Hopkins wants Froch!!!

Hopkins wants Froch, but don't count on it
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | Print Entry

LAS VEGAS -- Back in late February, Bernard Hopkins called out cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek, insisting he wanted to move up in weight and challenge for that title. Talks began and then quickly fizzled for a proposed HBO bout in July when Hopkins played Adamek for a chump by insisting that he and his promoter, Main Events, be paid no more than a flat $500,000 fee, laughably low for a fight that would generate millions more than that.


Adamek and Main Events rightly told Hopkins to take a hike and moved on to other business. He'll instead defend the championship July 10 against an opponent to be determined, probably on Showtime. HBO previously rejected a terrific fight between Adamek and former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson, a fight not in Showtime's budget.


Hopkins, meanwhile, is still trolling for a fight, even though he'll tell anyone who listens that he doesn't really care if he fights again and that if he does, it's because of the money.


He said it again on Wednesday at the MGM Grand in the media center for the Saturday night's Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao fight, which Hopkins is helping promote in his role with Golden Boy Promotions.


But as it always is with Hopkins, it's about him. So even though the international media was on hand for Hatton and Pacquiao, Hopkins turned to the conversation to himself.


He went on and on about how he doesn't have to fight, that he's done it all, but that if he does fight he has a certain number of dollars he will fight for or else he won't fight -- as if anyone cares about that threat. If he doesn't want to fight, fine. He can retire again and be done. If he wants to fight, that's also fine. But Hopkins was going on and on about how he's done this, done that, needs to make this much money, is owed this, is owed that. Blah, blah, blah.


Frankly, I've heard it all before. I got tired of his verbal diarrhea and walked away.


Later in the day, Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy, told me that Hopkins had a new target: super middleweight titlist Carl Froch of England, who is coming off Saturday's sensational comeback knockout of Jermain Taylor with 14 seconds left in the fight. Taylor, of course, owns two decision wins against Hopkins at middleweight.


"Bernard Hopkins is interested to fight Froch. Why not? He just knocked out Jermain Taylor," Schaefer said. "[Golden Boy matchmaker] Eric Gomez spoke to [Froch promoter] Mick Hennessy and Mick is interested. They only want big fights. Bernard Hopkins is a big fight for them."


At least the silliness of a possible rematch with Felix Trinidad seems to have died down. Schaefer said maybe he could make Froch-Hopkins for sometime in July.


"What I have to do is discuss it with Bernard and HBO," Schaefer said, admitting he was unsure if Showtime had any rights to Froch following the Taylor fight. My sources tell me that Showtime, indeed, has a first/last option on Froch's next fight.


If the fight happened, Schaefer said it would be at super middleweight for Froch's title. Hopkins would drop down from light heavyweight, where he has fought for the past few years since moving up from middleweight and skipping the super middleweight division.


"Bernard told me he would do it at 168, so I'm going to try to make it," Schaefer said, adding that Hopkins might even be willing to go to England for the fight.


"O2 Arena in London," Schaefer said. "It would be big."


Sure, it sounds reasonable and is an interesting fight, although not as interesting as one with Adamek or Chad Dawson. But it will prove difficult to make. A fight in England means an afternoon HBO broadcast in America. When HBO does live fights from Europe, the price it pays is far less because it's not live in prime time.


Good luck to Schaefer in making the fight with Froch and satisfying Hopkins' financial demands. It's not like Froch brings a pile of British TV money to the table, and his side isn't going to fight Hopkins for chump change. The British networks paid exactly nothing for live coverage of the fight with Taylor. Only at the last minute did Hennessy manage to get less than six figures from ITV to show a taped replay.

In theory, Froch-Hopkins is a reasonable fight but they haven't even seriously discussed money, and that's always when it gets difficult with Hopkins. Just ask Adamek.