Bernard Hopkins wants to be among the boxers considered for the final fights in Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s career. For now he must focus on Karo Murat.
Hopkins puts his IBF light heavyweight title on the line Oct. 26 in Atlantic City. But the thought of doing battle with … wait for it … the toughest boxer pound for pound on the planet is too much.
Even if Hopkins, at age 48, must drop to 160 pounds to meet Mayweather.
"Floyd, his skills are so out there that he can risk going up to 160," Hopkins told SI.com earlier this month. "It isn't the weight that is going to win the fight, it's the skills. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. The only guy who is going to beat a guy like Floyd Mayweather is a master chess player. And who is the master chess player? I'll go back to 160. It's the biggest old [man] fight. Everyone from the nursing home will be watching."
If given until May, SI.com's Chris Mannix says, Hopkins can shed the pounds.
Mayweather's list of prospective opponents includes Danny Garcia and Amir Khan, who fights Dec. 7 in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao is training for a Nov. 23 bout.
Fight schedule
Oct. 14
At The BB&T Center, Sunrise, Fla. (FS1), Jermell Charlo vs. Jose Angel Rodriguez, 10, junior middleweights.
Oct. 19
At Leipzig, Germany, Mouti Mthalane vs. Silvio Olteanu, 12, for Mthalane's IBF flyweight title.
At Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Javier Fortuna vs. Jose Carmona, 10, super featherweights.
At San Jose, Costa Rica, Bryan Vasquez vs. Rene Gonzalez, 12, for the interim WBA World junior lightweight title.
At 1st BANK Center, Denver (HBO), Mike Alvarado, vs. Ruslan Provodnikov, 12, for Alvardo's WBO junior welterweight title.
Oct. 26
At Manila, Philippines, John Riel Casimero vs. Felipe Salguero, 12, for Casimero's IBF light flyweight title.
At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. (SHO), Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat, 12, for Hopkins' IBF light heavyweight title; Peter Quillin vs. Gabriel Rosado, 12, for Quillin's WBO middleweight title.
At Tijuana, Mexico, Miguel Vazquez vs. Ammeth Diaz, 12, for Vazquez's IBF lightweight title.
Oct. 28
At the Sports House, Redwood City, Calif. (FS1), Manuel Avila vs. Jose Silveira, 10, super bantamweights.
Nov. 2
At Madison Square Garden Theater, New York (HBO), Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens, 12, for Golovkin's WBA World middleweight title; Ola Afolabi vs. Lukasz Janik, 12, for the vacant IBO cruiserweight title; Mike Perez vs. Magomed Abdusalamov, 10, heavyweights.
Nov. 9
At Corpus Christi, Texas (HBO), Roman Martinez vs. Miguel Angel Garcia, 12, for Martinez's WBO junior lightweight title; Nonito Donaire vs. Vic Darchinyan, 10, featherweights; Demetrius Andrade vs. Vanes Martirosyan, 12, for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title.
Nov. 11
At Cowboys Dancehall, San Antonio (FS1), Fidel Maldonado Jr. vs. Luis Ramos Jr., 10, junior welterweights.
Nov. 16
At Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif. (HBO), Andre Ward vs. Edwin Rodriguez, 12, for Ward's WBA World super middleweight title.
Nov. 23
At Macau, China (PPV), Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios, 12, for the vacant WBO welterweight title; Beibut Shumenov vs. Tamas Kovacs, 12, for Shumenov's WBA World/IBA light heavyweight titles; Evgeny Gradovich vs. Billy Dib, 12, for Gradovich's IBF featherweight title.
At Manchester, England, Carl Froch vs. George Groves, 12, for Froch's IBF/WBA Super World super middleweight titles.
Dec. 6
At UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk vs. Giacobbe Fragomeni, 12, for Wlodarczyk's WBC cruiserweight title.
Dec. 7
At Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., Devon Alexander vs. Amir Khan, 12, for Alexander's IBF welterweight title.
Dec. 14
At TBA, Germany, Yoan Pablo Hernandez vs. Alexander Alekseev, 12, for Hernadez's IBF cruiserweight title.
At the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Adrien Broner vs. Marcos Rene maidana, 12, for Broner's WBA World welterweight title.
Contributing: Associated Press