Bernard Hopkins

I was knocking guys out in the streets before I knew how to throw a jab and keep your chin down, In most neighbourhoods, the guy that could fight gets respect. You got in the parties free. I never had to pay the dollar because people were scared of me. But back then I was ignorant.

You think it’s hard for me when I go in the ring and fight? That’s the least of my problems. I think about the five years that I did in prison. I think about the nine years on parole. Nothing – nothing! – can compare to that struggle. I’m telling you, from being an ex-convict with 30 convictions, a degree nowhere to be found and black? I’m done.