O. De La Hoya – Let me introduce to you the current WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion and obviously a future first ballot Hall of Famer. He won the Middleweight World Title in 1995, and defended that title 20 times, solidifying his place as one of the best, if not the best middleweights in boxing history.
Bernard Hopkins, not only are we talking about the fighter who is the best in this era, but can possibly be the best in any era. When you talk about comparing the ’80s and the ’70s and the ’60s and 1990 and the 2000s, well Hopkins is a fighter you can say would have competed, if not would have been the best, in any era. That’s what we’re talking about right here.
We’re not talking about just a fighter, any ordinary fighter. We’re really talking about an alien, Bernard Hopkins, who at the age of 49, going on 50, is still fighting the toughest and the very best, This man tells it old school. We will never ever in our lifetime see a fighter like Bernard Hopkins, probably ever again.
So, if anybody watched the well-produced, well put together “24/7,” you can see how Hopkins is still working hard and has never, ever lost a beat, who has captured America by storm, proving to everyone that just because you’re in your 40s it doesn’t mean anything. It means that it’s just the beginning. So, with a record of 55-6, 32 KOs, the oldest fighter in the history of the sport to be world champion, probably the best athlete, not fighter but athlete, in any sport, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins.
Bernard Hopkins
Thanks, Oscar, my partner. Everybody, thanks for being on, and I’m looking forward to it. Atlantic City is alive again, and November 8th on HBO people who view in are going to see something special, and I hope people can come down and witness something special November 8th.
Q
Tell me something, the name “The Alien” what does that mean? I know it began as a nice little joke, but now it’s really picked up. Tell me, when you hear that name “The Alien” is that better than being called “The Executioner,” or even “The Champion,” or something else?
B. Hopkins
Well, first, it wasn’t a joke. I’m very, very serious that I am different than human beings that I’ve talked to, and human beings that I interact with who can’t understand me, but I can understand them. So, it’s not a joke. It wasn’t a joke. And it’s definitely not a joke now since they realized it’s not a joke.
When “The Executioner” executed 20-something contenders, who some one or two became champion and the rest haven’t. So, “The Alien” is by age. “The Alien” is the difference between the average person who has a lifestyle that’s not on the radar of an alien. So when you can have that strong discipline to be able to not get involved in a sport and play of this world, whether you’re successful especially, or not successful, then you are looked upon as being strange, different or weird.
So, I’m neither of those things, but I am an alien. So that’s where I came up with I have to be an alien, I was diagnosed as being an alien. If you watch “24/7” Dr. Pasternak explained as much as he can, and I don’t think he had his license taken since the “24/7” was shown last week, or this past Saturday.
I really believe and understand that I am different and not a part of this world, but in the world. So that’s why people can’t understand how I can be so disciplined around all the things, recreational things to do when you’re successful, having a little cocktail or a little party, or a little celebration, or as they say, the humans, “let your hair down.”
Q
As you look back on all the big wins that you’ve had, is it possible in your mind for a victory against Kovalev, because of your age and unifying the titles is it possible in your mind to trump what you did with Trinidad, which I think is the fight you always have referred to as your most significant victory?
B. Hopkins
Yes, there are multiple things that will be debated, which were more historic in boxing, when everything is said and done. To me it’s not just another fight, because I’ve been playing it cheap, and it’s not. This is one of the significant fights of the year, if not one of the fights of the year. I just want to make sure that when there is debate about Bernard Hopkins’ legacy, that people will be up all hours of the night debating arguments amongst the world of the experts on trying to figure out where we put this, or do we start this new label, where to start Bernard at the top and anybody else that comes after that underneath.
So, it might, it might not be. There’s so many things I’ve done in my career. And in 2001 post 9-11 unification, in boxing we don’t get that a lot, but that’s why it was significant to me, to be able to do this 13 years later. You’ve been around this game a long time, and this doesn’t happen the way it is happening for me at this particular time in my life. This is nothing to sneeze at, that’s the main thing, but just being able to be around as long as I’ve been and still fresh as a daisy, I believe, and I’ll prove it November 8th, there’s no definition really behind it. Just enjoy it, understand it, and realize that you might not be alive to see it again. I might not be alive enough to see it again, so who knows?
