In BET.com final chat leading up to his fight on Saturday against Kelly Pavlik, Bernard Hopkins responds to trainer Freddie Roach’s comments and gives his prediction for the fight. Bernard Hopkins takes on Kelly Pavlik this Saturday live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9pm ET/6PM PT.

On his thoughts leading up to the fight:

I will win. Kelly Pavlik will learn a lot from this fight in the future. When it’s all said and done, the experience and the greatness of Bernard Hopkins is really going to be an eye-opener to people. Especially to the ones that written themselves off for whatever reason because they are 35 or 40. Even though rapping and R&B is different from physical sports, Jay-Z said it best. 35 is the new 25 and 40 is the new 30. That’s just the way it is. Even older guys don’t dress the same way as when your mom and pop were growing up.

On how he keeps going strong at 43:

I want people to not take away the uniqueness of my age and where I’m at in my career. I don’t want to downplay it. Every now and then, I will tell people in everything in life, things are totally different from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Athletes are bigger and stronger. You can’t look at the average 40-year-old guy and say he’s 40 unless he abuses himself in his 20’s and 30’s. I took that penitentiary mentality and I don’t use drugs, I don’t drink champagne, I don’t drink wine. I don’t do the stuff occasionally or socially. I don’t do it all. When you have that on top of what I do and how my lifestyle has been as far as eating and taking care of my body and the proper rest, I’m in better shape than probably most young people you know.

On Freddie Roach’s comments on the HBO special:

I think he was overreacting with a little bit of sincerity in it. I don’t knock him for feeling the way he’s feeling, but I thought it was kind of strange. Nobody else but him can remember me going into the wrong corner four times. I remember them spinning me around one time, but it wasn’t a situation where no other fighter has done that in years. I think it was a low blow and out of proportion but it makes for good television.

On the one song he listens to before getting in the ring:

Struggle by Curtis Mayfield.

Access Granted: Bernard Hopkins, Part II

Access Granted: Bernard Hopkins, Part I

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: 

BET.com is chatting with Bernard Hopkins on three different occasions, leading up to his Oct. 18 match against Kelly Pavlik on HBO PPV. In part one of a three-part series, Hopkins discusses his training for the fight against Pavlik and shares his candid thoughts on the boxing industry.

On how training is going for his fight against Kelly Pavlik:

I am training hard and getting ready. I am down in my place in Florida. I’m sitting here looking at nothing but water and letting my mind relax. I’m training hard down here, first thing in the morning. Everything is going smoothly so far.  Read the rest of this entry »