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Bernard Hopkins still has a contractual option for one more fight with HBO, and says that they want to make it happen depending on the opponent and location. Hopkins says he'll make his final decision on his career by June, and that he hasn't yet given HBO the green light to move ahead with any potential fight.
"I just haven't given them the go yet. I will do one going-away fight on a high level or I won't do it at all, which means I have to be in a position to do something respectful, not only to my legacy and to boxing fans and for TV. Nothing has been worked up on hard and aggressive yet. We still have time."
When reporters asked Hopkins about a potential farewell fight against Carl Froch, B-Hop got downright giddy with excitement.
"I'll accommodate him if he's serious, if he's not afraid to get beat by a 50-year-old," he said with a chuckle. "That fight has the respect from most media who won't talk down on this fight; I'm pretty sure they won't. I'll do it over in his country or over here; he says he wants to fight in Las Vegas, that's the beauty of this thing. I try to make it where nobody has a way out.
"I don't know if it's true but [Froch] said he has no interest; he's in a lose/lose situation. That's a way of saying, ‘I don't want none of that problem.' If that's how he feels, smart move. I'm not going to argue that because nobody else is going to believe why, based on age. He's not Sergey [Kovalev]. He's not tall. He's not big. He's not unorthodox; the chance of him doing that [beating Hopkins] is slim to none."
Hopkins then went on to say that it's pretty much Carl Froch or bust for him, though he indicates he has a number of other options on the table for him -- none of which particularly interest him at the moment. So what do you make of a Hopkins-Froch fight? It's an interesting fight on paper, but sort of strikes me as one that would be a dud in the excitement department (as is the case with most fights featuring Hopkins). The thing is, Hopkins' legacy is already cemented no matter what he does at this point, but does this fight make any real sense for Froch to take?