LOS ANGELES -- Maybe it's not Bernard Hopkins' favorite song, but it has meaning to him, which is why before his fights in recent years, he has walked out to the ring to the strain of Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
For most of his legendary career, Hopkins indeed has done things his way, against all odds, whether he was fighting the system (his battles with promoters are legendary), imposing his unbreakable will on opponents, being a master of mental games or breaking records (20 consecutive middleweight title defenses and the oldest fighter to win a world title, first at age 46 and then again at 48).
Although Hopkins has not fought since losing two light heavyweight world titles to Sergey Kovalev by one-sided decision in a unification fight 25 months ago, he wanted one more fight. He wanted to go out his way.
Philadelphia's Hopkins, a month shy of his 52nd birthday but still in extraordinary physical and mental condition, will bow out on his own terms when he takes on Joe Smith Jr. in a 12-round light heavyweight fight on Saturday night (HBO, 10 p.m. ET/PT) at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) insists that the fight with Smith, who earned Hopkins' attention with his upset first-round knockout of contender Andrzej Fonfara in June, will be the last of his incredible 28-year career.
Whether you want to call him "The Executioner" or "The Alien," Hopkins established a Hall of Fame legacy many years ago. During his career, which began when Ronald Reagan was still president and a year before Smith was born, Hopkins was the undisputed middleweight champion, a three-time light heavyweight titleholder, and pulled memorable upsets against Felix Trinidad, Antonio Tarver, Kelly Pavlik and Jean Pascal, not to mention knocking out Oscar De La Hoya, a man who later became his business partner and close friend, to become the first fighter in any division in the four-belt era to hold all of them at the same time.
Hopkins, of course, did not have to come back to the ring after the loss to Kovalev. Having overcome a 4½-year prison sentence for armed robbery, Hopkins made something of himself. He is now a wealthy man with various business interests, including real estate holdings, a stake in Golden Boy Promotions, a burgeoning career as an analyst on HBO and owner of a monumental boxing legacy.
But Hopkins, as always, wanted to do things his way. That meant not walking away off a loss to Kovalev. It meant one more fight, one he wanted against a credible opponent.
"I want the book to be written good," Hopkins said. "The last thing you remember about a good book is not the beginning, it's the ending. I look at this as the final icing on the cake or that exclamation point. This is it. You know this is history.
"I achieved my first goal of success in the first part of my life. That was rougher than boxing. If you know anything about Bernard Hopkins' history, if you go into details about the inner-city Philadelphia guy, who was in the penitentiary from age 17 to 25 and survived, you'd realize I became champion a long time ago. We, as humans, put limitations on ourselves. When all is said and done, I don't want to regret what I didn't do."
So with no regrets, Hopkins went through one more training camp, this time with John David Jackson as his head trainer after parting ways with longtime trainer Naazim Richardson for reasons neither cared to explain.
In the co-feature, 24-year-old featherweight up-and-comer Joseph "JoJo" Diaz (22-0, 13 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian from South El Monte, California, will fight Horacio "Violento" Garcia (30-1-1, 22 KOs), 26, of Mexico, in a scheduled 10-rounder. In the opener, cruiserweight world titleholder Oleksandr Usyk (10-0, 9 KOs), 29, the 2012 Ukrainian Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, will make his first defense against Thabiso "The Rock" Mchunu (17-2, 11 KOs), 28, of South Africa.
Hopkins stays in shape all the time. He has done that from Day 1 of his career. But he admitted that it was tough going back into camp after such a long layoff and at such an advanced boxing age.
"As much as I stay in shape and shadow box -- the shadows don't punch back -- I got my ass kicked the first few days of sparring," Hopkins said. "I know certain positioning and punches that I normally slide away from, and I know the timing, but it wasn't there. After about two weeks, my timing came back, and I was fine. But you realize your body is saying, 'We're going to do this again?'
"There were some kinks, some adjustments I had to make to get back into the flow. I think it's more on the inactivity of not having contact than my age."
Hopkins said the layoff was not by design. He had been staying in shape and looking for a fight, often bugging De La Hoya and Golden Boy president Eric Gomez about what they might be able to line up for him. He would have loved to have moved down to super middleweight and challenge for a world title, but any notion of that prospect vanished earlier in the year when Arthur Abraham, a possible opponent, lost his title.
"Winning a title is significant, but it wasn't the most important thing," Hopkins said. "I have a lot of belts at home that I can look at it. This last fight wasn't about a championship."
So he sat, but never thought about not fighting once more.
"I look at it as rest coming off the Kovalev fight, which was a grueling fight, as having benefited me more than if I would have fought last year," Hopkins said. "I had that stretch to figure out what I wanted to do and also stayed in shape."
As much as Hopkins wants the buildup to the fight with Smith (22-1, 18 KOs), a 27-year-old Mastic, New York, union laborer, to be a celebration of his career, Hopkins has not wanted to spend much time reflecting on his past conquests. He said that will have to wait until after the fight.
"The past will never be forgotten, but I cannot let the next few days be about reminiscing about my career, because my mind right now is so stuck on being focused on the battle in that ring come Saturday night," he said. "We all know my legacy, but my mind is built on Saturday. I'm telling myself that I trained so hard, and just like Joe Smith is thinking he don't want to be a construction worker all his life, and he wants to be where I am, I am putting in the work too and thinking like him."
Whatever happens on Saturday, the result is unlikely to either enhance or diminish Hopkins' legacy. That was sealed years ago. But Hopkins has always needed to find something to serve as motivation, be it a real or imaginary foe, so he is in battle mode this week.
"I'm fighting for my legacy, to preserve it and keep it. I don't want to diminish it," he said. "I wanted to do a fight that matters to not only give a real fight to the fans, but I am motivated to win. I didn't want to just grab a few bucks to bully somebody and raise my hand up like I got my ego back in check. I'm going to win. I'm going to try my best to whip his ass. I'm dedicated and disciplined in what I do, and I love and respect my job."
Hopkins also said he finds motivation for the fight in showing people of all kinds that age is "nothing but a number."
"There are millions who are judged by their age," Hopkins said. "There is a group of people of all religions and colors that understand that I am their motivation, who know I am the poster man for the middle-age human being that's walking around, women or man, that is showing that age is only a number. Age shouldn't define you wanting to prove that you are still worthy. They won't look at me just as a prizefighter who is going to be 52 next month. I can inspire the old lady in the nursing home. My legacy, my story, my performance is more than just for me."
So Hopkins will make that last ring walk -- to "My Way" once again -- climb between the ropes once more and fight one last time.
"When I'm done, there's no stone that hasn't been unturned, and that's the key," Hopkins said. "Remember that quote: 'There's no stone when my career is over that hasn't been unturned.' So there will be no regrets. There will be no 'Oh, I should have did this or I should have done this.'
"I'm done after Saturday. So sit back and enjoy and understand that there will be no more like me."
Certainly no more that did it quite his way.