Hopkins Is Jabbing Away at All Puerto Rico

It was the only time anyone can remember seeing Bernard Hopkins speechless. And all it took was 10,000 screaming Puerto Ricans, many of them bearing down on him with murderous intent.

The man who calls himself “the Executioner” might well have been executed himself, had he not turned and run from that mob in San Juan’s Roberto Clemente Coliseo two months ago.

Hopkins had only himself to blame, having turned hype into hysteria when he threw a Puerto Rican flag to the ground during a news conference to promote next Saturday’s fight against Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad for the undisputed middleweight championship at Madison Square Garden.

Not 100 police officers, not bodyguards nor barricades could stop the furious crowd. Hopkins had to slug one furious Puerto Rican and leap eight feet down to another level before finally reaching the safety of a locker room.

So was Hopkins humbled by the experience? Has he learned to soften the jingoism and cool his act?

Yeah, that’ll happen about the same time Dennis Rodman washes the dye out of his hair and Mike Tyson joins a sewing circle.

Safely back home, Hopkins is back at it again, trying to generate additional pay-per-view buys and ticket sales by stirring up passions.

“I’ve seen more riots and more crazy stuff than I’ve seen in San Juan on an everyday basis in my life,” he said. “You know, I’m not a grammar-school guy. I haven’t come from one of those places where I never seen no one spit on the curb.”

Nor, says Hopkins, is he worried about a Puerto Rican riot in the arena on fight night.

“I’m not worried about anything,” Hopkins said. “I fear no one but God, and none of these people have I even thought of as God. I’m not scared of [large] numbers, because, I believe, it ain’t how many people you have, Puerto Rican, or even African Americans. What makes a difference is, are they sincere? I’ll take 50 guys that are sincere ... over a million guys that want to holler and scream about what they are going to do. I’m happy it’s going to be a big crowd.

“I learned years ago not to fight the crowd. The crowd can’t fight for Trinidad. At least not until after it’s over with. And after it’s over with, I don’t know what they are going to do. I’m keeping my hand wraps on until I get home.

“When it’s all said and done, can the Puerto Rican culture, can the Puerto Rican people, can they accept it? That’s going to be the question that I can’t answer, Madison Square Garden can’t answer, Trinidad can’t answer, no one can answer. Can they accept defeat?”

Goodwill ambassador Hopkins was just warming up.

“I think that the best thing Trinidad can do is to show his country that he’s going [to try] to do what they think they can do to me,” Hopkins said. “See, they enrage and they are angry, but they ditch their hero.

“They can get their god [Trinidad], or whatever you want to call him, and tell him to come on and get me, but I know, after this fight is over with, he might not be allowed back home. They might not let him back after I whup his butt .... Let’s see if Felix Trinidad is going to be allowed to come back to a country that says it loves him. I guarantee, they’ll turn on him like a dog with rabies.”

Fanning the Flames, Part II

In Puerto Rico, Hopkins’ behavior isn’t the only controversy associated with this match. There is also the matter of Brenda Colon, who is in her fifth month of pregnancy with a baby allegedly fathered by Trinidad, who is married with two daughters.

“I will deal with this situation after the fight,” Trinidad told a Puerto Rican television station. “This situation cannot affect my fight and it will not.”

Reaction from the ever-sensitive Hopkins?

“Let me tell you something, man,” he said. “I don’t care about Tito, his situation, about anything. I don’t care if his cat got hit by a car. I don’t care if his fish died because he didn’t feed them. I don’t care nothing about Trinidad’s personal life right now ....

“I hope it’s motivation for him to come in here and fight like the true champion that you all say he is. That’s all I can ask for. I care not to hear about rumors. That’s his problem, not mine. I’m happily married.”

Next Up?

If Trinidad wins, as expected, plans are underway for a dream matchup with undisputed light heavyweight champion Roy Jones at 168 pounds.

Should Hopkins live up to his own hype and somehow pull off an upset, , the opportunity might be there for him to avenge a 1993 loss to Jones, one of only two defeats suffered by Hopkins in 42 fights.

But that wouldn’t be his first choice.

Said Hopkins, “If you had a crystal ball in your hands and told me, ‘OK, the fight’s over with and you’re the winner. Who do you want to go after?’ it would be Oscar De La Hoya. I want to give him the opportunity to beat the man, who beat the man [Trinidad] who beat him.”

Next up for De La Hoya, the World Boxing Council 154-pound champion, is a match Dec. 8 against the No. 1 contender, Russian Roman Karmazin, if the slow-moving negotiations are finally completed.

Still to be determined is a site. In the running with Las Vegas are San Antonio and Miami. Staples Center is considered an outside option.

Tough Sell

Marco Antonio Barrera (53-3, 38 knockouts), hoping to get his much-awaited rematch against Erik Morales next spring, first will fight Enrique Sanchez (28-1-2, 21) tonight in a 12-round featherweight match at Reno’s Lawlor Events Center. Morales beat Barrera by split decision in a memorable match last year.

Also on tonight’s card, which can be seen tape-delayed on HBO beginning at 11, is an International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title fight between champion Vassiliy Jirov (29-0, 26) and Julian Letterlough (17-1-1, 16).

As of Friday, only 2,000 seats had been sold in the 10,900-seat arena. Having already paid a $300,000 site fee, Lawlor officials were offering big discounts to cut their potential losses.