Q
I know you’re going to let the experts and historians argue, but in your opinion would a victory against Kovalev trump the Trinidad win?
B. Hopkins
I don’t really know. I don’t really know, because “The Executioner” really put down a profound trail to be able to just try to compete. Twenty defenses, there are 21, 22 divisions in boxing, who’s going to have 20 defenses, the way these guys jump up and down every time they fight in boxing today.
So, that is a great question that I really can’t really answer. I’ll let the people see and debate, and this is the pleasure of being in this position. The multiple things that I achieved, the oldest fighter, breaking his own record, the first middleweight to become light heavyweight, Ray Robinson couldn’t do it because he couldn’t answer the 15-round bell. This is something that is going to be debated because there’s so many things to debate about one man’s career. And so to me that’s definitely not a negative. That’s a positive.
Q
There’s a lot of people that think you’re winning the fight, that they don’t doubt you anymore. So, my question is, what do you use, since you don’t have the media to pick on for this fight, what do you use to motivate yourself?
B. Hopkins
The thing is that right now if I was using the media to be motivated, which I have for many, many years, that became old after a while. You can only get so much water out of a rock before it’s dry. I’ve been to the well so many times on that particular motivation, it ran its course. I’ve been around so long that I just ran a course and the media doesn’t really help or hurt me as far as being motivated.
So what motivates Bernard Hopkins is now every 40 and up person out there that’s living, whatever job they have that they are afraid that this young intern is coming to take it and they can relate to that, then they will root for me and they will be for me, and I’m representing them. And so, black, white, Chinese, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, it doesn’t make any difference, they will look at the age and they will say “Rumble, old man, rumble,” and I will do that. And I will make them proud when I’m done November 8th being the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world for the second time in my 20 plus year career, going on three decades.
I mean, this is sports, not just boxing, this is sports. They’re going to have to recognize, and they will, and it’s starting to come around, but they will really come around after November 8th. And that’s what motivates me. That motivates me. I don’t need the media any more to be motivated. I have for many years, that then ran its course.
I must prove, and I will prove that this is not some promotional hype job. This is something that’s been said about Bernard Hopkins for years and years. He can take care of himself, he can box as long as he wants, and he ruined careers. So, I’m up to bat in a couple of weeks, I’m going to be up to bat again, and just enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it because you might never see it in our lifetime.
Q
Now, when you win the fight, if you win the fight you’re not going to be undisputed, you’ll be close to it instead.
B. Hopkins
In my mind people believe, and most minds, and you’d probably agree with this, that Stevenson somehow jumped ship because he didn’t want to fight Kovalev, and the fans believe that Kovalev is the much more dangerous light heavyweight to beat in the division.
Now, I would not go back on my word that “The man who beats the man becomes the man.” That’s the political part. That’s on paper. But I gain a strong support amongst the world of boxing fans for beating Kovalev, and beating him in grand fashion will open up a lot of debate about a lot of things, and one will be in a good way for Bernard Hopkins, where I stand at the top of the division. And if I don’t, then it will be just what it is.
But I believe this will be a bold statement, it was not only a bold statement to make, the fact that it happened in a short time fashion, but it would be even bolder with a grand performance of Bernard Hopkins, better than Pavlik, better than Tito. To outdo yourself over and over and over again, it’s going to be an exciting night, and I’m fired up for it. I’m really ready for this fight. I’m ready to show people in Atlantic City that Atlantic City isn’t dead, and Bernard Hopkins definitely isn’t dead.
Q
Do you think that we’re going to have an idea of how this fight’s going to go early? In other words, if he cracks you and you take it, that it’s going to be a long night for him? Is that sort of the way that it’s going to be, that if you can take what he delivers, that you can do your thing and just box his ears off and win this thing easy?
B. Hopkins
Well, I can’t play Monday morning quarterback, but if he can punch like everybody says he can punch, there might not be a second chance. This is the great thing about November 8th and coming down to Atlantic City or watching HBO if you have to, if you have a TV that works and you pay your cable bill you can watch it. I mean, this is the thing; can Kovalev do what he’s been doing to 90 percent of his opponents? Can Bernard Hopkins take a punch that he took from other known big punchers in boxing?
