Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Bernard Hopkins this past May in Las Vegas (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)
By Chris Robinson
Later tonight, inside of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, one of this generation’s finest pugilists will again take center stage as Bernard Hopkins will look for a successful defense of his WBC light heavyweight title against Germany’s Karo Murat.
The 48-year old Hopkins continues to impress despite his advanced age and he is still looking for the most lucrative and eye-catching fights that could round out his Hall of Fame career.
Last month, while inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas following Floyd Mayweather’s victory over Saul Alvarez, Hopkins even insisted that he would be willing to come down to 160 pounds for a future fight with Mayweather next year.
During a recent swing through the Mayweather Boxing Club, I attempted to speak with Floyd Mayweather Sr. about Hopkins’ fight with Murat, but all the outspoken trainer could seem to focus on was Hopkins’ interest in a fight with his son.
“He’s talking awful foolish,” Mayweather Sr. claimed of Bernard. “It’s a good thing for what he’s done and what he’s doing still. But I’m going to tell you right now, he’s jealous about Floyd. Talking about fighting Floyd, as big as he is. He aint fighting Floyd. It’s stupid, man.”
“To be honest with you, it don’t even make sense for that fight to even take place,” Mayweather Sr. added. “Because if he takes all that weight off, anybody can put on a certain amount of weight. And he’s already bigger anyways too. He’s a much bigger guy, much taller guy. It’s not Floyd’s fault because he’s doing what he’s doing and he’s where he’s at.”
I can vividly recall Hopkins having a few minutes with Mayweather Sr. following the final post-fight press conference for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Robert Guerrero fight this past May.
Surrounded by a few media members, Hopkins could be seen showing Mayweather Sr. much love as the two men joked with one another and soaked up the moment.
I asked Mayweather Sr. to recall that exchange as best he could, but he instead turned his attention back to Hopkins’ desire to one day meet Floyd in the ring.
More than anything, Mayweather Sr. seems puzzled by all of the talk.
“I’m telling you, I respect him, but there aint no respect right there what he’s talking about,” Mayweather Sr. stated. “I’m just saying that, it’s just something, to me, it didn’t sound like something that would come out of Bernard Hopkins’ mouth. That’s all I’m saying. I respect him, but I don’t respect that, what he’s talking about.
“I don’t know if it’s about money,” Mayweather Sr. continued. “We all do things about money. The structure he is, light heavyweight. Floyd’s a welterweight and a small one at that.”
In the light heavyweight division, the wheels appear to be in motion for a mouth-watering clash between hard-punching champions Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev, with the potential winner surely being an ideal option for Hopkins if he is truly interested in such a challenge at the time.
“If those are the guys that are in his way, I think them are the guys [Hopkins] should be trying to take care of and get them out of the way,” Mayweather Sr. said.
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Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com