When Bernard Hopkins barked the now infamous statement at Joe Calzaghe – “I’ll never let a white boy beat me!” – many thought his play on race was a bit foul. But it did bring together one of the biggest fights in both boxers careers.
On Saturday, April 19th at the Thomas & Mack arena in Las Vegas, boxing’s living legend, Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1 32 KOs) meets “The Pride of Wales” Joe Calzaghe (44-0 32 KOs) for Hopkins Light Heavyweight Championship. There is a lot on the line for both boxers. Calzaghe will make his first appearance in America while Hopkins may be making his last appearance ever.
But for Hopkins, he sees this fight as something bigger than his legend in the sport of boxing.
“I’m up for this fight for a lot of personal reasons. For me it’s a cultural fight,”Hopkins said at a media roundtable Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas. “(If you don’t know what I mean) ask some black athletes about culture and competition, don’t ask the guy in the suburbs or the black guy who’s father and mother are a judge and a lawyer because he’s out of touch. Go on Martin Luther King blvd in every American city. There’s guys like me living there. Ask them what I mean. The bottom line is that it’s in your face and you have to deal with it.”
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After being challenged by a British reporter if this fight is a race issue, Hopkins elaborated on his position.
“It’s always an issue of race when it’s black vs white,” he stated. “Through history, we’ve dominated this sport so much that (the media) has wrote about when we are going to see a great white hope. So what is that?”
A few reporters were seen leaving the roundtable after B-Hop’s comments.
“Some of you are running,” he joked. “Be brave and tell me I’m wrong. I’ll be fine with that. But then I’ll come back with facts and your own literature stating why it was so important that we see a great white champion if race doesn’t play a part in sports and politics.”
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“I have the courage to say what others won’t,” he continued while explaining that many black athletes do not address race issues in sports today. “Martin Luther King had that. Marcus Garvey had that. Ghandi had that. Malcolm X had that. Jim Brown had that. You are dealing with a modern day legend.”
Hopkins vs Calzaghe takes place Saturday April 19th from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas NV. The fight can be sign on HBO with coverage beginning at 6:45pm PST/9:45 EST.
HipHopDX will bring you fight updates live from ringside. For more on Bernard Hopkins, check out his feature by clicking here.
