Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, happened to be channel surfing one day when he ran into the fight last Dec. 11 between Tomasz Adamek and cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.
Adamek, a former 175-pound light heavyweight champion, was in his fifth fight at the 200-pound cruiserweight limit. And he took Cunningham's title via split decision.
"When I saw what Adamek did to Cunningham, I was like, 'This guy is good,' " Schaefer said Monday.
That's why, when Schaefer found out that 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins - a partner in Golden Boy - wants to move up from light heavyweight to challenge Adamek, he wasn't too sure what to think.
"I said, 'Holy s**t,' " said Schaefer, who said he first heard of this during the recent Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton press tour in England. "I told Bernard, 'Are you serious?' I was really a bit worried and I still am. He said, 'That is the fight I want.' I said, 'You give me my marching orders and I will try and put the fight together.' So I am trying to put the fight together."
Serious negotiations - through progressing slowly - are underway between Golden Boy and Main Events, which promotes Adamek.
"I have had conversations with Kathy Duva (of Main Events) and with HBO," Schaefer said. "We are going to try and put that fight live on HBO, hopefully, sometime in July. I'm waiting on a date from HBO and I am waiting on a license fee so I can go back to Bernard and tell him what the numbers are."
Efforts to reach Hopkins were unsuccessful. His publicist, Kelly Swanson, said Hopkins would not be commenting on this proposed fight, that Schaefer is his mouthpiece at this time.
Hopkins dominated the middleweight division from 1995 to 2005, during which time he held at least a piece of the championship. After back-to-back narrow losses to Jermain Taylor in 2005, Hopkins moved from the 160-pound middleweight limit to light heavyweight, where he took on Antonio Tarver in June 2006 in Atlantic City.
Most reporters figured Hopkins had bitten off more than he could chew. He proved us wrong, winning easily by nine points on all three scorecards.
A retirement party was held for Hopkins later that year in Las Vegas. The consensus feeling among reporters that night was that Hopkins' closing act was about as impressive as any of us had seen. To move up 15 pounds at age 41 and dominate a fighter who had been a stud in the light heavyweight division was really something.
Of course, Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) came out of retirement to beat Winky Wright, lose a split-decision to Joe Calzaghe and easily defeat Kelly Pavlik. Now, Hopkins might get an opportunity to deliver another memorable finale. That's assuming, of course, that he would retire after Adamek.
Hopkins is 44, but he certainly did not look it when he dispatched the 26-year-old Pavlik with nary a problem in October, winning by eight, 10 and 13 points.
"I think every single boxing writer pretty much picked Pavlik to win that fight," Schaefer said. "So I think you just can never count Bernard out. The guy is so talented and so crafty."
Then again, in Adamek, Hopkins would be moving up to fight someone amounting to a small heavyweight.
"I'm worried for my friend," Schaefer said.
But this is the only kind of fight that Hopkins is interested in at this point. He has nothing left to prove. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, and will go down as one of the great middleweights in history. But Schaefer told us recently that Hopkins would continue if he got a fight that would hold strong significance.
Adamek apparently does the trick.
"This is the kind of challenge that gets his juices going," Schaefer said. "He wants a real challenge and this is certainly a real challenge."
Schaefer spoke with mad respect for Hopkins. Sure, the two work for the same company and Schaefer is biased. But Hopkins deserves all the accolades that are bestowed upon him. Some may not like his style at this stage of his career. Bottom line is, while in his 40s he dominated Tarver and Pavlik the way no one thought he could.
"Bernard Hopkins is the type of fighter who has never backed down from any challenge," Schaefer said. "For him to go in at his age of 44, to go into a challenge like that, tells you what he is made of.
"I told Bernard, 'We are friends and I am worried.' He said, 'Look, Richard, I told you not to worry about Pavlik, and don't worry about Adamek.' He said, 'Don't worry, get the fight done.' "
Adamek, 32, is 37-1 with 25 knockouts. He is 6-0 at cruiserweight, with four of those victories coming inside the distance. He last fought Feb. 27 and made the first defense of his title by stopping Johnathon Banks in the eighth round.
"It would be historic for Bernard to move up and not just move up to cruiserweight, but to fight the best," Schaefer said. "The best it Tomasz Adamek."
And a victory would put the icing on one hell of a cake.
"Bernard doesn't really need this," Schaefer said. "The Bernard Hopkins masterpiece is finished. Maybe you can do a little touch-up here and touch-up there. But it is pretty much ready to be framed. I guess that is what he wants to do, put the frame on the masterpiece."
As we mentioned earlier, negotiations are going slowly. We spoke with Schaefer again on Wednesday, and he said, "We are worlds apart."
However, Schaefer said that is often the case early on, and that he is hopeful the sides will soon be able to close the gap. He said he is going to meet with Hopkins soon and relay the numbers currently on the table, "and then get further marching orders."
Steward Chimes In
Most would agree that Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward is one of boxing's foremost experts. He would pick Hopkins to beat Adamek.
"If the fight is made, I would favor Bernard," Steward said Wednesday via telephone from Detroit. "The way the older fighters have been destroying the younger fighters, it's been against aggressive fighters."
Such as Hopkins-Pavlik and "Sugar" Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito. Pavlik and Margarito are both stalking fighters. Pavlik was schooled by Hopkins. Margarito had the tables turned on him. Mosley became the aggressor, and was able to do so because of his blinding hand speed for which Margarito had no answer on his way to being stopped in the ninth round.
According to Steward, Hopkins lost to Calzaghe because Calzaghe was fast and fought like a machine. Adamek is aggressive, yet Steward said that he is slow both afoot and with his hands, making him a good menu choice for Hopkins.
"I think Bernard is a crafty old guy and I think he would be a problem for Adamek," Steward said. "And don't forget, Adamek is not a real big cruiserweight. There are a lot of 6-4 cruiserweights out there."
Good point. Hopkins is 6-foot-1, Adamek is listed at 6-1 1/2. Probably the only question is can Hopkins take a good shot to the chin from a 200-pounder? Then again, many of us wondered the same thing before Hopkins stepped into the ring with Pavlik, who, even though he was moving up 10 pounds to a catch-weight of 170, had been a true bomber at middleweight.
Pavlik really never laid a solid glove on Hopkins, whose defensive wizardry might still be second to none among active fighters.
Calzaghe Turned Down Hopkins Rematch
Schaefer said that he sat down with Calzaghe while he was in England to try and convince Calzaghe to give Hopkins a rematch of their fight last April in Las Vegas.
But Calzaghe, who only recently announced his retirement with an undefeated record of 46-0, turned down the offer.
"When I was in London I met with Joe Calzaghe and I was talking to Joe to see if he would consider doing a fight with Bernard from Wales, sort of like a farewell fight for him." Schaefer said. Calzaghe is from Wales. "Joe doesn't want to fight. He is retired. Joe said it sounds sort of intriguing, but based on what I hear from his team, he is retired."
