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Hopkins next and final fight planned for 2017

Bernard Hopkins (right) vs. Beibut Shumenov. Photo by: Naoki Fukuda
Fighters Network
15
Sep

ARLINGTON, Texas- Bernard Hopkins next and final fight of his star-studded career is being planned for next year with Hopkins likely sitting out the remainder of 2016, Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya told RingTV.com on Thursday.

Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 knockouts) hasn’t fought since he lost a wide decision against unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in November of 2014. Since then, Hopkins, now 51, has given mixed signal about when he might fight again, with possible dates and opponents surfacing only for radio silence to ensue. But De La Hoya expressed confidence that Hopkins will fight sometime in 2017 and that it will be his final fight of a surefire Hall of Fame career.

“He’s been occupied with commentating on HBO, and he obviously still keeps himself in great shape,” De La Hoya told RingTV.com on Thursday following a press conference for Canelo Alvarez’s title fight with Liam Smith on HBO PPV at AT&T Stadium. “He still wants to fight, so hopefully we can sit down after this fight and map out a plan for him, hopefully for next year. It will definitely be his farewell fight.”

The ageless Hopkins has held multiple titles at middleweight and light heavyweight and possesses the middleweight record for title defenses with 20 from 1994-2005. He’s also the oldest fighter to win and defend a world title — he did it twice at 46 and 48.



 

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