Bernard Hopkins

Pro team(s)

Professional Boxing

Hall of Fame

⭐ International Boxing Hall of Fame

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins was born on January 15, 1965, in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Germantown, one of twelve children. At seventeen, he was sentenced to eighteen years in Graterford State Penitentiary for multiple felonies; he served five years and was released in 1988. It was in prison that Hopkins first took up boxing. What followed was one of the most remarkable second-act stories in sports history. Hopkins turned professional in 1988 and, after an early loss, assembled a career of extraordinary discipline and ring craft. He captured the IBF middleweight title in 1994 and went on to unify the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO belts — making 20 consecutive successful middleweight title defenses, a record that still stands. His October 2001 unification bout against Felix Trinidad — in which he dominated the previously undefeated Puerto Rican champion and stopped him in the 12th round — is considered one of the finest performances of his generation. Then, at an age when most boxers are long retired, Hopkins continued to defy time: in 2011, at 46 years old, he knocked out Chad Dawson to become the oldest world champion in boxing history. In 2013, at 48, he won the WBC light heavyweight title — breaking his own record. Professional boxing record: 55-8-2. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2020. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.