On September 29th, Bernard Hopkins became the first undisputed Middleweight champion of the world since Marvin Hagler's reign over 14 years ago with a 12th round TKO over Felix Trinidad. We sat down and discussed many topics today, ranging from what's next in the fight business to how he has grown from when he was in prison.

BRC: Champ, I want to start out and congratulate you on your victory and even although I didn't believe you when we talked last December, everything that you said was true.

BH: That's cool, I told you I was going to do it, and you know I'm all about History. When you speak your mind and talk like Bernard Hopkins and do something that people say that you can't do then you go out and do it, it's very special to me.

BRC: What was so impressive was how you beat him first on the outside then in close, that right hand at the end of the second round to me is what set the tempo of the rest of the fight. It was a great performance out of you, one for the ages to me, because it was so dominant.

BH: That's great and thank you but I'm not going to call myself great yet; I'll take it from you, the media and the rest of the boxing world and embrace it. But here's why I'm not going to call myself great because the same people that call you great one day, the next will call you not great if you don't live up to their expectations.

BRC: That's very true look at some of the Trinidad fans after the fight.

BH: Exactly, so I'm going to just continue to execute my skills and my ability. I want to prove time in and time out that I'm a guy that should and will be remembered as a fighter who gave boxing his all. Whether people will appreciate it or not only time will tell. I believe I'm a Hall of Famer after the 29th of September if I retire. I believe I made History just coming out of Philly and establishing what I've done especially when you think I came from a place that basically created middleweights. I can tell you this from the bottom of my heart, I'M NOT DONE. I'm not content. I'm not satisfied sitting on top of this hill and time is not on my side. It's no secret, I'm 36 years old, in January I'll be 37 and I've noticed when you're around in them late 30's there are certain things that your body goes through. Everyday your body is dying, not like a pain but everyday your body is going through something. In the ring we put a lot of stress on our bodies, brain and heart and that's how we become old and that's why fighters end up not being able to function. I don't want to end up like that; I know the risk is there now every time I step in to the ring.

BRC: Do you feel your short amateur career has helped you then?

BH: Yes, I had a modest amateur career by today's standards and believe me it's saving me now. I didn't need 200, 300 fights, like some of these guys who end up fading out as pros. I feel very blessed right now. I have to be aware that I have a two and a half year old daughter and I want to be here for her when she grows up; that's what's on my mind now.

BRC: When I talked to James (Fisher) he told me this was going to be one of your easier fights because you were going to show Trinidad something that no one else....

BH: That was profound wasn't it? Let me ask you a question? Honestly, did you believe that I was going to have an easy time with him?

BRC: Man, I can't lie, no I didn't. I didn't know which guy would show up, the guy who fought Echols the first time you all fought, who landed 75% of his punches or the guy who fought Vanderpool and Holmes. As a matter of fact, after the Holmes fight I told James you have to have a better jab, no matter who you fought, 3/72 wasn't going to cut it. I understand that a lot of that had to do with how Holmes was fighting but I thought you needed to get better in that department. Was coming to box and not being rough something that you worked on just for this fight?

BH: (Laughing) Oh yeah. This was something that I knew I could do and something that I wanted to make sure I got better at. I know I can box so just get that out of the way. Worked on? Man we worked on everything, we planned on Trinidad trying to do everything: him trying to box, him getting rough, and him fighting on the inside. We knew though he was going to revert back to that old Trinidad that presses forward and applies constant pressure. To be able to box was easy for me because I know I have the ability to do other things than just brawl. In order for me to have been around as long as I have, you can't just be a banger. There are no Philly wars with me when I'm in the gym; I do nothing but box when I'm in the gym. See, if more people got the chance to see me in the gym, and this doesn't mean I'm going to let everyone in now, but they would have known that I can box. Why do you think the longevity is there? I've been blessed but some of it is skill, in 43 professional fights I've never even been cut in the ring. There's no ego with me in the gym, I beat guys bigger and smaller than me in the gym with a jab. Boxing, moving, rolling with shots and using my elbows to block shots. Aladdin there are over 100 ways to get away with punches, you can't duck everything, hell you even catch some with your shoulders as long as it doesn't go in that computer (Compu-Box) it doesn't matter. I knew if I had to buy some time that I could do these things if Trinidad ever hurt me, which he didn't and I'm not saying that to be macho, but he never hurt me in that fight.

