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Bernard Hopkins is set to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame two weeks from now. Hopkins had one of the longest and most successful careers in the sport. He was a world champion in 1995 and also in 2014.
In a recent interview with ESNEWS, the former two-weight world champion detailed his journey. He spoke about spending time in the state penitentiary and being immortalized as one of boxing's all-time greats:
“Rudy Battle, the legendary referee in boxing, would be at the Hall of Fame and I would call him up, and I would remind everybody when Rudy Battle came to the penitentiary when I was an inmate and now I'm in the Hall of Fame. You talking about not only redemption. You talking about never giving up. You talking about how all the positive things to never throw the dirt or let anyone else throw the dirt for you. Here I come from the [penitentiary] to the Hall of Fame here in LA where movies and stories are made and told. You are looking at one.”
Catch the full interview here:
Bernard Hopkins grew up in a housing project in Philadelphia. As a child, Hopkins was stabbed multiple times and even witnessed murder. After his troubled life led to him spending time in prison, Hopkins would use boxing as an escape from his previous life.
Bernard Hopkins has displayed resilience his whole life
In the very first fight of his professional career, Hopkins tasted defeat. After winning his next 22 bouts, the Philadelphia-born fighter challenged Roy Jones Jr. for the IBF World Middleweight Championship in May 1993. Jones defeated Hopkins via unanimous decision.
In 1994, Hopkins challenged Segundo Mercado in his second attempt at becoming world champion. The fight was scored as a split-draw. A year later, Hopkins knocked out Mercado in the rematch and become the IBF World Middleweight Champion at the third time of asking.
In 2001, Bernard Hopkins became the unified champion at middleweight by defeating Felix Trinidad. Hopkins, who went by the moniker ‘The Executioner’ during this fight, was the underdog. In one of his best performances, he became the IBF, WBC, and WBA World Middleweight Champion. Hopkins would later add the WBO belt to his collection when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya in 2004.
Watch Hopkins' greatest hits:
Bernard Hopkins lost his middleweight titles to Jermain Taylor in a split-decision in July 2005. He rematched Taylor in December the same year, this time losing via a close unanimous decision.
Hopkins moved up to light heavyweight following the twin losses. In 2006, he beat Antonio Tarver to win the IBO and The Ring Light Heavyweight Titles. He would lose the The Ring belt to Joe Calzaghe in 2008 in a split-decision. However, this was not the end of Hopkins' story.
He fought Jean Pascal in 2010 for the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship. The fight was scored a draw. However, in the rematch, Hopkins became champion at the age of 46.
The last victory of his career came in 2014, when ‘The Alien’ became the Unified Light Heavyweight Champion. A then 49-year-old Hopkins beat Beibut Shumenov via split-decision to unify the IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight Championships.
