“My motivation is back pay,” Hopkins said. “And I’m a late bloomer and I’m a late start in everything in boxing. As you look at my history for years, the last five years have been a blessing for Bernard Hopkins and my family and it reflects that I’ve done well.
I’ve done well in the ring and I’ve done well financially and dealing with (Golden Boy Promotions CEO) Richard Schaefer, who comes from the banking industry. I’ve made some great investments.
“But in saying that, I am a late bloomer. Whether history reflects whether it was worth it or not, I can tell you it was for the years that I didn’t get the chance to shine. And you wrote about it many years and, you know, some believe that my decisions were going in the wrong direction and it bought me time. It bought me time to be here at 40-plus years old, still doing what I do at my best.”
What Hopkins has been best at over the years has been finding what his opponent has been best at and taking it away. Pavlik is 34-0 with 30 knockouts, but he’s still a young fighter on the rise and getting better.
Clearly, his power and his right hands are his drawing cards and Hopkins knows that if he neutralizes the right, the chances of a victory increase exponentially.