BRC: Do you think he never hurt you because you never really got hit square, or you chin was better than he thought and finally because the guys in your corner did their job by making him re-wrap his hand with gauze which was something that his corner claims to have never done before?

BH: He never landed a square shot on me, I know I've got a great chin but it would be foolish for me to go out a let him hit me square to show what kind of chin I have. On the hand-wrapping situation, I pay my people good money and they all know what to look for and Trinidad had only skin and then tape on his hands, no gauze, and it also looked like he was wearing casts. Do you remember what I said to you at the first press conference?

BRC: Yes I do, you said when Trinidad realizes that he can't hurt me that the fight is over. Looking back on it Tito really must have felt that what he was saying was also true, and that was once he hit you one good time that the fight would be over.

BH: Where did they get that knowledge?

BRC: I don't know? Maybe from the power he showed in the Joppy, Vargas and Reid matches. Do you feel him underrating your chin and defense was his biggest mistake or was it something else?

BH: I think that was one of the downfalls but I believe the biggest one was that he didn't know how crafty and how much speed I possess. He was lead to believe, or maybe sitting ringside he thought I'm not that fast. Once you get in the ring with me it's a different story. You know you see a guy who doesn't look as good as everyone say he is until he's on the court shooting jumpers in your face....

BRC: Oh yeah, people actually thought Dickerson was slow 'till they were on the field looking at 29 from the back, chasing him.

BH: (Laughing) Yes, exactly right! That's what Trinidad saw, same with his father. I'm still waiting for people to see how good my trainer is. I've been with Bouie for 13 years on a handshake deal. I want to see if he gets the same recognition that Felix Trinidad Sr. has. I told the world and I want to really see if it happens, everything that Trinidad has gotten from the fans, media and people in boxing give it to Bernard and Bouie Fisher. Ranging form the hype, the magazine covers, Fighter of the Year, the belt that they give to every undisputed champion, which is actually being done as we speak, Nigel Collins confirmed this. I hope the people can't just flip the page and that goes to writers, reporters, and TV people. This is the time to show that you all are not biased towards any athletes but just to your papers, and stations.

BRC: Don't forget websites... (Laughing very hard)

BH: Yes them too. I love the Internet.

BRC: Well, you're very popular in the HBO Forum chat room after you started the "Tribe Mandingos vs. San Amigo Tribe"; so you have a lot of love in there as well.

BH: (Laughing) Yeah that started like in the 9th or 10th round of my fight against Keith Holmes. That's funny that it got picked up.

BRC: Do you feel -and I've spoken to a friend of mine in Boston about this- that we've never seen less pictures for a big fight event, do you feel that you're getting your just due. Especially in regards to the situation that's happening at the Garden?

BH: Let me tell you something about that situation. I talked to Kevin Wynne, (MSG Vice President), yesterday prior to leaving New York, and I was extended the stay because HBO is looking to do business with Don King and myself on a lucrative deal. Anyway, Kevin Wynne told me and he's not a usual face in boxing because I've heard a lot of things from many people that never happened, but he told me that they would be honored to have me break Monzon's record in the Garden. Also, he told me that he thought I was an outstanding person, and that he may disagree with some of my tactics but it was my opinion and right to do whatever I felt was the best way to express myself. Finally he said he did not say he was going to ban Bernard Hopkins from the Garden.

BRC: More than anything I was pissed off and angry to read about it. I felt like people were trying to steal your time to shine especially right after History had just been made. I know it's taken you some time to get where you are and I felt bad for you after reading the story.

BH: You must have been pissed off when you just saw a great performance like that, a guy who struggled to get where he was, paid the price to get where he did like a Curt Floyd in baseball, and to read the next day that people were trying to throw a black cloud over something like that. I know that there are many people on my side.

BRC: The flag incident, was that more of a mental thing for you to get inside of Trinidad's head or was it more a statement that you're not going to be disrespected by anyone?

BH: That was more a statement saying you don't have to like me but you're going to respect me. I know I'm fighting their hero and I know he represents a country, but let's backtrack and also respect a Champion. A worthy Champion, not just a belt holder and they didn't do that.

BRC: How? Was it by Felix Trinidad Sr. saying that William Joppy was the best middleweight in the world or something along those lines?

BH: You're damn right! How can that man have possibly thought that?

