On March 9th, Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins defeated Tavoris Cloud for the IBF light heavyweight championship of the world at age 48 becoming the oldest man in recorded boxing history to win a recognized world boxing championship. It’s a phenomenal sporting achievement. But what’s the motivation for a warrior like Bernard Hopkins to stay at the top for so long? Hopkins was sent down at the age of eighteen. Upon leaving prison, his warder told him that he would see him again back in here sometime soon. Hopkins replied knowingly, that he would not be back. It’s pivotal moments like […]

”But what I can’t believe is that they’ve got nothing to judge me on, I can’t believe people are writing me off before I start”. The words of Welsh middleweight Gary Lockett, ahead of this week-ends showdown at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, with Kelly Pavlik. Lockett is referring to the fact, that the American fighting public have dismissed his chances of defeating Pavlik, out of hand. He goes on to say that, ”There’s no greater motivation for me and there’s nothing more dangerous than a guy with nothing to lose.” This doesn’t mean that Gary Lockett is going to […]

He went into the final of Prizefighter as the underdog. Up against the fancied Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Dolan, it was presumed that Dolan’s class would shine through. That the ‘boxer’ would outwit the ‘slugger’. But that would be reckoning without one thing. Martin Rogan’s desire. Rogan had Dolan down twice in the fight. The three judges had no option but to award the Irishman the contest. He fought as if his life depended on it. This was a man who had seen an opportunity. A chance to transform his career. Change his life. Earn 25,000. Make a name for […]

So Floyd Mayweather drawing on his class, confidence and talent, sees off the spirited challenge of Ricky ‘The Hit-Man’ Hatton. There is something about great champions when they come under pressure from a hungry challenger. Something about how they revel in the knowledge that their crown is under threat. Something about how they go to a place within, that simply will not allow everything they have worked for and suffered for to be taken away from them. It will not happen. It means they can match the desire of the challenger. Often the area in which complacent champions become undermined. […]

So the build up intensifies for the Hatton-Mayweather clash. And it’s no surprise to see it’s the American who is cranking up the pressure. ”I can quit today and be known as the best fighter that ever lived. I respect what Robinson and Ali did for the sport. But I am the greatest, and this is my time.” It is irrelevant if Mayweather is the greatest ever fighter or not. The point of his brazen comments is to get inside Hatton’s head. To make him think for a moment. ‘Is he the greatest?’Mayweather wants to sew tiny seeds of doubts in […]