BERNARD HOPKINS RETAINS HIS LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

Rejuvenated Hopkins 'could fight another four years'

By Chuck Johnson, USA TODAY

LAS VEGAS — Now that Bernard Hopkins has returned to the ring with his skills intact, the 42-year-old Philadelphia native sees no reason to stop.

"I could fight another four years if I wanted," Hopkins said Saturday night after retaining the Ring magazine light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision vs. Winky Wright. "I'm cut from the cloth of the old Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Henry Armstrong tradition. Those are people I look up to."

Hopkins also acknowledged former middleweight great Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who was at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for the HBO Pay-Per-View fight to provide pre-fight analysis for ESPN.

"He said, 'You fought like we fought back in the day,' " Hopkins said, relating what Hagler told him in the ring. "Coming from a guy like Marvin Hagler, it means a lot."

Hopkins says he feels strong in his "new body" as a light heavyweight. He distinguished himself as one of the all-time great middleweight champs, making a record 21 consecutive title defenses before Jermain Taylor beat him in 2005.


After last year's upset of Antonio Tarver to win the light heavyweight crown, Hopkins retired. The lure of the ring brought him back against Wright, a former junior middleweight champion from St. Petersburg, Fla., who hadn't lost since 1999 against Fernando Vargas.

Hopkins saw it as a challenge to solve the mystery of the southpaw Wright, known for his impregnable defense. Few thought Saturday's fight would be exciting because both fighters are predominantly counterpunchers, but they both showed a willingness to mix it up.

"I thought it was a close fight, a real tough fight," said Hopkins. "Winky's tough. He kept coming."

An accidental head butt in the third round contributed to Wright's demise. He had never fought above middleweight, and spent much of Saturday's fight — contested at an official catch weight of 170 pounds, 5 under the light heavyweight limit — wiping blood from his left eye, the result of a clash of heads.

"I think I won the fight," said Wright, 35, who went to have his eye stitched up and skipped the postfight news conference. "It was a dirty fight. He was head-butting all day. I didn't think the head butt (that opened the cut) was intentional, but it was still a butt. I told Bernard I was coming to fight and I (did). But no more at 170. I'll go back to 160, or whatever."

The judges all favored Hopkins. Glen Hamada scored the fight 116-112; Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge scored it 117-111.

But Wright's vaunted jab was never a factor as Hopkins used his footwork to stay out of range and seized the advantage with harder punches when the fighters engaged up close. A replay on HBO will precede live coverage of the Vernon Forrest-Carlos Baldomir junior middleweight title bout Saturday (10:15 p.m. ET/PT).

Hopkins increased the intensity heading into the fight when he shoved Wright in the face at Friday's official weigh-in. The action prompted the Nevada State Athletic Commission to withhold 10% of his $3 million purse (Wright earned $2 million), but Hopkins, a vice president of Golden Boy Promotions, said the shove was his way of trying to spur fan interest.

"It obviously manifested itself in the ring because we both came to fight tonight," Hopkins said. "I've always had respect for Winky. He's not going anywhere. He'll be back."

So will Hopkins, who hopes it'll be against unbeaten super middleweight Joe Calzaghe. The Welshman has an upcoming title unification fight vs. Denmark's unbeaten Mikkel Kessler.