Light heavyweight
Following his two losses to Jermain Taylor, Hopkins at 41 decided not to retire and made the decision to jump two weight divisions to face off against The Ring light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver on June 10, 2006. Going into the fight, Tarver was a 3-to-1 favorite and had been the first man ever to TKO Roy Jones Jr. Many now placed Tarver among the sports top competitors. He was constantly ranked in the P4P rankings. However, Bernard Hopkins picked up a lopsided unanimous decision, scoring 118–109 on all three judges scorecards.
Antonio Tarver also lost a $250,000 bet with Hopkins, after he failed to stop Hopkins in the first six rounds.
On July 21, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Hopkins defended The Ring light heavyweight championship against former undisputed junior middleweight champion Winky Wright. During the weigh-in, Hopkins shoved Wright with an open-hand to the face, igniting a brawl between both fighters' entourages. Hopkins was fined $200,000 for instigating the brawl. Hopkins prevailed with a unanimous decision victory by scores of 117–111, 117–111 and 116–112.
On April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Hopkins lost The Ring light heavyweight title to Joe Calzaghe via split decision (116–111 and 115–112 for Joe Calzaghe; 114–113 for Hopkins). Hopkins started the fight well, dropping Calzaghe in the first round and using his ring savvy to confuse the challenger. Calzaghe did however quickly adapt to the style of Hopkins and caught up in the middle to later rounds using his superior hand speed and output volume, leading to a split decision win for the Welshman.
On October 18, 2008, Hopkins met middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in a non-title fight at a catch-weight of 170 lbs. Fans and pundits alike felt that Pavlik, known for his formidable punching power, would become the first man to knock Hopkins out. Pavlik was a 4–1 betting favorite heading into the contest. On the night of the fight, Hopkins turned back the clock to produce a performance he claimed to be the best of his career winning a unanimous decision (117–109, 119–106, 118–108) over the undefeated Pavlik.
Hopkins prepared for this fight in the late summer heat at his second home, Danny Hawk's "World Famous" Normandy Gym in Miami Beach, Florida.
During the Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao media conferences before their fight on May 3, 2009, Hopkins stated he would be "interested" in a proposed fight with British super middleweight champion Carl Froch.
On December 2, 2009, Bernard Hopkins fought in his home city of Philadelphia for the first time since 2003 beating Enrique Ornelas via 12-round unanimous decision (120–109, 119–109 & 118–110) in what served as a tune-up bout for the 44-year-old Hopkins who had not fought since his October 18, 2008 12-round upset victory over undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.
The bout was supposed to be a tune-up for a scheduled March 13, 2010, rematch with Roy Jones Jr. The rematch was later postponed as a result of Jones Jr. falling to a first-round technical knockout loss to Australian Danny Green.
Hopkins and old foe Roy Jones Jr. agreed to fight in a rematch on April 3, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The two boxers fought again 17 years after their first bout in 1993. Hopkins defeated Jones by a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout marred by illegal blows and a skirmish at the end of the sixth round involving ring entourage, the referee and security guards. Judges Don Trella and Glenn Trowbridge scored it 117–110 for Hopkins, while Dave Moretti favored him 118–109. The Associated Press had it 119–108, scoring 11 of 12 rounds for Hopkins.
He then challenged WBA heavyweight champion David Haye who had successfully defended his title against John Ruiz. Following Hopkins challenge, Haye ruled out the fight stating Bernard was only looking for a payday. Hopkins later stated his intentions to fight Lucian Bute following Bute's third-round technical knockout victory over Edison Miranda. Golden Boy Promotions also tried to approach retired boxer Joe Calzaghe for a potential rematch in 2010, but Calzaghe, who stated he no longer had the appetite, turned the offer down.
At 45 years old, Hopkins fought Lineal/WBC/The Ring light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal on December 18, 2010, at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The bout ended in a majority draw decision. Judge Steve Morrow had it 114–112 for Hopkins, but was overruled by Claude Paquette (113–113) and Daniel Van de Wiele (114–114). Following the controversy of the fight, WBC chairman José Sulaimán sanctioned an immediate rematch.
On May 21, 2011, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Hopkins defeated Pascal by unanimous decision to capture the lineal/WBC/The Ring light-heavyweight championships. The official scores were 115–113 from Guido Cavalleri of Italy, 116–112 from judge Rey Danseco of the Philippines, and 115–114 from Thailand's Anek Hongtongkam. With the win, Hopkins became the oldest man in the history of the sport to win a major world title, supplanting George Foreman, who had previously held the distinction after his knockout victory over Michael Moorer. Hopkins won at 46 years, 4 months, 6 days, while Foreman was 45 years, 10 months. After the bout, ESPN columnist Dan Rafael stated: "Bernard Hopkins already had lived several boxing lifetimes, but he was born yet again in Saturday's decision over Jean Pascal, becoming the oldest champion in history."
Hopkins told the world of boxing that his next fight was going to be against former champion Chad Dawson. They fought on October 15, 2011. Hopkins lost via TKO for being unable to continue after injuring his shoulder when Dawson threw him off of his back.
