Here's the article:
http://www.myheraldnews.com/view.html?type=stories&action=de tail&sub_id=27780
Hopkins should be taking hit
By KEITH IDEC, HERALD NEWS COLUMNIST | 02/20/08 02:12 AM | 511 hits
Bernard Hopkins, left, wouldn't reverse his stance Tuesday when discussing the December comments he made about upcoming opponent Joe Calzaghe, right. (Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press)
NEW YORK -- Bernard Hopkins has long been one of the craftiest defensive fighters in boxing.
The 43-year-old former middleweight champion rolls and slips so well, he rarely absorbs flush punches. Those defensive skills have helped preserve his body and mind at an age when most boxers are long retired, and enabled him to make millions of dollars late in a career that really didn't take off until he was 36.
But even Hopkins couldn't come up with a sound defense Tuesday for the controversial comments he made on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, where he said in reference to Joe Calzaghe, "I will never let a white boy beat me. Never. Call it what you want. I'll never let a white boy beat me. Never."
In fact, the verbose boxer from Philadelphia didn't defend himself at all Tuesday in Manhattan. Hopkins instead stood by those racist remarks during a press conference for his light heavyweight fight against Calzaghe on April 19 in Las Vegas.
"I said what I said, and I'm going to prove it come April 19," Hopkins said. "I'm going to punish him."
Hopkins' punishment for making those infamous statements has basically been backlash from those who regularly cover boxing. He claimed Tuesday that "they tried to blow (it) out of proportion," but not much has been made of his idiotic comments outside of boxing circles.
Imagine the international incident it would cause if Jason Kidd belittled Phoenix's chances of defeating Dallas in the NBA Playoffs because he would never allow someone of Steve Nash's skin color to defeat him?
You also would've heard and read much more about this had Calzaghe claimed Hopkins couldn't defeat him due to Hopkins' skin color, yet whites and blacks alike seemed willing Tuesday to forgive Hopkins because they don't think he is a racist.
"As much as it's been portrayed as a racist comment, I think that's what guys do," said England's Frank Warren, Calzaghe's promoter. "That's where (Hopkins) comes from."
Hopkins has never come across as some ignorant, bigoted boxer. But bad judgment has cost men their careers in other sports, so Hopkins must at least be held accountable for unacceptable behavior in 21st century America.
Still, despite saying, "That's a stupid comment by Bernard," even the unbeaten Welshman wouldn't make much of Hopkins' disrespectful tirade. Calzaghe said he wasn't offended by Hopkins' remarks, made the day before Floyd Mayweather Jr. stopped Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas.
"I didn't think it was a racist comment," Calzaghe, 35, said. "I laughed. Maybe it's to get under my skin. He likes mind games. Basically, he's a counter-puncher and he wants me to lose my head. And the best thing for him is if I lose my head in this fight and become careless.
"Some fights of mine, you've seen me become careless. That's his best chance. If I keep my cool and composure, he lost."
Hopkins has already lost an opportunity to properly promote an intriguing bout between two terrific fighters as exactly such. Hopkins, and Hopkins alone, made race the theme of this promotion. And rather than simply apologizing for remarks that might've offended potential paying customers, the ever-stubborn Hopkins has oddly opted to reinforce what he said on Dec. 7 this way:
"I'm telling you it's his job to prove that I was wrong," Hopkins said. "And I'm going to prove that I'm right."
Let's first prove how unnecessary race is in promoting otherwise fascinating fights these days.
Neither Mayweather nor Hatton mentioned skin color prior to their fight on Dec. 8, and it drew 850,000 pay-per-view buys, a boxing record for a non-heavyweight fight that didn't involve Oscar De La Hoya.
Jermain Taylor nor Kelly Pavlik pulled race into their promotion last week, either, and more than 300,000 people purchased their rematch Saturday night.
This fight should sell itself, too.
Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KOs) is boxing's longest reigning champion, moving up from 168 to 175 pounds following 21 straight defenses of a super middleweight title he won in October 1997. The southpaw hasn't lost a fight since he was an 18-year-old amateur in 1990. Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC), who made 20 consecutive defenses of a middleweight crown from 1996-2005, remains one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, nearly 20 years after losing his pro debut in Atlantic City.
Hopkins has previously tried using unconventional behavior to sell pay-per-view bouts, most recently when he "mushed" Ronald "Winky" Wright before beating Wright by unanimous decision on July 21 in Las Vegas.
He admitted afterward that the weigh-in incident when he shoved Wright in the face was an all-but-staged attempt at drawing attention to the slow-selling fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission fined Hopkins $200,000, but the fight drew roughly 305,000 buys.
The Calzaghe clash was thought to be a pay-per-view event when Hopkins made his controversial comments two months ago, but it will be televised live on HBO. Nevertheless, this wasn't Hopkins hyping a fight to fatten his purse. He wasn't misquoted, nor misunderstood -- just wrong.
"Trust me, I mean every damn thing I say," Hopkins said. "That's the scary part to some, that I mean everything I say. This ain't promotion. I mean everything I say. He won't beat me. It don't happen in my neighborhood, and it won't happen April 19."
Hopkins' fans should hope he has a better answer for Calzaghe come fight night.
Reach Keith Idec at 973-569-7073 or
idec@northjersey.com.
