By Scott Gilfoid: Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) turns 50-years-old today, and he says he plans on most likely continuing his boxing career possibly at super middleweight.
Hopkins lost his last fight against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev last year in November in a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss. The fight was one-sided from the start, and it was clear that Hopkins didn’t have the fire power to compete with the younger 31-year-old Kovalev in the 1st round when Hopkins was dropped by the Russian fighter.
Rather than stick it out at 175 and possibly get beaten by the likes of Adonis Stevenson or Jean Pascal, Hopkins is thinking of moving down to 168 to take on some of the big names in that weight division.
“I think it’s very possible this year. It’s 50-50 more on the positive side, yes absolutely,” Hopkins said to Skysports.com. “That [moving down to super middleweight] has been talked about amongst the giants in TV world. I am comfortable at 168. In fact if you look at my last four fights, I came in well under 175.”
If Hopkins could move down to super middleweight then he could test himself against the likes of Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler or the Dirrell brothers. You would have to assume that Hopkins would be targeting the likes of Froch and Kessler if he could get either of them to agree to the fight.
It’s doubtful that Froch would say yes to Hopkins, because Froch seems to be kind of touchy about fighting guys with a weight advantage over him, and Hopkins would likely rehydrate to a slightly higher weight than the 37-year-old Froch. It’s also a case where Froch might be looking out for his legacy, and he might not want to get in the ring with Hopkins and get exposed before he retires. If Froch isn’t interested in facing the likes of the Dirrell brothers, Andre Ward and James DeGale, then you can bet he’d want no part of Hopkins.
“I feel like I’m a little past my peak but not past my peak to the point where I’m headed down fast,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins has lost some in terms of his work rate and obviously with his punching power. He moved up from middleweight over a decade ago, but he didn’t carry his power up with him when he moves to 175. But he wouldn’t need his power to beat guys like Froch and Kessler.
Of course, getting either of those guys to agree to a fight against a talent like Hopkins would likely be like pulling teeth. Hopkins could move down to 168, but what good is it if he finds himself as another Andre Ward where the top money guys in the division don’t want to face him.
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