After an investigation by the WBC following a protest filed by Oscar De La Hoya, the WBC ruled that Dawson intentionally fouled Hopkins and returned the belt to Hopkins. The Ring magazine also decided to continue to recognize Hopkins as their champion pending the California State Athletic Commission's ruling on a protest filed on behalf of Hopkins. Also on December 13, California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has ruled that the decision will be overturned to a no-contest upon official review and the testimony of referee of the bout, Pat Russell.
A rematch with Dawson was set for April 28, 2012. Hopkins lost the bout via majority decision, and did not fight again in 2012, making it the first calendar year since 1989 that he did not win a fight.
Hopkins made his return to the ring on March 9, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, against IBF Light Heavyweight Champion and Ring No. 2 ranked Light Heavyweight, Tavoris Cloud. Hopkins broke his own record becoming the oldest man in the history of the sport to win a major world boxing title, by defeating Cloud by unanimous decision.
Hopkins defended the IBF Light Heavyweight Championship against Karo Murat on October 26, 2013. The mandatory title defense was originally scheduled for July 13, 2013, but was later postponed due to visa issues for Murat. In the meantime, the IBF originally made Sergey Kovalev Hopkins's new mandatory challenger, but Kovalev instead faced and beat then WBO champion Nathan Cleverly to win the title, so Murat was reinstated as the IBF mandatory challenger and the bout was rescheduled for October 26, 2013. Hopkins won by unanimous decision with two scores of 119–108 and one of 117–110.
Hopkins fought Beibut Shumenov in a championship unification bout on April 19, 2014, where Hopkins was defending the IBF Light Heavyweight title and Shumenov was defending the WBA Super and IBA Light Heavyweight titles, the latter not on the line for Hopkins. On fight night Hopkins knocked down Shumenov with a jab and followed with a powerful overhand right that nailed Shumenov on the side of the head and dropped him with just over two minutes left in the eleventh round. Hopkins won by split decision with scores of 113–114, 116-111 and 116–111, becoming the oldest boxer in history to unify titles in a weight division.
Shortly after Sergey Kovalev defeated Blake Caparello in a second-round knockout on August 2, 2014, Hopkins announced he would face the former in a match where his WBA Super and IBF titles would be on the line against Kovalev's WBO title. The match was signed after neither fighter could secure a contest with WBC and lineal champion Adonis Stevenson. The fight took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on November 8, 2014, and was televised by HBO; this marked the end of a feud between Hopkins' promoter Golden Boy Promotions and the network which saw HBO cut ties with Golden Boy fighters.
In a one-sided fight, Hopkins was knocked down in the first round by Kovalev. Although he became the first fighter to take Kovalev past eight rounds, Hopkins lost every single round on all three judges' scorecards and took a 120–107, 120–107, 120-106 unanimous decision defeat, losing his titles.
In 2015, Hopkins called out Carl Froch again stating he would like to fight him in a farewell match, only for Froch to decline the offer calling it a "lose-lose situation". Hopkins also eyed James DeGale and Gennady Golovkin.
Hopkins made an announcement confirming he wanted a final farewell fight before the end of 2016, which was his first fight in over two years since losing to Kovalev in a lopsided unanimous decision. Hopkins also confirmed he would retire after this fight, whether it be at cruiserweight or light heavyweight, putting an end to his 28-year career.
A deal was made in October for Hopkins to fight American boxer Joe Smith Jr., who last fought Fonfara in June knocking him out in less than 3 minutes. The fight was a HBO main event on December 17, 2016, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Originally a co-feature with Salido vs. Muira until Salido injured his lower back and pulled out of the fight, making the Hopkins farewell the sole main event of the card. Later it was confirmed that another co-feature fight has been signed, as Oleksandr Usyk would be defending his WBO cruiserweight title against Thabiso Mchunu. Both boxers weighed in at 174 pounds.
Hopkins did not contact trainer Naazim Richardson to train him for his final bout, instead having Kovalev's trainer John David Jackson, a former boxer whom Hopkins defeated in 1997, train him.
On fight night, in front of a 6,513 crowd, Hopkins lost to Smith via TKO when he was knocked out of the ring in the 8th round and failed to make it back into the ring as referee Jack Reiss made a 20 count. Smith Jr. outboxed Hopkins through most of the first seven rounds, then, in the 8th round, Smith caught Hopkins in the corner and landed five shots to the head that knocked him out of the ring. Hopkins said he was hurt and couldn't get back in the ring. He insisted that he had been pushed out of the ring, but replays showed it was not a push. Hopkins said to HBO in the post fight interview, "He shoved me out of the ring. My ankle got twist when I fell out of the ring. I couldn't stand on my feet. If I wouldn't have been pushed out of the ring, I believe he was starting to fade... I can't believe they gave him a TKO. They can call it a no contest but not a loss. The momentum from his body pushed me. I went out like a soldier. I'm not in a denial." Hopkins sat down with HBO's Max Kellerman in the locker room after the fight and confirmed this would be his final fight. Smith Jr. retained his WBC International light heavyweight title. Hopkins' reported purse was $800,000, compared to Smith's $140,000. According to RingTV, the fight averaged 934,000 viewers, peaking at 1.035m on HBO.
