(AllHipHop News) Bernard Hopkins has accomplished just about every obstacle thrown his way, but when he’s getting ready to fight, guess what he rocks to.
2 Chaiiiinnzzzzzzzzz?
“I’m different, I’m different,” Bernard, 48, says over dinner, between media stops. “I like 2 Chainz. I came in [the ring] on to “I’m Different” (The song by 2 Chainz). I like two of his songs.”
Being different is an understatement. The fighting legend is a walking, fighting miracle. Last month, Bernard Hopkins became the oldest boxing champion in history, in a crushing defeat of 30-year-old Tavoris Cloud for the IBF light heavyweight championship. He beat the record he set two years ago.
But, when he gets down to fight, the man known as The Executioner also appreciates a more familiar and viscous MC.
“I like DMX. I am a DMX fan,” he continued. “Philly has some up-and-coming talent I like. I like a certain type of rap. I’m not into the poppin’ glitter rap and the [materialism” in rap.”
Ultimately, B-Hop revealed that his true love lies in Hip-Hop’s roots.
“I’m close to 50. I’m more of a Gil Scott Heron guy,” the future Boxing Hall of Famer said. Gil Scott Heron, an acclaimed soul musician and poet, is widely regarded as one of the precursors to what would eventually spawn Hip-Hop.
At the days end, Bernard explained that he prefers music that nourishes the soul, even though he enjoys songs that hypes him up for the big fight.
“You gotta get the [Gil Scott Heron] stuff off eBay. I like a message. I like message in my music. I like music with a message that’s going to motivate me. The struggle still goes on. Its just different. Its just packaged different,” the Philly natives explained. “I’m glad that I have enough insight to understand that it exists. I tell people all the time. ‘I’m not from the Republican party. I’m not from the Democrat party. I’m from the party of Common Sense. Common sense is something that not everybody has.”
Who Bernard Hopkins fights next has yet to be determined, but the boxing world knows who he won’t fight.
That’s Andre Ward, the super middleweight champ. He said he’s heard the talk and he won’t fight his former protégée no matter how much money.
“Even if he says that he wants to fight me, I won’t fight him, because they are pushing him to say that,” Bernard told AllHipHop.com. Bernard says that he’s got a history of walking away from money like he did when he infamously refused to fight Roy Jones Jr over money. “I wound up giving him a pay day, because he needed me.”
At press time, Bernard was enjoying time with his fiancee, but also plotting his business moves as a managing partner of Golden Boy Promotions East Coast operations.