Former two-division world champion Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KO’s) is daring WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s) to be great by moving up two weight classes to fight the best of the light-heavyweight division.
After spending a majority of his career as a middleweight, Hopkins decided to move up two weight classes, at the age of 41, to the light-heavyweight division in 2006.
Hopkins challenged IBO World light-heavyweight champion, Antonio Tarver. Tarver was so sure he would come out victorious, he bet Hopkins $250,000 that he’d stop him within six rounds.
However, that backfired on him. He was thoroughly out-boxed and was given an eight-count after Hopkins landed a beautiful counter right hand that caused Tarver’s left glove to touch the canvas.
Hopkins’s one-sided drubbing of Tarver sent shockwaves throughout the sport, and he’s daring the Kazakh monster Golovkin to attempt to do what he did in 2006, and fight in him in what Hopkins plans to be his final fight, speaking with Fight Hub
“I went from 60 to 75 to fight Tarver,” said Hopkins. “I was a 6 ½ underdog and he [Tarver] said I was basically going to get killed. I’m 171 pounds now and I’m jumping two weight classes from where I’ve been for over 15 years at middleweight, and I’m fighting a guy that walks around at 200 some pounds named Antonio Tarver.”
Hopkins solidified his legacy in the sport by being audacious, being unafraid, and fighting the best. However, he doesn’t see the same dauntless mentality in most of the top middleweight fighters today, and he isn’t thrilled about it.
“Why are others guys getting a pass?” Hopkins questioned. “They say I’m that special. They say, ‘Bernard, you’re right behind God.’ All of a sudden, they got short memories. They don’t want to give me any credit openly.
“Nobody is asking none of these guys to do what I did because they didn’t think I was going to win, first of all,” Hopkins said. “And they didn’t think I was going to win as easily as I did.”
Hopkins then dared Gennady Golovkin, who many consider the most feared man in boxing today, to do what he did.
“Triple G, who I say is special, who I say has been knocking [guys out], why do these guys don’t do the things that I did?” he further questioned.
It would be very interesting to see if Golovkin ever attempts such a feat.
Golovkin dropped light-heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev in sparring, who dominated Bernard Hopkins in his most recent fight.
Hopkins is a legend; there’s no doubt about that, and we’d love to see fighters with his type of intrepidity fighting the best. That’s what boxing is all about, and Golovkin could very well be that fighter.
