It’s been a while since fans have seen the ruthless side of Bernard Hopkins, long enough that those who think the “old man” may have gone soft can be forgiven.

However, those who really know Hopkins will tell you the fiery edge he exhibited while trying to knockout Kelly Pavlik in the final round of his boxing clinic last October still smolders beneath the surface.

Hopkins, who turns 45 in January, is 13 months removed from his stunning upset of Pavlik but still has a lot of fight in him. That's evident by the 17-years-in-the-making rematch with Roy Jones Jr. he plans to make in March provided he beats Enrique Ornelas on Wednesday and his old rival gets by Danny Green on Dec. 2.

Before the Jones fight was made, it looked as though Hopkins was finally winding down his hall-of-fame career as he appeared to focus on other career paths such as his promotional duties as a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, his role in the foundation he established in his late mother’s name and a promising gig as a boxing commentator.

But Hopkins never stopped being a fighter. He was always training and looking for a worthy opponent. Once he found one in Jones he wasted no time in setting up the tune-up bout with Ornelas, which takes place in his native Philadelphia.

Hopkins’ trainer, Naazim Richardson, says fans who attend the fight at the Liacouras Center and those who watch the live broadcast on Versus will witness the former middleweight and light heavyweight champ take it to Ornelas with the same controlled rage with which he attacked Pavlik for 12 rounds.

“Bernard ain’t never going to go soft,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t matter what he’s doing outside of boxing, he’s keeps the same intensity and focus that he has when he’s training for a fight.

“Whether he’s in promoter-mode with my young fighters, Rock Allen and Karl Dargan, or giving away Turkeys before Thanksgiving, Bernard always has his edge.”

The senior partners at Golden Boy Promotions say it’s common for Hopkins slip into long-winded tirades about boxing politics when he’s supposed to be schmoozing with the company’s sponsors. He won’t allow himself to indulge in a single desert during the many press conferences and media luncheons he attends, and he often slips away from post-fight VIP functions before 9 p.m., sticking to the Spartan lifestyle that is partly responsible for his amazing longevity.

Hopkins says the other ingredient in his long-term success is his ability to stay hungry despite earning millions of dollars and posting all-time great accomplishments, such as setting the record for middleweight title defenses (20).

“I don’t go into battle without being mentally prepared, and for me that means I put myself into the hungry mind frame I had when I first got out of prison and when I first stepped into the ring,” Hopkins said. “That means I’m not a Golden Boy partner come Dec. 2. I’m not going to be Bernard the broadcaster. I’m not going to be Bernard the charity worker or ambassador to the sport. I’m going to be that mean son of a bitch you all been watching fight for 20 years.”

Hopkins is quick to add that although he’s a cold-hearted punisher in the ring, he’s secure enough in his identity to show fans and the media the other sides of his personality. He’s not the sullen maverick he was at the start of the decade.

He can be jovial at times when commentating on the sport. He can even reveal his true feelings, as he did minutes after the final bell of the Pavlik fight.

There was no abusive epithet directed to the defeated young champion after the fight, only stern but sincere counseling from a concerned veteran.

“Don’t let this fight destroy you,” Hopkins told Pavlik shortly after staring down at press row with watery eyes, lips quivering with barely contained emotion.

Hopkins says his concern for Pavlik after the fight was genuine, but so was his effort to lay the young man out in the 12th round.

“I’ve got to be two people,” Hopkins said. “Some people were shocked at how nice I was before the Pavlik fight. I didn’t do any of the psychological warfare I’d become famous for, but the respect was a strategy, too.

“I know what it’s like to be young and hungry, and I know how easy it is for a young fighter to become complacent. I was nice to Pavlik because I didn’t want to ignite the fire in his belly. I wanted him to come into our fight believing his press clippings. I wanted him to try to carry out what he said he would do me, which is knock me out, and I wanted to show him that he was lied to once the bell rang.

“I didn’t want him to be mentally prepared for me because I knew I was going to go out and hurt him early in the fight. I knew I was going to shock him and let him know right from the jump that he wasn’t ready for me.”

It’s safe to say that Ornelas (29-5, 19 KOs) will never be ready for Hopkins, even the version that’s pushing 45.

The 29-year-old fringe middleweight contender is not as respected as Pavlik was prior to fighting Hopkins. However, the veteran claims that his camp for Ornelas, which took place in Philadelphia, was every bit as intense as his camp for Pavlik.

He has sparred more than 100 rounds with a cadre of young light heavyweights, including undefeated prospect Anthony Ferrante (8-0, 4 KOs). He trained the same day he handed out 500 turkeys at the 35th district police station in his old North Philadelphia neighborhood. He trained on Thanksgiving. He trained after Monday’s final press conference.

“I’m a bitch with her period on when I’m in the gym,” Hopkins said, “and then I do my part to promote the fight by doing interviews, going on the radio, going on TV, and working with the charities that the fight will benefit.

“I don’t have any problem switching from hard to soft or from good to evil. I never have. I guess it’s evidence that I might be bi-polar or have split personalities, but I’ve learned how to be two people. I think everyone has to learn how to leave their job at work and not bring it home to their families. I can’t be the boxer that I am in the gym when I come home to my wife.”

Richardson, who has known Hopkins for 20 years and has been in his corner for 12, says there is no split personality with his old friend.

“Bernard is all fighter,” he said. “He was when I first met him and he is today. Boxing isn’t his job, it’s his life.”

Hopkins admits the sport is his life but adds that his other career roles are now also part of it.

“I’ll be all fighter when I step into the ring but I had my promoter’s hat on when I agreed to this fight with Ornelas,” he said. “The fighter in me wants to be paid what I’m used to getting paid by HBO. But the promoter in me sees that the big picture is 2010 and Roy Jones Jr. The promoter in me wanted to make sure this fight was televised on basic cable. The promoter in me wanted Jones’ fight with Danny Green to be on the same broadcast so we can start building the rematch.

“I had my ambassador hat on when I insisted that the fight be in Philadelphia and something more than a sporting event. It’s not the fighter who wants $2 from every ticket to go to charities, to give something back to the city, and show the sport in a good light.

“But the fighter is always there. It’s the fighter that knows he has to be ready for Roy in March. It’s the fighter that won’t allow me to be arrogant enough to sit and wait while Roy gets in two or three fights. The fighter realizes that I have to fight a real fight; that I have to get into the ring with no headgear on in front of a live crowd with a guy who’s trying to kick my ass if I want to be ready for Roy.

“I’m able to keep my edge and become ruthless when I have to because that’s what the fighter in me wants.”


Doug Fischer can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com