Age-old question? Don't even think it with Hopkins

The 42-year-old is still considered one of the top boxers in the world. Just ask him.

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published July 20, 2007

LAS VEGAS - One day, it happens.

The fastball fades. The jump shot comes up short. A long pass can't catch up to the receiver.

It's called getting old.

Unless your name is Bernard Hopkins, and at 42, you are fighting one of the top three boxers in the world - and no one questions your physical condition, your ability to last 12 rounds or the possibility you might knock out your younger opponent.

"Don't even try to figure it out," said Hopkins, an ageless wonder in a sport that makes its old men look sad. "Just sit back and enjoy. Sit back and enjoy."

Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Hopkins will try one more time to defy the odds and the clock when he meets St. Petersburg's Winky Wright for the Ring magazine light-heavyweight championship.

Hopkins ruled the middleweight division for 11 years, defending his titles a record 21 times before losing a pair of razor-thin decisions to the younger, stronger Jermain Taylor.

The years of making the 160-pound limit, while not a problem for the famously disciplined Hopkins, had become tedious.

He wasn't as strong when he fought and found himself conserving energy and giving away rounds, most notably to Taylor in their first fight.

Bypassing a possible fight with 168-pound champion Joe Calzaghe, Hopkins decided on one last bout, this time at 175 pounds, to meet Tampa's Antonio Tarver in June 2006.

It was an unusual move. He was 41. He enlisted star trainer Mackie Shilstone and added 15 pounds to his frame. Again, he challenged a younger, thought-to-be-stronger champion and was a significant underdog.

Quite simply, he was brilliant.

He headed into retirement, but rarely a day passed he didn't wonder why. He was stopped in airports, asked in e-mails, questioned by fans.

Why stop now?

"Why tease myself and leave?" Hopkins said. "Yes, for others it was a great outing. Yes, for others ... it was the perfect ending. But I have to be able to sit back and say to myself, well into my 40s, and say that I was satisfied completely with my career to the end.

"No one is saying you shouldn't fight. They're saying, 'Why are you coming back when you ended so brilliantly?' "

He has a 30-inch waist and not an ounce of fat. He is chiseled like a man half his age. He is faster and stronger than two years ago.

"I don't know what he did; he must be drinking from the Fountain of Youth because the guy's incredible," said Dan Birmingham, Wright's trainer.

Hopkins jokes that he should have his DNA tested.

Hopkins is reaping the benefits of a career lacking in the ring wars that take their toll on fighters and benefiting from a discipline that never let him get out of shape. For 15 years, he passed on the donuts and emulated his hero, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who was always ready for a fight.

"He's a very fresh 42," said his trainer, Freddie Roach. "He's got a disciplined and healthful life, just not letting his weight fluctuate. ... Too many fighters don't work out between fights and blow up to high weights and have them drop that weight, and that kills fighters."

Wright's camp thinks Hopkins hasn't been pressed and has been allowed to age gracefully.

Saturday, they hope to speed up the process and, overnight, convince Hopkins that he is indeed 421/2 years old.

"I'm blessed, man. I'm blessed," Hopkins said. "No one can make me think and feel physically that I'm 40. ... I'm going to keep reminding everyone else how unique, how rare and how special I am."

Fast Facts:

Wright vs. Hopkins

Who: Winky Wright (50-3-1, 25 knockouts) vs. Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 knockouts)

When/where: 9 p.m. Saturday; Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Cost: $49.95 (HBO pay-per-view)

At stake: Hopkins' Ring magazine light heavyweight title.

The skinny: Wright, s St. Petersburg resident who hasn't lost since 1999 (13 fights), faces Hopkins, at 42 the ageless wonder.

[Last modified July 19, 2007, 23:25:31]