BRC: Man I don't know, not to take anything away from what Joppy did but he did do some things that even an amateur wouldn't do.

BH: The whole world knew that wasn't true. Actually they played themselves with that; let's say Trinidad beat me, by him saying Joppy was the best actually would haven taken the flavor out of him beating me. They said those things because they wanted to see if I had a low self-esteem. It's like telling a pretty woman she doesn't look that good and then she becomes weak minded. I really don't think that the Trinidads really knew how strong of an individual they were going up against. I knew that wasn't going to affect me. How I dealt with the fans was the best way I knew how. I wasn't going to get in a shouting match with a bunch of Puerto Ricans who I wasn't going to fight anyway, who were there by design; holler and lose my voice the way Joppy got caught up in that mess five or six times. So I just waited for my time to strike and hit them all right where it would hurt them the most. To me it was ingenious to do something like that, some might have thought it was crazy but hey it took their minds off the fight. It might have been a little crazy, it took some balls but sometimes in this life you got to make a stand when you believe in.

BRC: When are you going to go back to San Juan?

BH: I'm going to go before the holidays kick in, it will be done, and it has to be done. I made a little joke about it the other day that doesn't seem so funny now but it was, "it's not like it's a money issue because plain tickets are very cheap now"; everyone in the HBO building including Don King laughed. I don't want it to come across like this was something that Don King set up, this was my idea and I'm going to be the one to do it. I'm even going to give Trinidad his belt back, because mine is being made right now from the WBA just to show that there are no hard feelings. I try to do what people don't expect from me. This will be done.

BRC: Talk to me about respect. Do you feel you're being slighted? I was looking to see the trophy presentation and nothing happened. Did the Sugar Ray Robinson trophy have your name on it or Tito's?

BH: (Laughing very loud) Man, can you believe that they told me that they lost the key? The presentation was supposed to be in the ring after the fight, then they told me they couldn't do it. The trophy weighs 150 lbs., how can you lose this thing? (really laughing). I know what they really had to do was go get the sculptor who made it, take Trinidad's name off of it and put my name on it. It was disrespectful like you said; I don't know how you can count chickens before they hatch epically in boxing.

BRC: Let me ask you about prison. How did you survive? What did you learn and how did you change for the better after coming out?

BH: I think prison made me be able to stand up in the business I'm in and be my own man. I don't care where you are and what you do if you don't stand up and be your own person then you're eaten up. So you have to stand up in life and in boxing so it helped me there. Tough? Have be tough in this world but you have to be even tougher in boxing, so it helped me there. I looked at it like here I am, on this big hay ride going to the farm with these two guards with these pump shot-guns working everyday Monday through Saturday making pennies, I started to look at my self as a modernized slave. Jail never scared me, you have cable, 3 hot meals, a place to sleep, drugs and if you're in to anything else you had sex. They made it very comfortable, that's why some go out and then some come back in. I saw the political side to it, like Malcolm X saw his visions when he was away and I didn't like it at all. I knew I didn't want to become a modernized slave and I didn't want to put myself in the situation that I would ever have to be used like that again.

BRC: What do you mean "modernized slave," can you go into that a little more?

BH: When I was in, it cost about $40,000 a year per inmate to survive, it probably went up now. You have bodies, you have people watching them, people who feed them, doctors, nurses, people to oversee it all and so on. It started to look like economics to me, and like a whole another world. Once you're on the inside you're not Bernard Hopkins anymore, you're property of the state.

It baffled me to see how much money is generated by the system. It took me two years to understand this, because my first two years in the joint I was ruthless because I felt I had to be. Man, when I first went in there I felt like I had to do what I had to do to survive, I took what I knew from the street and brought it in there with me. That wasn't a time to grab the Bible or the Koran and become hollier than thou; it was done later but not at first, at first it was, that was time survive. I knew that if I could survive with my head up and my dignity and my manhood, 'cause whatever you do on the inside will come out on the street; then I was going to make something of myself and never go back. I go back now and then, to show the people what you can do if you're strong and stand up for yourself. I tell them to make sure they stay out and whatever they do, be the best at it; wether it's a trash man, window washer or whatever, but make sure you stay out. Many people don't want me talking like that because of the business that prison generates in these small towns but I do anyway. You won't believe this man, but now you have major companies that are now investing in prisons. It's all a big business.

