The Craft of Boxing

Inspiring Fear of the Unknown

19Jul10

A great scene from the movie 13th Warrior.

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Bernard Hopkins – Peers Discuss His Legacy

19Mar10

The following article appeared on BoxingInsider.com in 2005.

The Inspiration of Bernard Hopkins
By Scoop Malinowski

His Peers Discuss The Man Behind The Mask

For a decade we’ve read what the media portrayed to us about Bernard Hopkins. For many years we’ve listened to what the TV commentators thought of Bernard Hopkins and how he conducted his extraordinary yet sometimes controversial career.

But rarely, if ever, have we gotten to know about Bernard Hopkins from perhaps the most telling perspective of all – his peers. Now, it’s time to let the boxers and a few other insiders speak their points of view on the inspiration, the king, the pound-for-pound best, Bernard Hopkins.
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Hasim Rahman, former IBF/WBC Heavyweight champion: “Obviously I feel like he’s a man, he did it his way. And at the end, he was smarter than a lot of people. Everybody always talked about what he walked away from, but he held his own, he stood firm, he stood his ground and I think he wound up on top. So I gotta take my hat off to him.”

Wladimir Klitschko, former WBO Heavyweight champ: “I think Bernard Hopkins is something unusual. And he gets so much success, especially after the de la Hoya fight. And he’s really on the top of everything. And he really shows that if you’re focused, focused – and you want to get a goal – you’ll get it. It doesn’t matter how difficult it is. (He’s 39 and the best, what makes him so good?) Yes, that’s unbelievable. He’s ancient. He did it. I think the will to survive – because in boxing you have to survive. You have to keep winning. Otherwise you’re out. But he’s focused on his boxing life. That’s what he wants to do.”
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