If Bernard Hopkins keeps opening his mouth he’s going to set race relations back 50 years.
BY GEORGE WILLIS
If Bernard Hopkins keeps opening his mouth he’s going to set race relations back 50 years.
You may recall Hopkins, the 43-year-old former middleweight and light heavyweight boxing champion, caused a stir last December when he and Joe Calzaghe met in the middle of the Mayweather-Hatton media center at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Sensing an impending mega-bout between the two, Hopkins vowed loudly and repeatedly that he would “never lose to a white boy,” a childish retort after Calzaghe needled him about losing twice to Jermain Taylor.
The ex-con and Philadelphia tough guy didn’t back off the statement during the official press conference held in London last week to announce the April 19 fight in Las Vegas. In explaining his “white boy” remark, Hopkins tried to make himself out to be some kind of racial realist.
“I can go back to Jesse Owens going over and competing against the Germans,” Hopkins was quoted as saying. “I can go back to Bill Russell who played at Boston Garden and was called ‘nigger’ every time he ran down the court even though he had a Boston jersey on.
“You might say that times have changed since then, but have they? Only the camouflage has changed. There are taboos now and it’s not the thing to talk about race, but it is still there underneath. People just don’t have the courage to talk about it.”
Hopkins offers a reminder that boxers shouldn’t be considered intellectuals even when they pretend to be. Saying, “I’ll never let a white boy beat me,” was more cowardly than courageous because Hopkins stooped to the kind of racial intimidation that Owens, Russell, and Jackie Robinson had to endure when rivals talked more about their skin color than their talent.
Just because ignorant people slurred black athletes in the past doesn’t give Hopkins the freedom to slur white athletes today. Intelligent people are repulsed by racial taunts and racial intimidation. There’s no place for it. Not even in boxing. That’s why Calzaghe, a pale Welshman, can’t say “I’ll never let a black boy beat me.” He would have been vilified by Al Sharpton and everyone else.
Hopkins is to be admired for turning his life around after a young life as a habitual criminal. We respect all that. But if Hopkins thinks he deserves a double standard, he’s wrong.
And that’s not allâ¦.
As if his misguided defense of his “white boy” statement wasn’t bad enough Hopkins continued his ramble on race relations in London by saying the United States wasn’t ready for a black President and that Barack Obama might be assassinated if elected.
“I think that his life would be in dear jeopardy,” Hopkins said. “To have that much power in that position, the country is not ready for that. Historically, they weren’t ready for John F. Kennedy because his views and his values about certain things riled a lot of people.”
Hopkins said he’s supporting Hillary Clinton. “Having Bill and Hillary is like having two for one,” he reasoned.
One more thing on Hopkins: According to ESPN.com, he and nephew Demetrius Hopkins are at odds. Demetrius, an unbeaten junior welterweight, is a promotional free agent after ending a contract with Golden Boy Promotions where Bernard Hopkins is a partner with Oscar De La Hoya and CEO Richard Schaefer. Demetrius (28-0-1, 11 KOs) said he wouldn’t mind re-signing with Golden Boy, but wants no dealings with his uncle.
“I donât’ have a problem with Golden Boy. They’re good people,” Demetrius told ESPN.com. “It’s just that with my uncle, we have our differences. It’s not going to work between me and him. We have our differences. We donât’ get along. It’s been like that for a while. It’s a shame. He’s got to learn how to talk to people and respect people.”
The disagreement apparently stems from Bernard Hopkins throwing Demetrius and his family out of an apartment they rented from him in Philadelphia because he was two weeks late with the rent. “I’d like to do things with Schaefer, (vice president) Eric (Gomez) and Oscar, but I don’t want to do business with my uncle.”
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