Jim Rome "Executes"
Bernard Hopkins
By William Trillo
It's Super Bowl Week in Miami and
there is nothing that brings the sports stars out more
than the NFL's event. As always, syndicated sports talk
show radio host Jim Rome was on media row doing what he
does best on his show "The Jungle".
During the last half hour of his
Friday show Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins came along
to pump up his April 3rd bout with Roy Jones but Rome
wasn't having none of it as he grilled Hopkins about the
validity of the fight.
The following is a bit and give and
take from Romes show:
Jim Rome: Listen,
and you know I am coming from a place of great respect
for you, I think I can ask you this question because....
Bernard Hopkins:
(cutting in) The Joe Calzaghe fight?
JR: No.
BH: Another
promotion?
JR: No...no no no!
BH: You know I ride
the line Jim.
JR:Yeah...I know
your ride the line, and sometimes step way over it. You
and I go way back so I can say this respectfully.
BH: And get chased
out of a country..
JR: That too.
Listen, I am going to give you a chance to sell me this
particular fight because the fact is I am just not
feeling this one. I don't know why you need to do this,
or why you want to do this or why you guys think the
fight public wants this one.
BH: Well, it's a
rivalry, and to me on my end I can say it's a big
payback. Roy can be saying, it's the repeat. I look at
it like this, I will be at (NBA) All Star weekend in
another week or two, from the 12th through the 15th in
Dallas and I heard that Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan
were gonna mess around, say a game to 21, allegedly. I
am not saying Michael Jordan stunk in DC when he was
playing his last years of basketball. I am not saying
that Magic Johnson is 50 pounds higher than his highest
weight when he played his last years in L.A. or
whatever. But it's Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson
playing a game to 21...you know how many people will be
there?
JR: 10? 11?
BH: No. Michael
Jordan and Magic Johnson. They train, they have some
clippings of them working out...
JR: (cutting in)
Bernard, but not now though, it's not the same. People
will not be into it now, it's not the same. Nobody want
to see a legends tour for HORSE.
BH: I think they
will come based on the animosity we have between each
other. I mean this is a thing that's been going on since
1993. Fights was made and then unmade, money played a
roll in 90% of it. Roy said I beat him with one hand all
the time, why should I do it again? I think when it
comes to 2 names...
JR: Bernard, are
you manufacturing that? I know your pride and I know
when you really don't like somebody or when you really
have something personal at stake...Do you really have
that with this guy?
BH: Yeah!
JR: He is not at
your class at this point, right?
BH: Yes he is!
JR: He has had
terrible losses, he's been knocked out and you are still
fighting at a very high level.
BH: (cutting in)
But guess what? I believe Roy Jones was fighting those
guys with intentions on beating that because that's what
an athlete do because he has accomplished so much in his
career. But I have found no one in my whole career that
I know of that's openly not prepared for "The
Executioner". See, even if you are coming in to lay down
with me, I will beat your ass so bad you don't want to
lay down because you want to survive. Everybody who
comes in the ring with "The Executioner" needs and
knows, be in shape because I am going to punish you. I
am not a knockout artist but I will punish you. And
guess what? Whoever gets knocked out gets 40% and
whoever knocks the guy out gets 60%.
JR: Oh, it's not
a 50-50 split?
BH: It's 60-40 and
the 60 goes to the guy who knocks the other guy out.
That's an incentive...
JR: (cutting in) It
took you guys 17 years to get to that split?
BH: Exactly.
JR: (laughing) Why?
BH: Because, you
know why? It's like you said, Roy Jones didn't look good
in a couple fights, he had some wins and he had some
losses.
JR: And now he has
to.
BH: So now the
incentive of us going in there now and risking getting
knocked out...you see I want the 60% along with the
victory.
JR: How much risk
do you feel? He's not going to knock you out! He's not
the same fighter, he's a Hall of Famer but he's not the
same fighter he was. He can't take a shot and he's not
hitting anyone at this point, is he?
BH: But you know
what? Maybe that's why Roy Jones Jr. was always feared
of getting knocked out or getting hurt. Age is all of
our enemy if you think you are gonna stay young. Roy's
best defense and offense is what Allen Iverson
had...speed. Once Iverson lost that speed...
JR: It's gone!
BH: I said that for
many years, cuz I am a sports guy.... Take Iversons
speed away in the NBA and he is dead in the water. Roy
Jones Jr.'s speed was his biggest asset.
JR: Right, and now
it's gone, so why are we wasting time with the fight?
BH: Because now he
has to fight! Now he has to buckle up and put his chin
down and swing for the fence. He has to fight.
JR: But neither one
of you guys fight like that.
BH: We gonna have
to now! We can't move. What are we gonna do? If we can't
move we have to fight!
JR: Bernard you
came this close to talking me into this fight, but when
you go into Executioner point, that's old school. Give
me 5 more minutes of "The Executioner" and I will throw
down.
BH: You got two old
men in a nursing home getting into a fight you think
they are dancing around? You think they are trying to
use speed?
JR: No man, they
gotta stand in front of each other and throw. But I
don't wanna spend 50 bucks to see a couple of old guys
bang on each other!
The conversation went on for a few
more minutes but at the end of the day Rome made it
pretty clear he wasn't buying it, figuratively or
literally. Both guys agreed to disagree on this topic
and the interview came to an end.
The fight is April 3rd at The
Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and the ticket sales and PPV
numbers will settle the argument.
To hear more of this interview or
any of Jim Rome's shows log on to
www.jimrome.com
