Born: 15 January 1965

Birth Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Nationality: American

Nickname: The Executioner & B-Hop

Division: Middleweight (160lbs) Light Heavyweight (175lbs)

Height: 6’ 1” / 185 cm

Reach: 75″ / 191 cm

• Former Undisputed World Middleweight Champion

• First Fighter to Retain All World Titles of Each Major Boxing Sanctioning Body in the Same Fight

• Defended a World Middleweight Title a Record 20 Times

• Oldest Boxer to Ever Win a World Title at Age 46

• Ring Intelligence

• Defensive Skills – Philly Shell

Bernard Hopkins is one of the greatest fighters of all time. His longevity in boxing is highly credited to his healthy lifestyle, superb ring intelligence and defensive capabilities. This has allowed him to beat many young fighters in their prime while Hopkins himself was past the normalities of boxing age.

Having been the underdog many times throughout his long career, especially during the later stages, Bernard Hopkins feeds off other people’s doubts and criticism. The haters only drive Hopkins to achieve the impossible.

His most notable fights are ones where he’s faced much younger opposition in their primes, where he was thought to have been too old. These include a TKO win over Felix Trinidad at age 36, UD wins over Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik at ages 41 and 43, and a UD win over Jean Pascal at age 46 where he became the oldest boxer to ever win a world title.

These achievements are because of a healthy lifestyle and great preparation before a fight.

• In the latter parts of his career, Hopkins has focused on his hand to eye coordination and reflexes by taking a tennis ball or a jack ball and swinging it around, then trying to catch it as quick as possible.

• A strict diet is essential for a healthy body, therefore, Hopkins eats no red meat, but chooses to eat poultry instead such as chicken and fish, and also quality grains, nuts and fruit.

• Hopkins makes a habit of using hand grips that he constantly squeezes in order to build up muscles in the hands and forearms.

There’s a lot to learn from Bernard Hopkins, in and out of the ring. He’s the epitome of how far discipline and dedication can take you. He learned his trade in prison, grasping the fundamentals of boxing that most boxers lack today, which has allowed really allowed him to take advantage of his opponents weaknesses.

Having been sentenced to 18 years in prison for nine felonies when he was 17, is a stark contrast to being in the limited group of elite fighters in the boxing world.