In what was supposed to be a great year for boxing, 2014 has been plagued by many mismatches. One of the main culprits to blame is Al Haymon. He is responsible for Danny Garcia facing Rod Salka, Leo Santa Cruz for not facing top level opposition, and many other not so popular instances. When these fighters are interviewed, they all state they’re willing to fight the best, but Haymon is in charge of choosing their opposition.
Bernard Hopkins along with many other people believe these mismatches in boxing need to stop for the betterment of the sport. Hopkins discusses how his recent bout with Sergey Kovalev, a fight that many people thought was too dangerous for him to take, has earned him much respect despite taking a loss. He believes his latest bout may have inspired other fighters to face the best in their division.
Hopkins told Tha Boxing Voice, “I don’t want to take all the credit for fighters now wanting to fight other fighters, but that’s a good thing, I’m encouraging it. If I play any role in influencing for my decisions to fight Sergey, then I’m glad fighters will listen to their handlers, but at the end of the day make the choice they want to fight the best to say they are the best. I think that’s when boxing will get the credibility from mainstream media, and also mainstream business people. To understand boxing is not dead but well awake.”
