Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins Jr.is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at middleweight from 2001 to 2005, and the lineal championship at light heavyweight from 2011 to 2012.
Hopkins first became a world champion by winning the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title in 1995. He compiled 20 defenses against 17 opponents, with 19 wins as a result of his no-contest bout against Robert Allen. In 2001, Hopkins successfully unified the middleweight division by defeating Félix Trinidad to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), World Boxing Council (WBC), Ring magazine and lineal titles. A victory over Oscar De La Hoya for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title in 2004 cemented Hopkins' status as undisputed champion, while also making him the first male boxer to simultaneously hold world titles by all four major boxing sanctioning bodies. In 2001, Hopkins was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America. In 2011, The Ring ranked Hopkins as third on their list of the "10 best middleweight title holders of the last 50 years." As of April 2021, he is ranked by BoxRec as the seventh greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.
After losing the undisputed title to Jermain Taylor in 2005 and failing to regain it in a rematch the same year, Hopkins achieved further success in 2006 when he moved up to light heavyweight, winning the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and Ring titles from Antonio Tarver at 41 years of age. Two defenses of the Ring title were made before a loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2008. Three years later, Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC and lineal light heavyweight titles, as well as regaining the Ring title. This made Hopkins the oldest boxer in history to win a world championship, at the age of 46, breaking George Foreman's record set in 1994. Hopkins later broke his own record by winning the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud in 2013, and again in 2014 when he won the WBA (Super) title from Beibut Shumenov, at ages 48 and 49, respectively.
Nicknamed "The Executioner", and later "The Alien", Hopkins was known among observers for his longevity and ability to continue competing successfully at an advanced age. He is widely considered one of the greatest boxers of the modern era and one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time. Hopkins was a highly strategic and defensive boxer known for his Philly Shell and carrying good speed and power along with counterpunching skills. He credits mastering the boxing fundamentals and a great defense for his longevity in the sport. He was also a very seasoned fighter, being able to take advantage of a wide variety of situations in the ring and implement rough and dirty tactics while fighting on the inside or in a clinch.
In the last years of his active career, Hopkins also became a minority partner with Golden Boy Promotions, with which he still remains post-career.
