Hopkins Bernard was born on January 15, 1965 in the city of Philadelphia, USA. Over his life, this famous boxer has achieved dizzying career success and has built strong relationships. About how Bernard went to his victories and how he survived the fall, you will learn from our article.
Childhood and youth
As you know, Hopkins Bernard was born in a dysfunctional family, so the boy never received proper education. The future boxer spent his childhood on the street, devoting all his free time to fights with peers. Lack of education, freedom of action, bad influence - all this significantly affected the formation of Bernard's personality. In one of the street fights, Hopkins was stabbed. And this is only 13 years old.
Jail
As you know, Hopkins acquired most of his skills by participating in all kinds of street fights. School teachers of the guy claimed that Bernard is unlikely to live to his 18th birthday.
At 17, a young man appears in court. A terrible prospect opens before him - to sit in jail for 18 years. As the boxer Bernard Hopkins himself said: “I regret everything that I did in my life, I regret that I chose this path. I admit that I never stole from children, women and the elderly. It just so happened that you have to answer for all actions. ”
Bernard spent 5 years in the Greyford colony of Pennsylvania. The authorities considered that during this time the guy had completely recovered. As the boxer himself said: “After so many years in prison, I'm afraid to spit on the sidewalk.”
It should be noted that after leaving prison, Bernard Hopkins converted to Islam.
First failure
Bernard Hopkins began taking his first steps to his boxing career in 1988. The fight in which he participated was lost. The fight took place in New Jersey and lasted 4 rounds. The loss did not affect the boxer's further desire, but, on the contrary, pushed him to move on with renewed vigor.
Victories and First Achievements
After the first defeat, Bernard Hopkins, whose millions have read quotes, decides to hire a coach. The choice does not fall on anyone, but on English Fisher himself (Bowie). Under his leadership, Hopkins won 22 times, with 16 of the fights he ended with a knockout.
Champion title
After some time, Hopkins Bernard meets with Roy Jones. The fight goes for the IBF title. Bernard hopes that this day will be crucial for him. But it did not happen - the boxer lost on points. Despite the defeat, many recognized Hopkins as a real middleweight boxing star.
A year later, the boxer again has a chance to realize his dream. On April 29, 1995, he meets with Segundo Mercado, the second in the ranking. The fight takes place in the city of Maryland. Finally, Bernard Hopkins, whose biography is full of interesting facts, achieves his goal. He is an IBF champion. Subsequent fights to confirm the title ended with knockouts of rivals. Among the losers was John Jackson, who was unable to confront his opponent in the 7th round of the fight.
Victory, victory, victory …
Further, fate Hopkins smiled constantly. In 1997, Bernard defeated Glencoff Johnson, and then - Andrew Council.
In 1998, the boxer met with Robert Allen. The fight ended with a Hopkins injury. He fell through a rope and injured his ankle. Fortunately, Bernard quickly came to his senses and easily defeated his opponent in the rematch, knocking him out already in the 6th round.
World recognition
Despite the fact that Hopkins spent all the fights, winning only victories, he did not achieve world recognition. In 2001, he signs a contract with Don King and in the same year falls into his diamond collection of middleweight champions.
In 2001, he won again, this time over Marvin Hagler. Now Hopkins is the champion in the number of successful defenses of the champion title.
Next, he is expected to fight with Trinidad, a boxer from Puerto Rico. It should be noted that Hopkins has always been distinguished by his rash acts. So in this case. The boxer threw the flag of Puerto Rico to the floor the day before the fight and kicked it. The whole world expected an apology from Bernard, but they were never followed. Not only that, in front of tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans, Hopkins again threw a flag and wiped his boots on it. Then he barely took his feet from the angry crowd.
Fight with Trinidad
The fight was expected to be bloody. Hopkins more and more provoked the opponent. September 15, 2001 the long-awaited battle took place. For the first time in the life of a Puerto Rican boxer, they beat him like that. His father even had to suspend the fight due to multiple injuries on his son's face.
In the same year, Hopkins was recognized as the best boxer of 2001.
Further career development
In 2004, Hopkins Bernard met with Oscar De La Hoya and defeated him. Now he is the champion of 4 organizations. As the boxer himself says: “My life has finally acquired a new color. Now I am an innovation in boxing. I am a guru and the god of boxing. Nobody can ever defeat me.”
Social activity
Hopkins always paid a lot of attention to children from dysfunctional families. He spent so much time with them that this could impede the development of his career. Hopkins tried to exert a positive influence on the boys and demonstrate his own example from life. And to this day, the boxer is trying to give them maximum attention.
