Bernard Hopkins wants a fight with Haye – News
February 20th, 2010
By Jim Dower: After doing nothing for one year after his win over Kelly Pavlik in late 2008, 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins has sprung to life recently with a win over fringe middleweight contender Enrique Ornelas in December. Hopkins also has a fight coming up on April 3rd, against Roy Jones Jr. at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hopkins, however, is looking past the Jones fight and is hoping that he can get a bout against World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) in the summer. In an interview with the BBC, Hopkins said “If I can get the opportunity to fight Haye by late summer I’ll be there but first I’ll destroy Jones.”
Klitschko, 38, said recently that he’ll retire this year after he gets a fight against Haye. However, if Haye bypasses him to fight the 45-year-old Hopkins, it could force Klitschko to change his plans by waiting around a little longer than he’d like to. Haye at some point could also be giving a rematch to former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev, who Haye beat by a narrow 12 round majority decision in November. Haye will have to decide which bouts he feels will be the more profitable and at the same time he needs to weigh the risks involved with taking fights against Klitschko or Hopkins.
It may be safer for Haye to take the bout against the smaller Hopkins in the summer rather than risking his title against the 6’7” Vitali Klitschko. That fight will likely make more money than a fight against Hopkins, but then again, Haye probably has little chance of beating Klitschko, so it might be better to take a fight against Hopkins next.
Hopkins, for his part, talked yesterday about wanting to clean up the light heavyweight division by beating all the current title holders, and the wrapping things up with a fight against Chad Dawson. Hopkins seems to have a lot of different goals that he’d like to accomplish before he hangs up his gloves for good. The only problem is he may not have enough time to accomplish them all without taking losses.
Tags: 22 Responses to “Bernard Hopkins wants a fight with Haye – News”
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bernard is proven & will show the world his greatness once again ..destroying roy & finding a way to beat haye
That would be a good match up! I see Hopkins frustrating Haye and roughing him up, Hopkins is just so good at that. I would love to see that fight, I give Hopkins a big edge.
Bernard Hopkins must be smoking crack to think he’ll last 4 rounds with Haye. Easy pay day for the Bermondsey brawler.
Haye didn’t avoid Vitali, he just didn’t want to fight for peanuts.
Hopkins would never beat the much bigger and stronger haye. Buy at least this will give Haye a reason to avoid Vitali again.
To the Truth. I am Australian not British. I think BHop is full of it he was too scared to fight Danny Green because he knew he would get knocked out. Same with Haye….too much power for Bhop.
Hopkins shouldn’t be considered seriously. He’s been calling out names over the years and never getting to fight them… tomasz adamek, carl froch… and now haye
hopkins is so over rated. boxing fans should relise that. why did he say no to fighting danny green when he was going to get paid more money fighting green than jones.
RJ is gonna beat Bernard so bad just wait and see
remember though, hopkins chin is much better, so despite that he doesnt have as hard a punch, when they exchange he could come out on top, haye has been staggered by weaker punchers than hopkins…such as fraggy…
Bernard wants to get a HW title shot like Roy did so he can say (hopefully) he put Roy into reitrement then matched him by beating a heavy with a belt.
An ambitious plan to say the least.
first i’ve read that haye is seriously considering this fight, second you have to realize that a man who was out on his feet against mormeck and hanging on for dear life isnt going to get in the ring with a hard-hitting heavyweight, its not going to happen, so accept he will continue to fight soft touches and pretend to want bigger things.
I DO BELIEVE THAT EVERY FIGHTER IN BOXING HAS A CHANCE TO WIN WHETHER HE IS UNDERDOG OR NOT. ONE EXAMPLE IS TYSON OR MANNY PACQUIAO. IN ALL HIS RECENT FIGHTS, HE WAS AN UNDERDOG, BUT HE BEATS THEM BY SPECTACULAR WIN LIKE DIAZ, LARIO, DE LA HOYA, HATTON, AND COTTO. THESE ARE ALL CHAMPIONS AND EX-CHAMPS. DO YOU THINK HE HAS SAME WEIGHT, HEIGHT AND BODY FIGURE WITH THESE GUYS?. BUT BEAT THEM. IN THE SAME WAY WITH BERNARD HOPKINS AS AGAINST DAVID HAYE. WE NEVER KNOW HE COULD KNOCKOUT DAVID HAYE. PLEASE DON’T JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER WITHOUT READING AS IN BOXING DO NOT PRE-JUDGE TILL AFTER THE END OF THE BELL RINGS. HOPKINS MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN AGAINST THE BIGGER HAYE.
JACK FLORES
BOXING ANALYST
Hopkins is a great fighter; in fact, one of the greatest of all times in his weight class, but he has no chance of beating Haye. Bernard is a very smart and technical fighter, but he lacks the size, youthfulness and power to compete favorably with Haye. Bernard, you are a great guy, for whom I have the world of admiration and respect, but stay away from Haye. Haye will hurt you badly.
Bernard will also have a difficult time with Jones for the following reasons:
1.Jones is quicker than Hopkins.
2.Jones is the bigger puncher, and Bernard lacks the big punch to take him out easily.
3.Roy is just as motivated and confident as Bernard is, for this fight.
Bernard’s big advantage in this fight is his chin, which may not be a significant advantage, since his power may not be a big threat to Roy.
Finally, I believe that Vitali Klitschko will knockout Haye. While Haye may have a puncher’s chance against Wladimir, I think his chance against Vitali, is very slim.
i think Hopkins has been smoking crack!!! Haye will send knock him into retirement
Boxing organazations should not allow World Champions to fight somone from a different wieght class unless he has proven himself in that wieght class. That is why everyone is on Berto’s jock for fighting Jr Welter’s when he’s the welter wieght champ. Champions should only fight contenders in the top 10 of thier wieght class. Enough of these Berto type defenses.
Hopkins is crazy. That is it.. This is all hype and pr for him. He will never fight Haye and would have no chance against him. He knows he has nobody to fight so needs to drum up interest somehow.
i think hopkins needs to stop sniffing glue & retire.
I would be so dissapointed in Haye if he takes that fight… 45 year old Hopkins is no match for him because of his lack of power and that’s what’s Hayes poison.
Against Hopkins, Haye can fight exactly how he wants to and knock Hopkins out in about 5 rounds.
Haye should man up and fight Vitali… No excuses, he has to make the fight or lose all credibility.
Does Hopkins really think he has a chance against Haye? He is not exactly a slow and plodding heavyweight and Hopkins has never faced power like that before. David Haye is P4P one of hardest, if not the hardest hitter in the sport today… he could kill the guy.
This would not be a smart move for Haye. He would be heavily criticised by all quarters if he took it, win or lose he would still take stick. David Haye needs to beat Ruiz then face one of the Klitchkos, if he wins then he can fight who he likes and no-one will care.
but i thought hopkins wanted to clean up the light heavy division and then fight chad dawson,wish he would make his mind up,the guy talks crap,talks in riddles.
HOPKINS IS A CHARACTER . U GOTTA LOVE HIM. HE AINT AFRAID OF NO ONE.