In part two, Bernard Hopkins talks candidly about growing up in North Philadelphia as a child and what eventually led to the middleweight spending nearly five years in prison. Bernard Hopkins takes on Kelly Pavlik this Saturday live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9pm ET/6PM PT.

What one word would describe you growing up?

Tough. I grew up in a tough neighborhood. You had to be either one of two people. You had to be the victim or you had to be the stalker. There was nothing in between. You are what you mold out to be in your environment.

What were your brothers and sisters like?

I’m the oldest boy and I have a sister who is a year older than me. At the end of the day, I was the enforcer. The older brother always had to have everyone’s back. My sisters were respectful but they were tough too. They weren’t tomboys but we were brought up to speak our minds.  If somebody hit me, I get another beating if I said “Mom, he hit me.” If someone hit you, only if they hit you first, then take care of your business. That’s how most of us in the hood were taught. Bernard Hopkins is the oldest son but I’m not the oldest sibling. When you have four sisters, somebody is going to say something wrong and your sister is going to come to your assistance.

On what happened between the ages of 13-17:

I’m not going to blame it all on my environment. Coming up, I fought in amateurs and was raised in a boxing family. My mother and father had brothers who boxed. I have a nephew who is undefeated, Demetrius Hopkins. I didn’t bring him in the gym, he wanted to box because he saw me boxing. I wanted to box because my mother’s brother boxed and my father’s father boxed in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I took that boxing reputation and that boxing respect I got from the girls and even the toughest guys. You become respected. You can take that respect and use it in a positive way or you can take that respect and use it in a negative way. I became intoxicated with the power, like a dictator. I became intoxicated with guys who were tough guys. When you start being young, being ignorant, not listening to your parents or the old folks on the block, it gives you extreme power to be able to do this.

On rediscovering boxing in prison:

When I got there, the first 1 ½ years, I was just as bad as I was on the streets. As time went on, I had an understanding of prison and what this all meant. I rehabilitated my decisions in my life and was able to walk out of there at a very young age. I got back to what I had when I was 7 and 8, and that’s because the prison provided that in boxing. When I became disciplined in prison and I got back into boxing, I got the respect I had on the street in prison. Mob guys. Murders. Rapists. Everybody.

Read Part I of BET.com interview with Bernard Hopkins: 

TAGS: Access Granted, Bernard Hopkins, HBO

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