At 49, boxer Bernard Hopkins is fighting age — and winning
IBF Light Heavyweight Champ Bernard Hopkins, 49, is next scheduled to fight Sergey Kovalev, 31, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 8th. Kovalev is currently undefeated with an impressive 25-0-1 record with 23 KO’s while Hopkins, 55-6-2-2, is coming off a string of unforeseen victories.
Hopkins has won his last 3 fights against fighters who were all in their early 30’s capturing, then defending and defending again a Light Heavyweight championship.
Before his bout with Jean Pascal in 2011, Pascal suggested that Hopkins’ extraordinarily long-time dominance of the sport is the result of performance-enhancing drugs.
Hopkins has never failed a drug test but has said that his low-carb, organic diet serves as his enhancement.
It has been noted that while Hopkins was jailed at the age of 18, for 5 years, he adapted to eating jail house portions, working out and not drinking and smoking. This discipline appears to have stuck with him, he tells Dave Golokhov of AskMen, “I don’t have no damn cook. I don’t need that. I decided about eating a long time ago when I was in prison how to eat, and I learned how to discipline myself.
I learned how to eat by watching different people, different shows, learning as I went, and I knew that certain things ain't good for you but whether you can stay away from them is another battle.
So I understand that even dairy — when you get to a certain age — isn't good for you, so I realized that if I can find the best things to give me the best energy and the best vitamins for my body, then I’d be better off.
After he left prison, he continued to remove sweets, alcohol, pizza and soda from his diet. He also tells Dave Golokhov, “You know, it’s not cheap to live healthy. So, for me, it’s not about a cook or a diet, it’s about a way of life and a way to live.”
Today, Hopkins mostly cooks for himself using only organic, low-carb foods and nothing processed or fried. Instead he leans towards egg whites, fish and vegetables. He eats red meat only when in training. This is a big reason why that t 49 years of age, he is the oldest boxer ever to win and defend a world title.
Hopkins smoked marijuana and consumed alcohol before he was even in his teens but he is proof that at any age, anyone can be in championship shape if they commit to a drug and alcohol free lifestyle and a healthy diet, free of sugar and processed foods, which is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.
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Source:
http://www.scifighting.com/2014/10/07/34967/bernard-hopkins-diet-makes-ready-sergey-kovalev/
