No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Bernard Hopkins and the 2013 Fighter of the Year Award

No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Bernard Hopkins and the 2013 Fighter of the Year Award

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On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell, who is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard (http://boxingstandard.com).

With his commanding and impressive unanimous decision victory October 26 over the 30-year-old challenger Karo Murat (25-2-1, 15 KOs), the 48-year-old IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KOs) is still doing things in the ring perviously thought to be impossible or at least highly improbable. He has thus, in his 25th year as a professional fighter, legitimately put his name into consideration as a candidate for 2013 Fighter of the Year.

We spoke about this phenomenon with Charles Farrell by phone Tuesday.

"Absolutely he should be considered," he said. "Whether he wins it or not, I don't know. But he's had two good wins. And I think if you frame it historically, which I think it's a fair thing to do, I think that's a legitimate element of what you look for, he's very, very much in the mix."

His preference for Fighter of the Year is the unbeaten 122-pound champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who essentially put on a boxing clinic against last year's consensus Fighter of the Year, Nonito Donaire, with a unanimous decision victory in April. That was, he said, the best performance by a fighter he had seen "certainly in recent memory."

But, he added about Hopkins, "If he were to win it, I think it's a deserving win. He's not the guy I would choose, but I have no quarrel with him winning it."

We also discussed how Hopkins quickly analyzes his opponents in their fights and responds accordingly, why he believes it is unlikely that Hopkins will fight Floyd Mayweather next, the dwindling talent pool in boxing, and much, much more.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights! and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, All photos other than those specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Impress Photo-Studios♔ and KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment Sports and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Blog-Online Publication all rights reserved.

IBF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION BERNARD HOPKINS TO FACE MANDATORY CHALLENGER KARO MURAT IN A BOUT RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 26 AT BOARDWALK HALL IN ATLANTIC CITY, NJ LIVE ON SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®

IBF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION BERNARD HOPKINS TO FACE MANDATORY CHALLENGER KARO MURAT IN A BOUT RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 26 AT BOARDWALK HALL IN ATLANTIC CITY, NJ LIVE ON SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^®

PETER QUILLIN TO FACE GABRIEL ROSADO IN CO-MAIN EVENT OF HOPKINS VS. MURAT TRIPLEHEADER ON OCT. 26 AT

IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins will become the oldest fighter in history to make his initial title defense when he faces highest rated light heavyweight challenger Karo Murat in a rescheduled championship event taking place Saturday, October 26 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.   The 12-round title fight, which was postponed from July 13 due to visa issues experienced by Murat, will air live on SHOWTIME^® (9 p.m. ET/PT).  With those issues cleared up, Murat has his sights set on ending the reign of the 48-year-old future Hall of Famer.

Hopkins vs. Murat, a 12-round bout for Hopkins' IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Caesars Atlantic City and supported by Golden Boy Promotions sponsors Corona and AT&T.  The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).  SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP).

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 All photos other than those specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Impress Photo-Studios♔ and KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Blog-Online Publication all rights reserved.

BERNARD “THE EXECUTIONER” HOPKINS PHILADELPHIA MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES‏

“Tavoris Cloud is an aggressive young fighter.  I heard him at the press conference in New York City.  He described himself as the Mike Tyson of this era.

“Ive been on a path that I keep my body on the right track and duck more punches than I take.  I can fight until I’m 50 years old.

“The less you get hit, the more you can speak and count your money.

“I am going to be glad and excited to be at Barclays Center.  It is the new Mecca of Boxing in New York.  It used to be the hood.  Now it’s known as ‘Hello Brooklyn.’

“I get a chance to leave my legacy in Brooklyn.  Not only am I honored, but I ‘ve earned that.

“I’m past the stage of breaking records.  It’s my legacy that I want to protect.  It’s important to me that in my last couple of fights I didn’t put myself on the line by doing one third of the work that I’ve put in all of these years.  I refuse to surrender to that kind of mentality.

“Anyone that can beat me, any one that can embarrass me, will become an instant star.

“I believe that Cloud’s aggressiveness will make this an action packed fight because he’s thinking of himself as number one because he has the belt.  He needs to come in and make adjustments to my style.  If he can’t make adjustments, you will see a repeat of the Kelly Pavlik fight.

“I’m different.  I’ve set records and broken records.  I have to concentrate not only on what I did yesterday, but what I’m going to do tomorrow.

“People ask me, ‘What does it feel like to be 48?’  I say that I don’t know because if you ask most people in their late forties or even late thirties how they feel, they might say they’re ready to die because they aren’t healthy and don’t have longevity like me.  You can’t put me in the same category as a regular guy.

“I don’t expect Cloud to dance like Ali.  I don’t expect him to do anything to buy time.  I expect him to come forward.  That’s what I would do if I was 30 fighting someone who is almost 50.

“I have to stay busy and I’ll win every round.  The cat is out of the bag because I’m not coming to get beaten up.

“There is no one saying that I am going to get blown out on March 9 when I step into that ring.  There is no one saying that I’m going to lose the fight.  They are saying that Tavoris Cloud’s style is my forte.  Cloud comes forward and throws bombs and anyone I’ve fought that comes forward, I’ve beaten.  The only thing they are saying is that ‘He is 48.’

“Maybe I’ll go down a pound or two before I leave this sport, or maybe I will help my partners at Golden Boy and help them find new talent as a promoter or maybe I will find a little fat stomach that makes me look like I am retired.

“There’s a lot working against me, but there is also a lot working for me.  I have the conditioning to adjust to the times.  The game didn’t change, but I’m ready to face someone that is young enough to be my son and in some cases, my grandson.

“I am leading the 40-and-up club.  There are a lot of 40-year-olds rooting for me because they have interns looking over their shoulders trying to take their jobs.

“I am living out what we talked about 10 or 15 years ago.  I knew I was going to be here.  We talked about this moment.  I knew I could do this.  I know I can still win or compete on this level.

“I am so competitive; I know I have the body and skills to still do this.

“I love this game and sometimes love can hurt.”

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Hopkins vs. Cloud, a 12-round bout for Cloud's IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship will take place Saturday, March 9

FUTURE HALL OF FAME BOXING LEGEND BERNARD 

"THE EXECUTIONER" HOPKINS' BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION 

AND PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE WORLD 

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT AGAINST UNDEFEATED IBF LIGHT 

HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION 

TAVORIS "THUNDER" CLOUD TAKING PLACE MARCH 9 AT 

BARCLAYS CENTER IN BROOKLYN AND TELEVISED LIVE ON

HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®

 ♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.