Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins had an amazing professional boxing career that lasted for 28 years. He debuted as a professional boxer at the age of 23, on October 11, 1988, against Clinton Mitchell, who won via four-round majority decision. After this fight, Hopkins went on to win the next 22 fights, including 16 via stoppage.

On May 22, 1993, Hopkins had his first world-title fight against Roy Jones Jr. for the IBF (vacant) middleweight title. Unfortunately, he lost to Jones Jr. via 12-round unanimous decision. Despite this setback, Hopkins went on to become one of the pound-for-pound best boxers of all time.

Throughout his professional career, Hopkins had 67 fights, winning 55, losing 8, drawing twice, and experiencing two no-contests. Hopkins had 32 knockout wins, and one loss via knockout. He also won 10 titles, with a total of 22 title defenses.

Some of Hopkins' notable victories include beating four hall-of-famers: Roy Jones Jr., Winky Wright, Óscar de la Hoya, and Félix Trinidad. Other notable battles include William Joppy, Antonio Tarver, Jean Pascal, and Beibut Shumenov.

In his career highlights, Hopkins' first world title victory came on April 29, 1995, when he won the IBF middleweight title from Segundo Mercado by beating him via 7th round TKO. Hopkins became a unified middleweight champion on April 14, 2001, beating Keith Holmes via 12 round unanimous decision. Following that, he became the undisputed middleweight champion by beating Félix Trinidad via 12th round TKO on September 29, 2001. Hopkins then successfully defended his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and The Ring middleweight titles against William Joppy on December 13, 2003, winning the fight via 12 round unanimous decision.

On September 18, 2004, Hopkins became the undisputed middleweight champion when he defeated Óscar de la Hoya via a 9th round KO. With this win, he held the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, The Ring, and WBO middleweight world-champion belts, an impressive feat that few have ever accomplished in the sport.

In his fight against Antonio Tarver on June 10, 2006, Hopkins won the Ring light-heavyweight title, beating Tarver via a 12 round unanimous decision. He then successfully defended The Ring light-heavyweight title against Winky Wright on July 21, 2007, winning the fight via a 12 round unanimous decision.

However, Hopkins did suffer some losses during his professional career, with eight losses in total. He lost his professional debut to Clinton Mitchell via 4th round majority decision. Hopkins has been stopped just once via knockout and lost seven times via decision. One of his most notable losses was on April 19, 2008, when he lost to Joe Calzaghe via 12 round split-decision.

Although Hopkins had a fantastic career, his last professional fight was a non-title bout against fellow American boxer Joe Smith Jr. on December 17, 2016. Hopkins lost the fight via an 8th round TKO. It has been 6 years, 3 months, and 14 days since this fight.

Despite his last defeat, Hopkins’s name is still one of many greats in the sport of boxing. Additionally, in 2020, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), cementing his legacy forever.

Bernard Hopkins is an incredible boxer whose career is nothing short of inspiring. His impressive record, combined with his longevity in the sport, makes him a legend in the boxing world. His technical prowess, tenacity, and mental toughness were second to none, and his legacy will continue to influence generations of boxers. Overall, Bernard Hopkins's commitment to boxing helped him to achieve the greatness that several other boxers could only dream of, which makes him one of the sport's most unforgettable players.

Bernard Hopkins Fight Record