Bernard Hopkins is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed middleweight title from 2001 to 2005, and the lineal light heavyweight title from 2011 to 2012.
47 Facts About Bernard Hopkins
2.
Bernard Hopkins would go on to compile 20 defenses against 17 opponents, with 19 wins as a result of his no-contest bout against Robert Allen.
3.
In 2001, Bernard Hopkins successfully unified the middleweight division by defeating Felix Trinidad to win the WBA, WBC, Ring magazine and lineal titles.
4.
In 2001, Bernard Hopkins was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America.
5.
Three years later, Bernard Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC and lineal light heavyweight titles, as well as regaining the Ring title.
6.
Bernard Hopkins later broke his own record by winning the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud in 2013, and again in 2014 when he won the WBA title from Beibut Shumenov, at ages 48 and 49, respectively.
7.
Bernard Hopkins credits mastering the boxing fundamentals and a great defense for his longevity in the sport.
8.
Bernard Hopkins was a very seasoned fighter, being able to take advantage of a wide variety of situations in the ring and implement rough and dirty tactics while fighting on the inside or in a clinch.
9.
At seventeen, Bernard Hopkins was sentenced to 18 years in Graterford Prison for nine felonies.
10.
Bernard Hopkins then decided to use boxing as an escape from his previous life, and converted to Islam.
11.
Bernard Hopkins immediately joined the professional boxing ranks as a light heavyweight, losing his debut on October 11,1988, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Clinton Mitchell.
12.
Between February 1990 and December 1992, Bernard Hopkins scored 21 wins without a loss.
13.
Bernard Hopkins won 16 of those fights by knockout, 12 coming in the first round.
14.
Bernard Hopkins met Roy Jones on May 22,1993, for the vacant IBF middleweight title.
15.
Bernard Hopkins was out-pointed throughout most of the fight, en route to losing a unanimous decision.
16.
The IBF called for an immediate rematch, and on April 29,1995, Bernard Hopkins became a world champion with a seventh-round technical knockout victory in Landover, Maryland.
17.
Bernard Hopkins bested Carl Daniels on February 2 surpassing Carlos Monzon's division record of 14 defenses, 2002, by tenth-round technical knockout; Morrade Hakkar on March 29,2003, by eighth-round TKO; William Joppy on December 13,2003, by unanimous decision; and Robert Allen on June 5,2004, by unanimous decision.
18.
Bernard Hopkins won the bout by knockout in the ninth round with a left hook to the body and thus became the first boxer ever to unify the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies.
19.
At the time of the stoppage, Bernard Hopkins was ahead on two of the scorecards, with De La Hoya ahead on the other.
20.
Bernard Hopkins earned a career high of $10 million and De La Hoya made $30 million.
21.
In November 2004, De la Hoya invited Bernard Hopkins to join his boxing promotional firm, Golden Boy Promotions, as president of its new East Coast chapter.
22.
Bernard Hopkins started slowly but came on strong over the final four rounds.
23.
Bernard Hopkins started the fight well, dropping Calzaghe in the first round and using his ring savvy to confuse the challenger.
24.
Calzaghe did however quickly adapt to the style of Bernard Hopkins and caught up in the middle to later rounds using his superior hand speed and output volume, leading to a split decision win for the Welshman.
25.
Bernard Hopkins prepared for this fight in the late summer heat at his second home, Danny Hawk's "World Famous" Normandy Gym in Miami Beach, Florida.
26.
On December 2,2009, Bernard Hopkins fought in his home city of Philadelphia for the first time since 2003 beating Enrique Ornelas via 12-round unanimous decision in what served as a tune-up bout for the 44-year-old Hopkins who had not fought since his October 18,2008 12-round upset victory over undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.
27.
Bernard Hopkins defeated Jones by a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout marred by illegal blows and a skirmish at the end of the sixth round involving ring entourage, the referee and security guards.
28.
Bernard Hopkins then challenged WBA heavyweight champion David Haye who had successfully defended his title against John Ruiz.
29.
Bernard Hopkins later stated his intentions to fight Lucian Bute following Bute's third-round technical knockout victory over Edison Miranda.
30.
Bernard Hopkins won at 46 years, 4 months, 6 days, while Foreman was 45 years, 10 months.
31.
Bernard Hopkins told the world of boxing that his next fight was going to be against former champion Chad Dawson.
32.
Bernard Hopkins lost via TKO for being unable to continue after injuring his shoulder when Dawson threw him off of his back.
33.
Bernard Hopkins would make his return to the ring on March 9,2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, against IBF Light Heavyweight Champion and Ring No 2 ranked Light Heavyweight, Tavoris Cloud.
34.
Bernard Hopkins broke his own record becoming the oldest man in the history of the sport to win a major world boxing title, by defeating Cloud by unanimous decision.
35.
Bernard Hopkins defended the IBF Light Heavyweight Championship against Karo Murat on October 26,2013.
36.
Shortly after Sergey Kovalev defeated Blake Caparello in a second-round knockout on August 2,2014, Bernard Hopkins announced he would face the former in a match where his WBA Super and IBF titles would be on the line against Kovalev's WBO title.
37.
In 2015, Bernard Hopkins called out Carl Froch again stating he would like to fight him in a farewell match, only for Froch to decline the offer calling it a "lose-lose situation".
38.
Bernard Hopkins made an announcement confirming he wanted a final farewell fight before the end of 2016, which would be his first fight in over two years since losing to Kovalev in a lopsided unanimous decision.
39.
Bernard Hopkins confirmed he would retire after this fight, whether it be at cruiserweight or light heavyweight, putting an end to his 28-year career.
40.
Bernard Hopkins did not contact trainer Naazim Richardson to train him for his final bout, instead having Kovalev's trainer John David Jackson, a former boxer whom Bernard Hopkins defeated in 1997, train him.
41.
On fight night, in front of a 6,513 crowd, Bernard Hopkins lost to Smith via TKO when he was knocked out of the ring in the 8th round and failed to make it back into the ring as referee Jack Reiss made a 20 count.
42.
Bernard Hopkins said he was hurt and couldn't get back in the ring.
43.
Bernard Hopkins insisted that he had been pushed out of the ring, but replays showed it was not a push.
44.
Bernard Hopkins was coached by Philadelphia-based English "Bouie" Fisher from 1989 until their split in 2002 which resulted in Fisher taking Bernard Hopkins to court, claiming he was underpaid by $255,000.
45.
In late 2010, Bernard Hopkins suggested that African American fighters who possessed what he described as a "slick" inner-city style of fighting would be successful against Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.
46.
On May 11,2011, Bernard Hopkins questioned Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb's racial credentials in a Philadelphia Daily News online article.
47.
Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that according to Bernard Hopkins, McNabb had a privileged childhood in suburban Chicago and, as a result, is not black enough or tough enough, at least compared with, say, himself, Michael Vick and Terrell Owens.