Bernard Hopkins is one of the true legends of the sport of boxing, a fearless fighter in the boxing ring and outside of it but one time it nearly cost him.
Before his big fight with Puerto Rico’s favorite fighting son Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad Hopkins threw the Puerto Rico flag to the ground in Puerto Rico, with 6000 Puerto Ricans there, basically just him and Don King from America there on their own with their small team.
Speaking to Andre Ward on his show ‘All The Smoke Fight’ this week, Hopkins, whom in those days was known as ‘The Executioner’ — fondly recalled the true mayhem he ignited suddenly at the time — chuckling as he said:
“Everything was smooth in New York, Philly, and Miami—no hostility. In San Juan, it was a Trinidad rally with over 6,000 people at Gilberto Coliseum. Don King kicked it off, waving flags, shouting “Viva Puerto Rico” I spoke, did my throat-slashing gesture, and riled the crowd. Tito got up, spoke in Spanish, and his interpreter said, “When you threw my flag…” That broke the treaty. Chaos erupted—people threw magazines and newspapers. I grabbed the flag from Don and threw it down, sparking a riot. We barely escaped, jumping bleachers, holding doors as the crowd tried to get in. My trainer, Bouie Fisher, fought through with a rolled-up newspaper, claiming he was “stabbing” people. It was pandemonium, but we made it to the airport despite a tropical storm, with police rushing us onto the plane.”
Hopkins really had no limits and would always take things further and further against opponents and in the streets too before he was in boxing.
A real antagonizing genius and instigator of controlled mayhem in the mental warfare department in boxing and outside of it, over the years.
Alas, so much brilliance from Hopkins’ warfare over the years.
A real original and something kind of different as they would say in some parts of America.
It nearly cost him his life that time though. He had to leg it to the airport and barely got onto the plane.
A real professional hitman job. Classic Hopkins.
From a boxing standpoint, he still holds the record for most middleweight defenses of all time in boxing history with 20 and these days he’s involved in the promotion of the sport.
Hopefully he continues to do more boxing interviews, his insights on the sport are always eventful and more often than not, spot on.