Inspired by heroes, Hopkins insists he can fight four more years

Monday, July 23, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

After conjuring the name and deeds of his boxing hero Jersey Joe Walcott on Saturday night, Bernard Hopkins said he hopes to have his next fight at Yankee Stadium, the site of Walcott's heavyweight championship bout against Joe Louis nearly 60 years ago.

The proposed title fight against super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe would mark yet another high point in what's shaping up as an extended and compelling coda for Hopkins' Hall of Fame-caliber career.

Looking well-conditioned and virtually tireless at age 42, Hopkins outclassed Winky Wright to score a unanimous-decision victory at Mandalay Bay, then insisted he's prepared to fight at an elite level well into his 40s.

Doubt him at your own risk, said Hopkins, a betting underdog against Wright as well as in his electrifying victory against Antonio Tarver last year, which came after two close losses to Jermain Taylor in Las Vegas. Before the Taylor fights, Hopkins had dominated the middleweight division with a record 20 title defenses.

"I'm not saying this to be bragging or (misleading) you or pushing the envelope," said Hopkins, who retained his Ring magazine light heavyweight belt with the victory before a crowd of 8,626 at the Events Center. "I could fight another four years if i wanted to. I am cut from the cloth of the old Jersey Joe Walcotts, Ezzard Charles and Henry Armstrong, people that I look up to."

Hopkins also likened his right hand - which he used effectively against Wright, boxing's erstwhile No. 1 defensive wizard - to Walcott's.

"I said I would figure Winky out and bust his defense down," Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 knockouts) said. "I think I did it."

A fight with Calzaghe, let alone one at the House that Ruth Built, is anything but a sure thing. Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs), who has a title fight against Mikkel Kessler scheduled for the fall in his home country of Wales, has fought exclusively in Europe so far.

Oscar De La Hoya, Hopkins' promoter and business partner in Golden Boy Promotions, said he'd work to make the fight, preferably in New York or London, if Calzaghe prevails against Kessler.

Hopkins, who believes he has earned the right to cherry-pick attractive fights and their locations at this point in his career, was less than enthusiastic about traveling abroad.

"I want to bring it the U.S., where the best fans are," he said. "I shouldn't have to go to his home soil to fight. My legacy is super-longer than Joe Calzaghe's. He should come to my house."

Hopkins added another chapter to that legacy by outpointing Wright, who hadn't lost a bout since 1999 and has become a mainstay in the rankings of boxing's best fighters pound-for-pound.

An accidental head butt by Hopkins opened a bloody gash by Wright's left eye in the third round, and Wright pawed at the cut throughout the rest of the fight. Even so, Wright was able to keep it close through the first eight rounds, blocking many of Hopkins' shots with his gloves, before Hopkins took control down the stretch.

By the 12th round, Hopkins' superior conditioning was evident as Wright (51-4-1) appeared winded and woozy.

Two judges scored it 117-111 for Hopkins and the third had it 116-112. The Sun's scorecard had it 116-112 for Hopkins.

"Bernard Hopkins is a master of strategy," De La Hoya said. "He will be patient or he will fight you or he will frustrate you. He's a student of the game, and I'm sure he studied Winky Wright left and right, inside and out. He was in control the whole way."

Hopkins said he felt he had a distinct psychological edge against Wright even before the fight started, and even subtly questioned his opponent's heart.

"Winky Wright said he fights the way he fights because he doesn't want to get hurt," Hopkins said. "Well, I don't voluntarily want to get hurt either. But that statement, from where I come from, coming from the street and being able to read people, when he said that it's something in his soul and his spirit and his heart ... he will not push himself to that level to live or die for something that he believes in.

"He said he don't want to get hurt. When he said that ... that was when the fight was over. I just had to make it manifest physically."