Bernard Hopkins is already 49 years old, but the reigning WBA and IBF light heavyweight champion is not yet thinking about calling it quits. In fact, he is still looking for more big fights before hanging up his gloves.
In an interview after his victory over Beibut Shumenov on Saturday, Hopkins expressed desire to face Floyd Mayweather in a catch-weight fight, saying that he wants to hand Mayweather the first defeat of his career.
"I'll give anybody a run for their money," Hopkins said. "If they are unbeaten I will take their 0, give them their first loss. I could make 165, 168 (pounds) real comfortably. If I do a fight, it would be one of the biggest in the world. We will do it in a stadium somewhere."
Hopkins said, though, that his first priority is to become an undisputed light heavyweight champion, which means that he wants to face reigning WBC champion Adonis Stevenson before Mayweather.
The 49-year-old champion said that if given the chance, he would call the fight '50-50' because he is already 50 years old at that point, while Mayweather is targeting 50 wins in his illustrious boxing career.
"After I become the undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the world, if there was one big fight out there, I know what I would call it - 50-50. He wants to pass Marciano. He wants to get to 50 and I am 50. That would be huge. I would love to do that. But let me get past Stevenson first," Hopkins said.
However, it is still unknown at this point whether or not the fight is really possible, considering the huge weight difference between the two fighters. Hopkins previously called out Mayweather for a fight at 160lbs, but to no avail.
When asked about Hopkins statement, Mayweather said that the veteran boxer was just doing what he is supposed to do, insisting that he is not thinking about it because he is focused on his upcoming fight against Marcos Maidana on May 3 in Las Vegas.
"He's supposed to [call me out], it's part of the game, he's supposed to. We don't know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather. Anything is possible. But as of right now Maidana is a guy that I can't overlook. Maidana has an 80% knockout ratio and I know this guy is going to come and try to destroy me," Mayweather said.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
