Hopkins plays mind games before title fight

Bernard Hopkins dug into the pocket of his sweatshirt, grabbed a small, alien trinket, and placed it on the table. The news conference to promote the light-heavyweight title fight Saturday against Sergey Kovalev was in full swing. But Hopkins did not seem interested enough to listen.

The 49-year-old fighter reached in again and lined up three more aliens. He offered the aliens a sip of his water. He told the toys to stop making so much noise. His trainer, Naazim Richardson, told Hopkins to behave.

Scenes like the news conference Thursday in Atlantic City are usually Hopkins' stage for performance art. And the fighter nicknamed "Alien" was just getting started.

Crafty in the ring, boxing's oldest world champion is just as calculated outside it. He purchased the aliens last summer at a dollar store in the city. Hopkins said the store's owner was elated when the fighter wanted to buy a whole barrel.

Oscar De La Hoya said Hopkins begins to break down his opponents mentally in the weeks leading to a fight and then finishes the job inside the ring. He remembers Hopkins dropping one of his false teeth before the two fought a decade ago. Hopkins retrieved the tooth. He blamed it on his age. The seed was planted, De La Hoya said.

"This guy made me overconfident,' " said De La Hoya, who was knocked out. "I'm fighting this old man. I was 10, 15 years younger than him. He made me think I don't have to run extra miles or train hard. I can take this guy on, he's older than me. Psychologically, he made me complacent."

Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 knockouts) arrived at a news conference last year wearing a black ski mask and aviator sunglasses. The man who seems to never stop talking refused to speak. Richardson stood in front of him and asked the crowd whether they had ever heard an executioner speak. Hopkins left without saying a word. Two days later, he dominated the much younger Tavoris Cloud to win a share of the light-heavyweight title. Hopkins retired the "Executioner" nickname and became the Alien.

"I'm always thinking," Hopkins said. "I'm very calculated. My track record - resumé, as we say - reflects that."

Hopkins packed away his alien toys. It was his time to speak. He held court for 16 minutes, roughly eight times longer than the 31-year-old Kovalev. Hopkins spoke briefly about his opponent Saturday at Boardwalk Hall. Then, he turned the attention to John David Jackson, Kovalev's trainer.

Hopkins read Jackson's comments earlier this week that the trainer knew everything about Hopkins. The two fought in 1997, and Jackson later joined Hopkins' corner. He was his chief trainer for a fight after Richardson suffered a stroke.

Hopkins asked Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) whether Jackson had shown him the footage of their fight, a dominant knockout win by Hopkins. It's not your fault, Hopkins told Kovalev. Hopkins asked how a teacher was able to teach when he had flunked the test.

"Someone dumb cannot sit there and teach someone to be smart," Hopkins said.

Hopkins then proved that he was listening to the earlier portion of the news conference. He heard Kovalev, who goes by the nickname "Krusher," say he hoped Saturday would bring a clean and fair fight.

"You're the Krusher. You make your own fair fight," Hopkins said. "That's deception. You're trying to plant that seed."

Hopkins heard Kovalev's promoter, Kathy Duva, applaud him for opting for a challenging fight instead of an easier route.

"You think I'm a charity case," Hopkins said. "This is subtle disrespect."

That was an attempt at psychological warfare, Hopkins said. The champion said they would never win that battle. He pointed to his head. When it comes to that, Hopkins said, he will always be undefeated.

@matt_breen