his billions, Hopkins said. It’s simply what they were put on Earth to do.
When Hopkins was in prison after an armed robbery conviction, he turned to boxing.
“The Executioner” was defeated in his pro debut and didn’t fight professionally for another 16 months. The rest is history: titles in two weight classes, a record 20 middleweight title defenses, countless upsets against much younger fighters.
Hopkins even broke George Foreman’s record as the oldest man to hold a world champion- ship when he defeated Jean Pascal in 2011 at age 46.
If Hopkins loses to Smith, a laborer’s union worker on Long Island, the future Hall of Famer says it will tarnish his legacy, one he has worked far too hard to build.
Hopkins doesn’t just want to beat Smith, he also wants to score his first knockout since a 2004 win against now-partner Oscar De La Hoya.
Somehow, someway, Hopkins has always known how to fight Father Time.
His first farewell fight was in 2006 when he was 45. The Philadelphian was an underdog then, and he beat Antonio Tarver so comprehensively that he simply couldn’t walk away. Not when there were millions more to make, dozens of fighters left to beat and millions of people, many of whom doubted him, to be proved wrong one more time.
So Hopkins will stroll to the ring one final time, with a 70year-old acquaintance crooning Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
“Bernard Hopkins always did it his way. So what is surprising to anyone?” Hopkins said. “Is it the age? ... I’ve been around so damn long I’ve been through seven presidencies. What fighter you know who ever done that?
“I’m going to put on a performance where you ask me and beg me to stay. But I won’t.”