But I don’t go in there thinking that. I go in there thinking that I’ve got a game plan, and whatever gun he has I’m not going to run from the gun. I’m going to disarm him. Anybody who knows anything about military police or anything like that, or karate, or anything they might want to say, they will understand what I mean by that. You have a big punch – I’ll disarm you.
Now, if you have Plan B, buckle up because I’m going to get your money’s worth and now we’re fighting. That’s the game plan that’s not even a secret. It’s just common sense to me. And I’m hoping it’s common sense to anybody that’s listening. Whatever he has, I’ve done many, many times. He’s a human, I’m not, I will disarm him and now let’s fight, let’s see your skills.
Q
Was John David Jackson with your camp when you beat Tarver and Pavlik? And then second, is he a factor in any way? Is that a personal challenge to you in any way?
B. Hopkins
It’s not a personal challenge to me – John David Jackson. First of all, John David Jackson, I always said, is one of the elite trainers out there who never really got his respect and November 8th he wants to get that big boost to get that respect. But, again, maybe John David Jackson will show him the fight that we fought and realize that he didn’t have the code to beat “The Executioner” at the time and now it’s “The Alien.” So, maybe John realized how he should have ducked or how he should have fought at that time.
But to me, John isn’t fighting, John isn’t in the ring. You have to give the information to the athlete, the athlete has to be able to take that information, and be able to use it to his best ability. Let’s see if can he do that, because John David Jackson definitely can’t fight for him. John David Jackson had his chance. John David Jackson got knocked out, I believe, in the ninth round. So, to me how can a teacher teach a student and the teacher flunked the test too?
Q
Was Jackson with you when you fought Tarver and Pavlik? Those are two of your other really big wins in Atlantic City, where you’re going to be fighting.
B. Hopkins
Yes. Yes, I believe, yes, he was.
Q
Kovalev said he does not have a strategy for fighting you. He said he’s just going to come in and fight his normal way, and whether it’s a fight, whether it’s a brawl, or street fight, it’s going to be that. I just want your take on that.
B. Hopkins
Well, that is the strategy. He gave it to you already. The strategy, he just gave it to you. Having no strategy is a strategy. Kovalev feeds off of what you do and how you react to him. If you’re scared he’s going to get brave. If you’re not he’s got to sharpen up and get his stuff together. Some fighters are like that. I’m not. So, I can understand that comment. I’ve been around so long I can read these guys without even them speaking their mind, I understand just by their fighting style or how they fight how they think and what they’re thinking about. Your reaction is how he reacts.
My thing is I don’t want to take anything away from the guy and what he’s been doing, because I don’t want anything to take what I just said and try to use it against me when I win this fight, because there’s some slippery minded people out there who’s going to be upset after November 8th, who are going to go to bed taking a lot of drinks, shots of their whiskey bottle.
My thing is, I don’t want to take away from what’s going to happen, but he actually told you the truth, because I understand what he means when he said that to you. He feeds off the energy of the fighters he has fought, in the amateurs, and also in the pros. I’ve been watching this guy, I dug up amateur fights of this guy, and I know how he breathes, I know how he sits down, I know where he sits down, what he thinks, I know everything about him.
That’s what I do with every opponent that I’m getting ready to fight. I want to know my enemy. I want to know how he thinks. I want to know how he sleeps. I want to know what he’s uncomfortable with.
Q
Do you think that you should be more so in the discussion for being the best ever, all-time great, the best fighter ever, because of what you’re doing at this age, should you be in contention for that?
B. Hopkins
The best fighter ever is Sugar Ray Robinson. To me the best fighter after that is Muhammad Ali, and then the debate starts from on and on from there. My job is to go out and set a profound legacy that will be debated amongst generations where Bernard Hopkins sits in history. Maybe it needed to be a different title, or will be a different title started because of what I’m doing. Maybe I will be the first, and anybody else that accomplished that as years go and I’m dead in my grave will be after that.
But right now I’m going to stack that deck so high that every reporter, every historian, everybody that studies boxing and analyzes boxing from the past to now is going to have a difficult time, and that’s the fun part about it, because I want them to have a difficult time because I didn’t have a boring career and I was blessed to have a long one. I don’t know. I’m not a fool. Like some fighters would say, well, I’m greater than this man, I’m greater than that man, because there’s no 15 rounds, I wish there still was.
