According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, ageless IBF Light Heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins will make the mandatory defense of his crown against German based Karo Murat this summer.
“History is marching on,” said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer. “Bernard is up for the challenge. Karo Murat is 29, young enough to be Bernard’s son. He’s a good fighter and he has been waiting for this kind of opportunity.”
“It’s an obligation I have to do now,” Hopkins told ESPN.com while taking a break from a training session at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym in Philadelphia. “If there was a better option, maybe I’d do it. But there is no real option that’s better right now with all the other [top] guys fighting other fights right now. So there’s no other better option right now financially or historically than doing this fight and getting it out of the way, and at least you don’t get stripped of the title. But I got bigger fish to fry after I execute this guy. After this I want a superfight.”
“I had already made a deal and agreed on the purse and everything with (Sauerland’s) Chris (Meyer), but I had to wait to sit down face-to-face with Bernard,” Schaefer said. “He came to Los Angeles and we met on Friday, and Bernard made it clear to me that he feels great and that history will march on. I told him, ‘Great, looking forward to it, now let me get it done.’
“I needed to know from Bernard if he wanted to fight or if he wanted to fight but fight somebody other than Murat. He could have said, ‘I am calling it a day’ or he could have given up the title to fight someone else or he can defend the title. The IBF has always been supportive of Bernard, and he has a good relationship with the IBF, and he said, ‘I’m not giving up the title.'”
“From what I’ve seen of Murat, he’s a durable guy and a ‘B’ fighter, but I have to look at him like he’s an ‘A’ fighter,” Hopkins said. “He fought Cleverly and he got some experience. He’s rough and tough, so you got to come up with a game plan, especially at age 48. People want to tune in and see, ‘Is tonight the night Bernard Hopkins gets old?’
“We have come to an agreement,” Meyer said. “We at Sauerland and Karo are exited about this. We expected that Bernard would prefer to fight Cleverly in the U.K. or even resign from boxing. But he is what he is — a warrior, a fighter. He does now what he always did — do his mandatory, even against a fighter who is virtually unknown in the USA. Karo is delighted that after a very long wait of more than 12 months he has now his go, his shot at the world title.
“I have to give credit to Richard, who is one of the toughest negotiators in this industry. But he is a true professional and knows the business inside-out. We were able to close a deal within a very short time. We are happy to work with Richard and his whole team.”
Hopkins said his goal is take care of Murat and move on to a super fight. He said he is interested in unifying light heavyweight titles with Cleverly or defending against super middleweight titlist Carl Froch of England, should he defeat Mikkel Kessler in their May 25 rematch.
“Those are both huge fights over there in the U.K., and I’d go over there for those fights, no problem,” Hopkins said. “I love when the crowd is against me. I love shutting them up.”
“Listen, these guys have fights coming up and nobody is banging the door down to fight Bernard Hopkins,” he said. “I talked to Richard along with [attorney] Eric Melzer, and I know I had a duty after the Cloud fight to fight the mandatory, so we decided to get Murat out of the way, and then I can go on and unify the titles before I turn 50.”
