Why Bernard Hopkins will slay the Italian Dragon

PHILADELPHIA – We all know Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins 48 -4 -1 (32 KO’s) the fighter, but to know the man, you only need to take a stroll through any of the economically depressed sections of North Philadelphia. It is where he was born, where he learned to fight and where he was eventually arrested for strong arm robbery when he was in just 11th grade and sentenced for up to 18 years. At age 17, he was officially a statistic. While most athletes find out who they are in college or in amateur competition, Hopkins was discovering the colder, harder side of life. He was a kid in prison with killers, and he wasn’t fighting for a belt, he was fighting for his life.