We’re putting on the best fights now because of Golden Boy Promotions, my partner, Oscar De La Hoya and Kathy Duva of Main Events, got the deal done and didn’t talk about it. We were about doing a fight. We talked about it, but we got the fight done. We got it done. So there are a lot of little things in there that I would not brand myself that. I would not take myself out of the conversation as one of the best that has ever done it, but I definitely would never say I’m the best. That’s up for debate amongst history.
But I know I won’t be down to the 100 and 200 line of the letters, so I’ve just got to continue to do my work. I think November 8th will be another performance where people are going to say, man, “Where do we put this guy?” Because I respect everybody, what they have, their opinion, pound for pound list, but you notice I’m not on anybody’s pound for pound list now, and that might open your eyes up.
But I don’t want to be on it after this fight is over when I win it, because to me that would be making me human. I’d be human if I’m amongst other humans on a pound for pound list. They might just start another list for me and they’d come up with a title of it. Hopefully it isn’t a pound for pound list, because if I’m not on there now I don’t want to be on there November 8th. I’m saying that because I’m setting a different bar, and it’s going to be so high I don’t think anybody is going to reach it in my lifetime, or yours.
Q
Do you think there’s anything you can do in the light heavyweight division being a champion at the age of 50 that could top your accomplishments at middleweight?
B. Hopkins
Yes, the age, the age of me doing it. The fighters I’m fighting against. I’m fighting a guy that literally smashes, the “Krusher,” listen to the name, this guy’s got loaded guns. He can take you out with one punch. It’s right there in front of our eyes to see the difference between now and then, you go back 15 plus years where the middleweight division was ruled by me for 12 years, and you put 15 years on that age, 35 on up, and you say, well, man, this guy’s now into another division, but you can never forget I’m doing it at the age of 49.
Anybody that tries to downplay that, I will not debate with them, they will just make themselves look very foolish, because one of the things you all humans pay attention to, women or men, whatever it is, and you know I’m telling the truth when I say this – it’s age. You get to look in the mirror and see little wrinkles that you might be getting because you’re not in your 20s any more. So the difference between now and the difference between then is time, and as time is everybody’s enemy that’s human, then why is it being so friendly to me? And I’ll tell you November 8th on HBO you’ll see why time is my friend and not my enemy.
Q
If you lose, will you be the first one to stand up and say “Well, look, he beat one of the best guys out there. He beat Bernard Hopkins.”
B. Hopkins
Absolutely, why wouldn’t I? I’ve said that many times when fighters, I believe won the fight. Absolutely, you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. But he will also, I hope, pay homage to the ‘OG.’ You have to understand that when you recognize talent, you recognize that you didn’t do what you said you were going to do, or couldn’t do, however it worked out for you or didn’t work out, you’ve got to pay homage to that.
But let’s not forget it works both ways. Normally fighters, nine out of 10, you know and I know we respect each other after all it’s said and done. We can talk all we talk, and at the end of the day 99.9 percent of the time, we hug each other, we do what we’ve got to do, you do your interview and you go back in your dressing room.
See, it isn’t the fighters. It’s the persons with the pen, the computers, the laptops, they sit down there and they squat down in their chair and try to hide their face behind their laptop because they’re so foolish, they went out and boldly predict what they think they are God.
So, you can’t put that on the fighters, and I’m not really saying you are, but it isn’t the fighters. Look at every fight. Look at the one last week. Look at the one before, the guy got knocked down, he hugged the guy, great fight, man. They wouldn’t even let go of each other.
So, it isn’t the fighters. It’s the ones that don’t fight who want to write everything thinking they can write, thinking they know, thinking they know boxing better than the guys that go in the ring and do it. It’s the people that watch that are the ones that don’t give credit to the fighters. The fighters will give credit, nine out of 10 to whoever dethroned them, or whoever became victorious. I’ve seen it many years. I’ve been in the game almost three decades, and I know I’m telling the truth.
You all have to pay homage after November 8th, you all, not the fighters, you all pay homage. The only thing is you’re not in the ring, but you all really got the voice, and sometimes the last voice. But that’s what people read and that’s what people see, and they know the truth, and that’s what makes the fans one of the greatest fans in sports, boxing fans, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m biased.
