ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (AP):
THIS WAS one doozy of a retirement party for Bernard Hopkins. The star middleweight ended his boxing career after 18 years and 52 fights with a storybook finish, an upset of light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver.
"I'm done, I'm done, I'm done," he said. "I don't need to risk anything else."
He risked plenty on Saturday night.
At 41, coming off back-to-back losses, he jumped two weight classes to take on 175-pound (79-kilogram) champion Tarver in hopes of doing what his idol Sugar Ray Robinson couldn't win a light heavyweight title.
The big night for Hopkins started when his sisters, wife and teachers were brought into the ring in a tribute before a video about his career played on the scoreboard. A who's who of Hollywood and pro sports watched from ringside, with announced spectators including Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Edgerrin James, Queen Latifah and Julius Erving.
Asked by HBO if he would consider coming back for a US$20 million pay day, Hopkins replied: "I might come out of my grave for that kind of money."
But the fighter, who got his start in boxing while in prison, held the middleweight title for 11 years and finished with a flourish insisted later he was definitely calling it a career.
