The media remains silent
American Bernard Hopkins insisted he “would never lose to a white person” when he came face-to-face with Joe Calzaghe in Las Vegas on Friday.
Calzaghe, 35, beat Mikkel Kessler to become undisputed super-middleweight champion last month and is keen to fight Hopkins, 42, next year.
And the pair almost came to blows at the MGM Grand ahead of Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather’s weigh-in.
“I would never let a white boy beat me,” Hopkins said five times.*
“You can print that. I would never lose to a white person. He said on record that he’s going to take the fight and that’s all you need to hear.
“I haven’t ducked nobody in my career, my credibility is intact. Kessler is not in my league, man. Who is Kessler? You think Kessler was a true warrior?”
Calzaghe and Hopkins caused such a commotion in the MGM Grand media centre that former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis broke off an interview nearby to listen, as dozens of journalists circled the pair.
* Amazingly enough, the notoriously politcally correct BBC made no further mention of Hopkins racial insult. Had Mr. Calzaghe said he would never allow a “black boy” to beat him, he would — in all likelihood — have been stripped if his championship.