Q
Mr. Hopkins, you have a brave heart for fighting “Krusher” Kovalev at an ageless 49. You’re in effect fighting the Gennady Golovkin of your weight class.
B. Hopkins
Yes. Hey, listen, man, this is a unique situation and this is a challenge to me, because I feel like if you are in the game, you might as well be in the game on top. I always look for the best. I always wanted to take on the toughest, the most dangerous, and what else is new? If this was something that’s sprung up in my career, everybody would be shocked. But they know I took on some bad-asses in the last 27 years of my career where I really didn’t have to fight people but I did. That’s the old school. That’s the old throwback type of mentality that I’ve been taught, brought up with, and understand that’s important to me.
Q
With this being the biggest fight of Kovalev’s career, do you think that as you prepare and get ready for fight week and during fight week that you’ll be able to kind of throw Kovalev off his game, as you guys head towards November 8th?
B. Hopkins
No. I speak what I believe, and I’m asking what I believe, and somehow that weakens your confidence, I don’t consider that getting into somebody’s head. I’m not going to apologize for being, I guess you could say confident of my hard work and my discipline and believing in what I’m going to do. I understand most humans don’t really believe what they’re going to do, even though a lot of them say it, whether it’s boxing or anything in life, I just never looked at things like that.
So when I speak with confidence, I speak with fairness, and if that’s how I’m getting in somebody’s head, this is boxing. You have to be able to promote a fight. You have to be able to say what you really mean, and if you’re going to have some fun, then have some fun in good taste. But in the same token, it might be in bad taste.
I really don’t know when people, where humans get that from, is that how I’m getting in the guy’s head, so maybe that’s why I won so many fights over the years. To me that’s the lame excuse for being not as confident as your next guy or next opponent, or the champion or non-champion. To me that’s a lame way of saying, look, yeah, he beat me, but he got in my head. Or they’re setting up something later on to write, as I mentioned to the last caller, some reporter or somebody out there that has a bad night because somehow they’ve got to go to bed and think about writing about me tomorrow, they’ve got to feel I got in the guy’s head and so I beat him.
You give credit where credit’s due, but humans normally don’t think that way, and I understand it. I know them. They don’t know me. I understand them. They don’t understand me.
I don’t look at all of my victories, or even one of my victories out of 60-something fights, as getting in somebody’s head. I look at it as being the better fighter, better plan, better preparation and I took care of my business.
Q
If you are able to take his best shot do you think that you’re going to make him doubt himself as you go ahead and as the fight progresses?
B. Hopkins
I don’t know what’s in his head. That’s something that everybody’s going to be watching. The best puncher’s coming up with one of the best defenses in boxing, that’s why I can still talk and hold a sentence with you without you having to figure out what I’m saying. This all came from being smart in the ring and understanding the sweet science of boxing.
So, I don’t know what this man wants to do. I don’t know what’s in his head, other than November 8th, I hope, on HBO. But that’s the million, billion dollar question, what’s going to happen when he hits Bernard? What’s going to happen when he does this to Bernard? If they watched and saw other fighters over the past, who to me were just as strong as punches as he was and I took it right on the chin if I had to. I’m in this contest to show that I’ve got a better chin, but what I can say to you is that there’s a chance of being knocked down, there’s a chance I get up; there’s a chance he can get knocked down, as we see in the last fight. The best man at the end of the day will raise his hand and to me, the undisputed best in the light heavyweight division, and that’s important to me. Right now in my life that’s important.
Q
Kovalev is a favorite of this fight. What is the point of you being such an experienced guy, but Kovalev is a favorite?
B. Hopkins
That’s not new to me. A lot of guys have been the favorite over Bernard Hopkins. The people who make the odds are not boxing people. They are people that set the odds so you can bet. And if you think it’s 4:1, 3:1, 2.5:1, I don’t know what the odds are, but the odds have never been for Bernard Hopkins. I made the odds for me by putting my work in and beating fighters that I shouldn’t have beaten, they say, and I did it in grand fashion.
It’s the opinions of what they feel and they’re normally right, but not with me. I’ve proven them wrong more than they’ve proven me wrong. So when you look at the odds and you look at favorites, take heed of that but also understand when it comes to Bernard Hopkins, you’ve got to look at the history of the underdog and how I made a career out of being not the favorite. In a lot of big fights out there I haven’t been the favorite, even in the De La Hoya fight, my partner, I was the underdog. This is something that I embrace.
