Top 154 Quotes & Sayings by Bernard Hopkins

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Bernard Hopkins.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins Jr. is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed middleweight title from 2001 to 2005, and the lineal light heavyweight title from 2011 to 2012.

Yes, we have to look at our opponents and study our opponents. But you have to look at you first and know you can do it.
I'm tired of proving myself.
One thing I want people to know before I leave this game is I gave it my all. — © Bernard Hopkins
One thing I want people to know before I leave this game is I gave it my all.
Some people might think they're invincible, but I don't.
We want to give you the roses when you're dead. That's how human beings think. I try not to think like a human.
I like to do things that are noncombat- or boxing-related. So I jump rope a lot, and then I run a lot.
If I was a bad guy, I probably would be incarcerated.
Boxing is the sweet science. You hit and not get hit. There's no reward for you to hit me more than I hit you other than on the scorecards.
Protect yourself at all times. It's what I talk to school kids and college kids about when I do my seminars. I'm not just talking about in the ring. Protect yourself at all times.
Most of my fights are intelligent.
I say the sweet science is to understand not only how to fight coming forward, how to be a big puncher, but also understand, if you run into a guy who can take your punch for the first time, how to react.
When they say you can't, show them you can.
If I can create an atmosphere to make my job easier and your confidence less, why not? — © Bernard Hopkins
If I can create an atmosphere to make my job easier and your confidence less, why not?
I want to be the spokesman for the 40-and-older crowd, inspiring people to believe that no matter their age, they can be healthy and save their lives.
You do a deal - business deal, real estate deal, stock deal - protect yourself at all times. I got that from boxing. That's from A to Z: that covers everything in life. And it started when I heard it in the ring. They don't say that in basketball or football or any other sport that I know of but boxing.
I have already bent time to my will.
Ninety-nine percent of getting over a problem is mental.
My whole career, I got a lot of credit for not taking punches.
I think being 50 and being me is different than any other fighter in any era.
I have to constantly work on my reflexes and hand-eye coordination. I do a lot of puzzles. I play chess.
I would love to play with the Flyers. I got the two front teeth missing, so I can look the part. I'm ready cosmetically. I could fit right in.
Money is great, but history is something that you can never get rid of and act like it didn't happen.
Age is not a problem. It becomes a problem when people try and make us think old.
I don't drink occasionally. I don't drink on the holidays. I don't drink alcohol, period. Not wine, not nothing.
I like the old school, then I add the new school, and I got a concoction of greatness. I can't miss; you can't miss with that.
If you don't know your own value, somebody will tell you your value, and it'll be less than you're worth.
I looked up to Marvin Hagler, Ali.
Hand-eye coordination and reflexes is something I work on more than anything.
I have an orthodox style that a southpaw is confused with me.
I'm special, in a way that is good. I don't have to explain 'special.' There is no definition for special. Special speaks for itself.
I'm not downplaying my age - because humankind is such that people run away from their age. Especially women. Guys pretend not to care, but they do. Age is not a good thing to most human beings. But, being an alien, I embrace it.
Ninety percent of the media picked Pavlik, and I always appreciate naysayers. That's what motivates me.
Any UFC fighter, and any fighter going into the boxing ring and can do what they do in the UFC, nine out of 10 won't be victorious and vice-versa, with a boxer coming from - even myself - coming over to that field will be a fish trying to be in a jungle and survive. It's not going to happen.
The young is always there to replace what we call the old. That's the process, even in nature.
I learned a lot from being in hell. I learned discipline. I learned that I choose what to put in my body.
There is nothing more important than staying alert, reading your opponent, that counts for both inside and outside the ring.
I say the sweet science is to hit and not get hit.
No one's kicking down the door to fight Bernard Hopkins. — © Bernard Hopkins
No one's kicking down the door to fight Bernard Hopkins.
They had to debate whether Joe Frazier should be in the Boxing Hall of Fame or not. I'm making sure that it would be a felony to sit down and debate whether or not Bernard Hopkins deserves to be in the hall of fame.
I've had a hard life. I smell and sense fear. I didn't get that from Catholic school; I know what fear is.
I am not going to eat something that I have been told is not good for my system, and I do what I can to eat energy food, such as lean meats, whole grains, and lots of fruit and vegetables. Without this daily habit, my body would have given up a long time ago. There is no magic pill, no magic drink, no magic food.
I am a great champion.
I do much less sparring and always with the purpose of working on something in particular.
When you get to a certain age in society, they want to dictate to you when you should pack it in and that you should mentally grab a cane, a box of Depends, Geritol, listen to the oldies, and not eat spicy food after 9 o'clock.
If your car takes 95 and you put 87 in it, it's gonna run sluggish, right? A lot of people don't realize what you put in your body affects your mechanics, and you're gonna run sluggish.
Always have to think like a guy with no food in his refrigerator.
I'm amongst you all, but I'm not one of you all.
I've shown, for twenty-plus years, with a legacy that will be talked about way after I'm gone, that I am different. — © Bernard Hopkins
I've shown, for twenty-plus years, with a legacy that will be talked about way after I'm gone, that I am different.
I'm the guy still driving a Nissan.
I don't have a diet. Jenny Craig got a diet. Seriously. I eat to live, not to die.
That materialistic life, that's not my god.
Boxing is a small world where the same thing that goes on, goes on in corporate America.
It's two sides to everybody. I'm a manager - I'm a promoter - and I'm a fighter, so it is two sides to me. That's a balance there.
When you grow up hard, when you grow up surviving, unfortunately, it helps.
Age is not an enemy to me.
I don't react and think off emotions - that gets you in a bad situation.
Just because you started off one way don't mean the ending of the book has to be the way you started.
I am a proud man and never takes things for granted in my life.
You cannot go into combat without putting the work in.
I love fighting big guys because I'm fast. I'm not a big, light heavyweight. I can move. I can get inside on them. I'm inside, I'm wrestling with them, and they're just wrestling, but all the time, I'm chopping; I'm slapping.
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