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Bernard Hopkins describes Floyd Mayweather's showdown with Conor McGregor as a 'fake news fight'

The middleweight legend has criticised Mayweather for taking the fight

Luke Brown
Sunday 25 June 2017 16:27 BST
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Hopkins is not a fan of the upcoming glamour fight
Hopkins is not a fan of the upcoming glamour fight

Bernard Hopkins, one of the most successful boxers of the past thirty years, has angrily claimed that Conor McGregor’s upcoming showdown with Floyd Mayweather is a “fake news fight”, and insisted that the MMA star should never have been granted a boxing license.

The fight between the two men is expected to become the most lucrative in the history of the sport, despite the fact that McGregor has never before been involved in a professional boxing match.

In contrast Mayweather is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever boxing champions, with a flawless professional record of 49-0. In his celebrated 21-year career, he has been knocked to the canvas just once.

And Hopkins, who held multiple world titles at middleweight and light heavyweight during his career, has said that he feels offended a complete novice of the sport stands to earn over $100m from the contest.

“This is all fake news,” the 52-year-old, who last fought in December, told Boxing Scene.

“First of all, he hasn't fought an amateur fight to my knowledge. I've checked around and I've been around the game for a long time.

“He hasn't had any experience as an amateur or a professional. How does any commission, in Vegas or anywhere, give him a license to fight a guy like Mayweather, who is one of the icon guys of our era? How does he get that chance?”

Hopkins has also hit out at Mayweather for taking the fight. Despite almost every boxing expert and personality tipping Mayweather to win comfortably – and despite the odds of a Mayweather victory being as short as 1/9 – Mayweather has repeatedly insisted it will be a competitive contest.

“That shows you the lack of respect that he has for the sport,” Hopkins said of the undefeated American.

Mayweather v McGregor: Tale of the tape

“Boxing should not let, we should not let, the people in business of boxing should not let a person to just walk right in and get the grand prize of boxing. You can't do it in basketball, football, hockey. It ruins the credibility [of boxing].”

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