NEW YORK // The boxing legend and former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins said he is a golden oldie and would prove it in the squared circle on Saturday when he takes on undefeated fellow-American title holder Kelly Pavlik.
Hopkins, 43, described himself as a throwback fighter as he sized up his chances against big-hitting Pavlik, who is 34-0 with 30 stoppages, in their 170-pound, non-title catchweight bout in Atlantic City.
"The Philly throwback fighter, he watches a lot of fights, he rolls when he gets hit, stays in the pocket, knows all the tricks," a trim Hopkins told reporters yesterday before taking the dais at a news conference to promote the bout.
"They've been writing that about me for a decade."
The Philadelphia native said his lifestyle, combined with modern day nutrition, kept him fit and youthful.
"It's an investment I put in myself 20 years ago to be here at this table fighting for millions at this stage," he said, adding he was in select company to be thriving at his age.
"There's only two or three athletes in sport history ? (NFL quarterback) Brett Favre is one, myself is another and (cyclist) Lance Armstrong just came back."
Hopkins, whose 48-5-1 mark includes 20 successful defences of that middleweight crown, likened himself to old-timers such as George Foreman, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Sugar Ray Robinson and Archie Moore but with certain advantages.
"Things are different now. Only the elite few have taken a page, and I'm one, out of that throwback era.
"We have all the stuff that they didn't have back then. The fighters were not taking vitamins, they was drinking blood. These guys were eating raw eggs that would give you clogged arteries. They wouldn't tell me to eat a raw egg today.
"These guys were doing all the opposite of what was healthy. Now that I've got all these perks from the last 30, 40 years, am I really old by a number?" he said about his age.
Hopkins is proud that doctors are amazed by his age when they study his test results. "The most damage that is done to a fighter is not in the ring," he said. "It's because the candle was burning at both ends, because of a lifestyle."
He is also proud of never being knocked out and bristled over reports that Pavlik said it would be a feather in his cap to be the first to do so.
Pavlik denied making any predictions.
"I haven't in one fight ever predicted a KO," Pavlik said. "I go in there to win. If the knockout comes, that's great.
"I'm definitely ready. This is my chance now. Bernard is a legend. He's had a great career. He's going to go down in the books as the greatest middleweight. I have the same goal. I want my legacy to be great also, and I'm not done yet."
*Reuters
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
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Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
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Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
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