Anybody that knows Bernard Hopkins, anybody that followed “The Alien” and “The Executioner,” they know I love this. I wouldn’t be talking different if I was the favorite. I wouldn’t feel right. I’d have a stomachache and everything. This is beautiful.
Q
Is there something that Kovalev has and you look at it and think maybe I should pay more attention at it?
Bernard Hopkins
No. I mean, I’ve been in the game so many years and I understand, I look at myself as a student and a teacher in the game, and still active. Three things, and after a while you see what you see and you get to business, and you learn how to make those adjustments, and you make those adjustments as rounds go. So, I know what I’ve got to work with, I know what I’ve got to see, and I know what I’ve got to expect. So this is going to be a fight where whoever has the best plan, whoever has the best chin, whoever has the best plan and strategy will win the fight.
Q
At the age of 49 what is your biggest asset?
B. Hopkins
Everything.
Q
The question I have, we know Kovalev’s record, he’s got a whole bunch of knockouts in a row, but do you view him as a kind of one-dimensional fighter?
B. Hopkins
No. He has a long history of amateur pedigree, and he has John David Jackson, who if he seems one-dimensional, he changed that and made some adjustments. Just like John has been around me, I’ve been around him, and so it works both ways, it goes two ways. One thing about me is that I’m not just a fighter, and I never represented myself like that. I always take a page out of old and new trainers’ books and understand the good and separate what’s not so good about certain individuals.
He only had to be one-dimensional because the guys he fought he knocked out. But now you’re stepping up to a different level, you’re stepping up to the professor, “The Alien,” the teacher, you’re stepping up into a different neighborhood. The other neighborhoods you understood, but this neighborhood is kind of strange.
See, one thing about Bernard Hopkins’ fights, normally anybody that’s going to get on the next call they can tell me if they’ve been watching me long enough, and maybe you yourself, you can sort of get a sense how this fight’s going to go after so many rounds, whatever that round is, one, two, three, four, five, whatever. Now, let’s not get mistaken, the fight’s not over until somebody gets knocked out, or 12 rounds ends, but there’s a pattern where you understand that Kovalev is not being the guy he was 10, five, four, three fights ago. So when I disarm him don’t be upset, just enjoy the art work, enjoy Miles Davis, enjoy the jazz that will be played amongst the breeze in the air at Boardwalk Hall November 8th on HBO. Enjoy. The concert is going to be great.
Q
Larry Hazzard has returned as the head of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. Do you have any comments on that, because of course he was head of that for 20-something years and then they took him out, and now he’s just come back a couple of weeks ago. Any comment on that?
B. Hopkins
Well, I think it’s a great thing for Atlantic City. He’s always been a great ambassador and commissioner for boxing, and always been fair from the outsiders to the insiders, and no matter where you’re from he ran the rules and he told everybody how he felt, and he is strong. So to me it’s going to be in the best hands, because Atlantic City has sort of fell off in boxing in many years, and a lot of that probably had to do because of Mr. Hazzard wasn’t at the helm. But, yes, I heard that months ago, I’m glad that somebody somewhere reconsidered putting him back in position to run and get back to the boxing in New Jersey, Atlantic City. So, it’s a good thing. It’s a good thing for boxing, man, and it’s a good thing for him.
K. Swanson
Okay, that was our last question for Bernard. Thank you so much, Bernard. And if you or Oscar have any final comments, you can make them now and we’ll hang up.
B. Hopkins
Thank you very much.
O. De La Hoya
Thank you very much to all the media. Thanks, Champ. November 8th, you don’t want to miss it, live on HBO World Championship Boxing. Thank you very much.
Alien vs. Krusher: Hopkins vs. Kovalev” is a 12-round unification bout for the IBF, WBA and WBO Light Heavyweight World titles, presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events in association with Caesars Atlantic City, Corona Extra, AT&T, Hortitsia Vodka and Mexico, Live it To Believe It!. Ali vs. Abregu is a 10-round welterweight bout for the WBO Intercontinental Welterweight title and is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 10:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Tickets priced at $300, $200, $150, $100 and $50, plus applicable fees and service charges, are on sale now and available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
