adminATLANTIC CITY. — Bernard Hopkins doesn’t want to just pad his remarkable resume against German Karo Murat today.
The ageless American boxer wants to end his nine-year knock-out drought.
Hopkins, the oldest boxer to win a major world title, will put his International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight belt on the line against Murat, months after their scheduled July bout was scuppered when Murat was denied a US visa.
Hopkins (48) took the IBF title in March with a victory over Tavoris Cloud, breaking his own age mark by nearly two years.
On Saturday at Boardwalk Hall he doesn’t want to just keep that crown, he wants to record his first knock-out since a ninth-round KO of Oscar de la Hoya in September of 2004.
“I’m coming to win on Saturday night and move on to bigger things,” said Hopkins, who brings a record of 53-6-2 with 32 knock-outs to the bout.
“I don’t want to go 12 (rounds) all the time. Trust me, I’ve just been on a bit of a drought.”
If the knock-out doesn’t materialise, Hopkins said, Murat shouldn’t expect anything less than the kind of grinding, bruising battle that Hopkins has shown himself still amply capable of producing. — AFP.
Online Reporter