Here's a piece..You know the drill..@ the rest...
HILL: Your house isn't what I'd expect from a boxer. Why are you always so neat?
HOPKINS: Boxing is what I do, but it's not who I am. I always try to make that one of my openings in any conversation when people say, "Tell me about you." I've always liked nice things. There was one time in my life when I went the wrong way getting those things, and I paid a price for it. I've been out of the penitentiary for 23 and a half years, half of my life, and have turned it around as a boxer and a businessman. [Ed.'s note: Hopkins was released from prison in 1988, having served four and a half years for armed robbery.]
When do you think you made the transition? When I realized I was fighting for a purse that I believe was a million dollars and I only got $85,000.
What fight was that? It was Roy Jones Jr., the first fight, RFK Stadium, 1993. And I remember that not only did that fight have me thinking about how that happened, I had no clue how the business worked. I realized that having knowledge of what you do, whether it's boxing or in life, whether it's your value as a woman, whether it's your value as a man, once you know your value, it's hard to be unappreciated.
You're a very candid person, especially about race. Why are you so forthright? I've been around a lot of candid people, but I've learned it's good to be certain things at certain times. Everybody doesn't know when to be candid and when not to be candid. It's a strategy, part of the Art of War that I use as a script for anything I do in the ring or out of the ring.