By Dan Ambrose: Moments after his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision victory over Karo Murat (25-2-1, 15 KO’s) on Saturday night, IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KO’s) told Showtime interviewer Jim Gray that he can make 160 lbs. for a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he’s serious about wanting the fight.
Hopkins said “I can make 160. If the negotiations are serious, I can make 160.”
What negotiations are Hopkins talking about? Mayweather hasn’t said a word about wanting to fight the 48-year-old Hopkins at 160 or at all period. This is all Hopkins acting as a promoter in talking about the fight. Sure, it’s possible that Mayweather might show interest in fighting Hopkins, but thus far he hasn’t said a word about wanting the fight. That’s not stopping Hopkins from talking about the Mayweather fight. I guess if you repeat something long enough people will start to believe it and want the fight, but right now I don’t think there’s a great deal of interest in a Hopkins-Mayweather fight by the boxing public.
Hopkins seemed to be making an excuse after tonight’s fight for him not going after unification bouts WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev by saying that he understands the Showtime/HBO war won’t allow a fight between him and them. How convenient for Hopkins because he wouldn’t stand a chance against either of those guys. If that had been Stevenson or Kovalev in the ring tonight instead of Murat, Hopkins would have been in for a world of hurt and I think he would have been knocked out or beaten by a lopsided decision. By Hopkins saying that a fight between him and the other champions likely won’t happen due to the HBO/Showtime feud, it means that Hopkins doesn’t have to face the two best fighters at 175. If you take away Stevenson and Kovalev, that leaves the likes of Beibut Shumenov, Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly. Those are all guys that Hopkins would have a good chance of beating.
As for Hopkins getting a fight against Mayweather, I don’t see it happening. Hopkins can keep mentioning Mayweather’s name but it just looks like he’s chasing Mayweather for a fight. Robert Guerrero and Amir Khan have chased Mayweather and it paid off for Guerrero, and it’s likely to pay off for Khan. However. those guys fight in the same division as Mayweather. It’s not as if Mayweather has to move up two divisions to fight them. To fight Hopkins, Mayweather would have to move up to middleweight to take the fight.
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