BRC: Thank you for the lesson, that's pretty deep, probably the most interesting thing that I've ever discussed with anyone.

BH: I refused to be part of that anymore. I'm telling you, it was a trip.

BRC: Alright, well back to boxing what do you want to do next in boxing?

BH: What's next for me is Oscar de la Hoya in maybe late fall or early spring. I told everyone that after the tournament that if I won it, I would fulfill my mandatory defense against Carl Daniels before the year is out. I'm willing and able to do that; fulfill that obligation, and I'd rather break Monzon's record against a guy with a known name, not just some guy with two left feet. Many people have heard of Carl Daniels, he's a crafty veteran who's a southpaw and I would train for him like anyone else. I would also love to do it in Philly; out of all my defenses I've never had one there, so that would be great if I could pull that off in the First Union Center. Back to Oscar, I'd love to fight him, I don't know if he wants to fight me, it would be a tougher fight than the Trinidad fight because he can box and likes to play cat and mouse with guys and the fight would have to be in Vegas.

BRC: What about David Reid? He's old in boxing but young in age. How about the two of you fighting?

BH: I'll fight anyone. He's my Philly fighter brother but that doesn't mean I wouldn't fight him. If I fought him right now though, because of the way he's been looking of late, it would make me look like a bully. If the public demands it and David does something special like knock someone out with one punch, hey, we both can make money. I think, though, on the level that David Reid is shot after the Trinidad fight, so I'd rather stay away from that one.

BRC: What about Shane Mosley?

BH: Yes, me, Shane and Jack all have the same publicist Norman Horton. We don't even let Norman in our training sessions, that's the running joke, but it's all love. If Shane and I got together at a catch weight at say 157lbs, man that would be on the level of a Fight of the Century. I'd also like to fight Vargas.

BRC: (Jumping in) Vargas? Man, he's got to get his confidence right before he fights any top 10 opponents.

BH: I'm not going to put nothing past anyone (laughing), you know what I mean. Every fighter with a punch has a chance man, Rahman showed us that. I won't down play anyone, if HBO or whoever comes with the money for a fight then me and Reid or whoever would fight in the street.

BRC: Last but not least, Roy Jones Jr.?

BH: I'll fight anyone, I want to fight the best fighters in the world but it's getting clear to me that Roy doesn't want to fight me again, so I'm ready to move on. I'm angry in a controlled situation when it comes to Roy. If he and I fought say at a catch weight of 167 pounds it would be one of the biggest fights in the world. He says he beat me with one hand eight years ago, well come on and do it again then. The deal he offered me back in February was a slap in the face 75% to 25%, come on man, who would take that deal?

Look let me tell you something about Roy Jones. There are a couple of ways for him to get out of this fight with me. First would be to just overprice himself like he's already done, second is to argue about the weight and believe me, the pounds do count. Finally would be when to have the weigh in, either 12 or 24 hours before the fight. Personally I'm no fool I know what kind of athlete he is, and I would want the weigh in 12 hours before the fight because 24 hours before the fight, he'd be back at 175 by the time the fight started. Roy brings up so many topics and excuses that I'm now like "Roy isn't the only guy in town." That's why I'm going on record with you and saying Roy Jones is not on my radar screen and I don't have anything in my contract that says I have to fight him. That's what happens when you have a spoiled ass guy that thinks he's bigger than the sport of boxing.

BRC: I'm sorry that the deal can't get made, you're right, a lot of things can change over eight years; so with that out of the way, what's going to be your relationship with Don King now that this tournament is over?

BH: My relationship with Don King as a promoter is now full force, I'm still self-managed, let me say that again, I'm still self-managed, and Lou Dibella is my advisor. I don't have a TV deal and Showtime is interested in getting something together with the WBO champion Armand Krajnc. So who know's what's going to happen, right now there are a lot of things going on. I'd be lying to you if I told you I don't like it, it's been a long time coming for me, from where I stated to now.

BRC: You must feel like the new girl on the block that everyone is trying to take out.

BH: (Laughing) Yes I do. I'm going to eat it up. I'm a businessman first and a boxer second. Right now, my only allegiances are to my family, my trainer, my boxing people and Uncle Sam.

BRC: Hey man it's been real talking to you like it always is. I want to tip my cap to you and say enjoy it, you've worked 13 years to get here so eat it up.

BH: Aladdin, thanks for the interview and I'd love to do it again.