With “The Fighter” winning two Academy Awards on Sunday night, will the life story of Bernard Hopkins do the same in a few years?
That’s what’s Hopkins, who turned 46 in January, is hoping for.
Hopkins will once again bid to become the oldest world champion in boxing history when he faces light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal this summer in Canada.
“After I win, I’m ready to tell my whole story,” said Hopkins, who has amassed a boxing record of 51-5-2 over the past 20 years. “I studied at the university of life.”
Growing up in the projects in Philadelphia, Hopkins turned to crime and, at 17, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for nine felonies. After serving four years, he was released in 1988 and decided to use boxing as an escape.
And Hopkins did just that. Nicknamed The Executioner, Hopkins had a 10-year stretch of domination in the middleweight class that is almost unsurpassed.
And, after his rematch with Pascal, he’d like to spend time thinking about his movie.
“Sometimes you have to almost die to know what living is about. I know my life can be an inspiration to others,” he said. “I learned my lessons early. Statistics show that I shouldn’t be alive today. I overcame so much.”
So Hopkins already has the financial backing of $12 million and has talked to the producers of “Training Days” and “Brooklyn’s Finest” about putting it on the screen.
And Hopkins knows who he wants to play him.
“I want 50 Cent,” Hopkins said. “He has the swagger. He doesn’t look approachable but he really is. He understands my life. It was his life also.”
Thia would be interesting if it could happen. Why not?! They both have a lot in common.