Bernard Hopkins can easily be considered a true legend of the sport thanks to his longevity and age-defying performances.
Although George Foreman is the oldest heavyweight champion in history, Hopkins holds the title for all weight divisions. Having his last fight in 2016, Hopkins was just shy of 52 years of age on his final appearance.
The last title win of his career came in 2014, when Hopkins was 49 years old. Against Beibut Shumenov, ‘The Alien’ unified the light heavyweight division.
However, to become champion, Hopkins did not exactly have an easy path.
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Bernard Hopkins became champion in fight series with Segundo Mercado
Hopkins, who considered retiring after his debut, would not win his first world title until his third attempt at the IBF World Middleweight title.
His first attempt came against Roy Jones Jr. in 1993, when he was bested via unanimous decision. Then, after winning his next four fights, he was given an opportunity to face Segundo Mercado for the vacant IBF title in 1994.
However, the bout would not go the way of Hopkins. Getting knocked down twice, the bout resulted in a controversial draw in Ecuador. Due to the result, the two had an immediate rematch.
Their second meeting was in Maryland, as Hopkins was able to eliminate all doubt from the result. Scoring a seventh-round TKO, Hopkins became a world champion for the first time at age 30.
Looking back on the fight series with the Ecuadorian, Hopkins knew he would win the rematch despite the nature of the first bout.
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Bernard Hopkins recalls fight series with Segundo Mercado
Speaking on the All the Smoke Fight podcast with Andre Ward, Hopkins looked back on the period of his life that would see him become champion.
Hopkins said that fighting in Ecuador was a ‘hostile’ experience, “I’ll never forget it.”
“I get to Ecuador, hostility all over. No one was doing us any favors. I get knocked down twice, energy levels [went down], like a video game.”
The former champion then described the altitude as a problem he struggled with in the fight. Additionally, he notes that they only arrived in Ecuador for the fight four or five days prior to the event.
Despite being knocked down and failing to get the win in Ecuador, Hopkins says he took confidence from the fight. “If you can’t knock me out in Ecuador, when I get there four days before the fight… above sea level, they knew it was over.”
“We go to Orlando, we fight, and I knock him out and I become the IBF champion.”