Bernard Hopkins was not just an iron man inside the boxing ring in the sport of boxing but outside of it too.
Hopkins turned his life around from crippling people frequently on the street to becoming one of the greatest middleweight champions that ever lived.
He survived a few close calls himself it turns out as well though.
Speaking to Boxing King YouTube
“(Stabbed in the) Back and side. Left side of my chest. Punctured lungs. I had fluid in my lungs. I passed out a couple of times. They woke me up. Yes (I was stabbed on 3 different occasions.”
He added:
“The one I had with the two going through my lungs to take the fluid out. How it happened? At that time I was being aggressive and we got into a fight and he had a knife. And as I tried to get out of there I wasn’t fast enough. I believe if I didn’t jump back after we were squaring up I think the damage would have been even more. I really do. About that much of a blade got in (an inch or two). The knife was a hunting knife. So if it was one of the things where I didn’t see it coming or if I didn’t jump back which was enough, it punctured my lung. My lung had fluid in there. It that fluid, somehow they said a second or two, and my heart had stopped.”
Hopkins later became an-all time great in the sport of boxing.
One of the very best middleweights in history and still holds a record for most defences of 20 title defences.
He also went on to become the oldest world champion in history at the age of 49.
