Bernard Hopkins' 49th birthday wish is to be undisputed light heavyweight champion

Bernard Hopkins was once the undisputed middleweight champion of the world, holding all four sanctioning body title belts at once and recognized as the true and lineal champion of the division. Yesterday, B-Hop turned 49 years old, and he's got a wish that isn't all that unrealistic, politics aside: he wants to be The Man at 175 pounds.

Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KO) holds the IBF light heavyweight title currently, and looks headed for a unification bout with WBA titleholder Beibut Shumenov in the near future. He tells Dan Rafael that he wants to fight two times this year, and that total unification is indeed his plan.

The division's other titleholders are Sergey Kovalev (WBO) and Adonis Stevenson (WBC and lineal/Ring Magazine).

Can B-Hop get those fights? Maybe, but they're both fighting on HBO right now, and Hopkins, a promoter with Golden Boy, will be loyal to Showtime for the foreseeable future. Plus, there's no guarantee that either of those guys will want to fight him -- or, to be fair, that Hopkins is doing more than just talking. After all, boxing is boxing, and Bernard's a better political player than most.

Is there any chance we'll see Hopkins actually make a move to unify all four belts, or is this just chatter?