Bernard Hopkins: ‘Material Things Come and Go but Legacy Lasts Forever’

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    bernard-hopkins-boxer-fighter-philadelphiaA few days ago, Bernard Hopkins turned a remarkable 50 years old, making him probably the oldest fighter in boxing to not look his age and still retain most of skills today. Hopkins at 49 years of age was the oldest world champion in the history of the sport until he was dethroned by Sergey Kovalev in November of last year. Even till today, we can’t count out Hopkins returning to the ring, and some believe, with the exception of Kovalev, Hopkins still has what it takes to beat almost all of the contenders in the light heavyweight division.

    We caught up with Hopkins and asked him what he thought his greatest victory of his legendary career was. “Felix Trinidad and then Oscar De La Hoya” said Hopkins, who was in Vegas for the Stiverne-Wilder event being held at the MGM.

    We then asked Hopkins what was it like for him to do something Ray Robinson couldn’t, in going from 160 pounds up to 175 and becoming the light heavyweight champion. “Oh that was absolutely enticing for me to do that and it was also part of why I did that, it was part of what I wanted to do for my legacy and take that chance on being the only one, that the great Robinson couldn’t even pull off. To me he’s still the greatest fighter that ever boxed.

    “That to me is unbelievable and I will go to my grave with my legacy when that time comes, and I want to say one thing and this goes out to the fighters, the fans, the critics, and non critics of boxing. No matter what you gain out of this business, or in life, one thing you can’t take with you when you leave is cars, material things, or even wealth or money, but what you can take to your grave, and live beyond your grave is your legacy.

    “See, things come and things go, but legacy last forever and that’s to me, trumps. Every and everything, that is good or bad, in a life in the world we live in. That is important to me now, and was important to me then.”

    On the subject of of wealth and money, we asked Bernard why for him has it always been about fighting the best in the sport and having a solid legacy as opposed to being here for the money and fame, considering he had nothing growing up. “Listen I like to live respectful like anybody else. I like nice things and I definitely like nice clothes, but these things are not my God and they’re not my confidence. Eighty plus percent of the people I believe, without judging them or maybe I did, make these things or thing, their God or their confidence or their swagger. Whatever title they want to put on it because of what they’ve accomplished, what they’ve earned, and who they think they are, but they’re not really that if you take all those things away. They wont have, what they think they got because of what they have. I’ve never been in that kind of mentality even when I was flat broke.”