The 49 year old boxing legend Bernard Hopkins has no plans on retiring anytime soon. He wants to unify the light heavyweight division and he plans on starting April 19th against Beibut Shumenov. Beibut is the current WBA champion and Bernard holds the IBF championship.
The winner of this fight is expected to fight WBC champion Adonis Stevenson in a title unification bout. Bernard stated in the conference call for his bout against Shumenov that he believes boxers should unify titles in all weight classes to better boxing. He only thinks the real championship should be unified such as WBC, WBA, and IBF. Like many other boxers and fans some say there are way too many belts out there.
Focusing on the three main championships give fighters more drive to compete and create better fights. Bernard made it very clear that he plans to continue making history by not only competing but winning at the seasoned age of 49 years old. A boxers career is usually done by the age of forty but Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins as he likes to call himself is from another planet it seems. He has been fighting opponents who are young enough to be his son. Bernard was fighting while Reagan was still President.
If you’re wondering how he has preserved himself through the years you need to know that Bernard believes in living a clean life. He doesn’t indulge in anything that causes the body harm and stays in shape year round. He is the model of what it takes to maintain an elite boxing career.
Bernard Hopkins goes into Saturday’s bout as the favorite, something he is not used to in recent years. Look forward to a bout where once again Bernard defies the odds stacked against him.