Bernard Hopkins recently turned 43 but carries enough menace to put people on edge. The most recent time that Joe Calzaghe met the American, Calzaghe offered to shake his hand and ended up having a nose-to-nose row. Their meeting yesterday, at Planet Hollywood in London’s West End to promote their light-heavyweight bout in Las Vegas on April 19, began with a frosty stare and ended with a warm handshake. Those who turned up expecting to see the pair exchange blows ten weeks early left disappointed.
Hopkins’s journey from the street to boxing legend has owed as much to his sharp brain as his fast fists. Before his win over F?lix Trinidad in 2001, he burnt a Puerto Rican flag, which not only infuriated Trinidad but united a nation against Hopkins. Trinidad was easily beaten.
The confrontation with Calzaghe the day before the Floyd Mayweather Jr-Ricky Hatton bout in Las Vegas in December was another prime piece of opportunism that sparked huge interest in a bout that otherwise might not have happened. He even courted controversy when he said that he would “never lose to a white boy”, words for which he was not about to apologise yesterday. “I don’t regret anything,” Hopkins said. “I said what I said and, come April 19, it’s up to Joe to prove me a liar. People who know me, know me. This ain’t the Hillary Clinton and Barack [Obama] thing.”
Six years ago, Hopkins, who was world middleweight champion from 1995-2005, priced himself out of a bout with Calzaghe. At the time he was seen as difficult to work with, but now that he is a partner in Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, he is seen as a visionary. Facing Calzaghe, the WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight champion, with the Welshman having established himself among the best boxers in the world, makes more sense.
“I had to eliminate opponents, so Joe would come to me,” Hopkins said. “Old Poppy Hopkins is standing at the gates of America for Joe. He thinks he has the key, but it doesn’t fit. I’m at the point where there has to be a purpose to fight and that purpose at the moment is Joe Calzaghe. Guys from the United States came here to fight, now Joe gets a taste of his own medicine. The bottom line is, you have to come to America. If you’re great, do great things.”
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When Calzaghe, who will be 36 in March, retires - which he says could be this year - he could go down as the greatest British boxer in history. The Welshman, though, is shying away from turning the bout into a clash of nations.
“I don’t need patriotism to get me excited for this fight,” Calzaghe said. “Hopkins is a 43-year-old man, a good talker and can still fight. I only get excited about certain fights and I’m excited about this.”