In an effort to promote the upcoming bout between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, Hopkins painted a small ad on his back, which was visible to fans in attendance at the Barclays Center during Saturday’s weigh-in. Hopkins wore the ad in front of the entire crowd for several minutes during the weigh-in, before the ad was peeled off by Hopkins’ trainer. Hopkins later posted a video on Instagram showing him in front of a large sign for the upcoming fight, with the small ad on his back, with the caption “Back to work.”
Bernard Hopkins is a two-time world champion in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions, and he’s now retired. He’s a legend of the sport, and he’s also a legendary ad man. Back in 2012, he was featured in an ad campaign for “The Black Eyed Peas” that made it look like the band had commissioned a tattoo artist to paint Hopkins’ face on the back of a rapper’s torso to endorse the hip hop trio. The truth was that it was all a marketing gimmick, a way for “The Black Eyed Peas” to sell more albums.
Respect for middleweight boxers reached new heights with the dominance of Carlos Monzon in the 1970s and Marvin Hagler in the 1980s. Bernard Hopkins reached an even higher level after the turn of the century with his style and content. Hopkins recaptured the championship and went on to unprecedented success defending the title. His victory over Felix Trinidad in 2001 is his most memorable moment. Madison Square Garden displayed both his superior skills and the odd $100,000 ad.
Bernard Hopkins was a worthy successor to Marvin Hagler
Bernard Hopkins, right, defeats Felix Trinidad in a title unification fight at Madison Square Garden Arena on the 29th. September 2001. Hopkins won by TKO in the 12th round. Round and become the undisputed middleweight champion. | Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images COMPARED TO: Former boxer Esteban de Jesus committed murder under the influence of cocaine and became a minister in prison before dying of AIDS The great Marvin Hagler wrested every world title from Alan Minter by technical knockout in the third round in 1980, then successfully defended them a dozen times until he finally lost to Sugar Ray Leonard by controversial decision in 1987. Although there were worthy champions after that, none of them came close to Hagler’s status until Bernard Hopkins came along. Hopkins won the IBF middleweight crown in 1995 and successfully defended it 11 times before gaining the WBC belt in April 2001 by defeating Keith Holmes. Five months later, he scored a historic victory over Felix Trinidad and won all the titles. Hopkins then defeated other big names, including Oscar De La Hoya and William Joppy, in a string of 19 consecutive title defenses through 2005. His win over Trinidad earned him Ring Magazine’s fighter of the year award, and Hopkins won the oldest world title by defeating Jean Pascal at the age of 46.
Bernard Hopkins wore a $100,000 ad on his back during his victory over Felix Trinidad
. While Philadelphia’s Bernard Hopkins captured the boxing division at middleweight, Puerto Rico’s Felix Trinidad dominated the welterweight rankings, edging out Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker. Trinidad 40-0-0 and Hopkins 39-2-1, the fight of the year was scheduled for September 15, 2001 at Madison Square Garden, but it was canceled two weeks after the September 11 attacks. September postponed. The fight was interesting for the first bell, but Hopkins added two twists, as HBO reports:
- When Hopkins took off his warm-up jacket after entering the ring, fans saw on his back a huge advertisement for the online gambling site for which GoldenPalace.com paid the fighter $100,000.
- Rumors circulated that Hopkins bet the entire $100,000 on himself at 7-to-2 odds.
The fight started tentatively, then Hopkins did the two things necessary to win: He had twice as many shots on goal, with Hopkins deftly blocking the typical Trinidad left-footed shots. Trinidad responds with an attempt to score. Bernard answered everything Tito had, and I remember Tito throwing a sharp, clean, hard hitting right in the middle of the round, referee Steve Smoger recalled to HBO. Bernard growled and continued and I could see Tito’s attitude: I hit that guy with everything I could and it’s still there. Trinidad survived the 11th. Almost a lap before Hopkins sent him to the mat at the start of the 12th. Although Trinidad stood up, his father came out of the corner to stop the fight. When it came time to make a decision, Hopkins was far ahead in points on all three boards.
He remained competitive until the age of 40
. COMPARED TO: Marvin Hagler’s widow aggressively refutes vicious rumors about his death The fight against Felix Trinidad was the 13th. Defense of Bernard Hopkins’ title. He won his next six fights before losing twice to unbeaten Jermaine Taylor in 2005 at the age of 40. In theory, this should have been the end of an exceptional career. But the advertisement painted on Hopkins’ back for his fight against Trinidad might read: The start of something big. Hopkins was 46 when he defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC light heavyweight title in 2011 and 48 when he took the IBF belt from Tavoris Cloud. The 19th. In April 2014, Hopkins extended his record as the oldest fighter to win a title by winning the title three months after turning 49. On his 70th birthday, he took over the WBA title from Beibut Shumerov. Hopkins eventually resigned after losing a month before his 52nd birthday. He returned from his 60th birthday with a 55-8-2 record. Like Sportscasting on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @sportscasting19 .
