Filed under: WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, Golden Boy Promotions, HBO, IBO
There have been at least two times during Bernard Hopkins‘ career that has resorted to financial incentives against opponents in order to motivate himself to severely punish them in the ring.
And during each occasion, the former undisputed middleweight champion did exactly that.
And it wasn’t pretty.
In December of 2003, during the 17th of an eventual division record, 20 middlweight title defenses, Hopkins won a unanimous decision, 119-109, 119-108, and, 118-109, over William Joppy on the three judges’ cards.
Even though Joppy won their bet — having put up $25,000, to Hopkins’ $50,000, that he would last the full 12 rounds — he did so at a cost: Joppy’s head was so grotesquely swollen that it resembled a bloated pumpkin, and he was hospitalized for a time as a result of the injuries.
In June of 2006, then Ring light heavyweight champion, Antonio Tarver, vowed to stop Hopkins within the first six rounds.
Hopkins told Tarver to put money on it, and then, Hopkins put it on Tarver to the score of 118-109 on all three judges’ cards, scoring a knockdown along the way.
Tarver lost a $250,000 bet as well as a lot of credibility.
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