Absolute gems from a conference call:
“It’s not a personal challenge to me,” insists the record-breaking former middleweight king and current - and two-time - light heavyweight champ. “I have always said that John David Jackson is one of those elite trainers out there who has never really gotten that respect. On November 8, he wants to get that big boost so that he can get that respect.
“Maybe John David Jackson will show him the fight that we fought (April ’97, which Hopkins won by 7th round knockout), and realize that he didn’t have the code to beat ‘The Executioner,’ at the time, and now, it’s ‘The Alien.’ So maybe John realizes how he should have ducked or how he should have fought at that time.”
Whatever secrets Jackson may or may not have to offer, Kovalev isn’t ready to tip his hand.
“What’s been said is between me and him,” Kovalev (25-0-1, 23KOs) cryptically stated when asked if any such conversations have taken place. “It’s the keys for my victory. I understand everyone wants to see and hear what happened in my training camp with John David Jackson.
“Everything you want to see, you will see on November 8. Welcome to HBO in Atlantic City.”?
....
“That is a strategy. He gave it to you already,” Hopkins explains. “Having no strategy is a strategy. Kovalev feeds off how you react to him. If you show fear, he jumps on you. If not, he has to sharpen his knives.
“I can respect that. Your reaction feeds into his reaction. I understand what he means. He feeds off the energy of the fighters he fought in the amateurs, and who he’s fought in the pros. I’ve dug up tape on this guy. I want to know my enemy. I want to know how he sleeps. I want to know how he eats.”
“If he can punch like everyone says he can punch, there might not be a second chance,” Hopkins fully acknowledges. “This is the thing: can Bernard Hopkins take the punch he has from other big punchers? Whatever game plan he has, I’m not going to run from the gun, I’m going to disarm him. I’m going to take away his big punch. If he has a Plan B, then buckle up because we have a fight.
“I am going to disarm him, and then let’s see your skills. Let’s see how you fight.”
“John ain’t fighting. John ain’t in the ring,” Hopkins points out. “Look, you have to give the information to the athlete, and the athlete has to be able to take that information and be able to use it to the best of his abilities. So let’s see if he can do that, because John David Jackson definitely can’t fight for him.
John David Jackson had his chance. John David Jackson got knocked out. To me, how can the teacher teach the student, when the teacher flunked the test too?