In the game of sports and culture, we talk about the “GOATs,” but we don’t always talk about who set the tone for how those GOATs look when they aren’t in uniform. When I sat down with the legendary Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins back in 2017, we weren’t just talking about his legendary 20-title defense run or how he became the oldest world champion in history. We were talking about the “Mount Rushmore” of style.
Back then, B-Hop was crystal clear about who sat on that mountain. He put Magic Johnson and Deion Sanders at the peak, telling me, “Magic Johnson brought that flair to the game that made you look at the suit as much as the stats.” He also noted that Deion Sanders—”Prime Time” himself—was the blueprint because “he understood that if you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you play good.”
Fast forward to 2025, and Hopkins’ vision for the “fashionable athlete” has become the standard for the modern tunnel walk.
The “Alien” Still Out-Thinking the Room
In 2017, Bernard told me, “I am an old man, I just happen to be an old man that can fight.” Today, as a key partner at Golden Boy Promotions, he’s the old man that’s still out-thinking the young lions. Whether he’s mentoring Ryan Garcia or Jaime Munguía, B-Hop is still preaching the gospel of discipline. He recently made waves in 2025 by calling out the “drama queens” of the social media era, saying, “The world of boxing fans are tired of hearing lip service… they want to hear action.” It’s the same grit he showed in our original interview when he told me, “If you don’t know your own value, somebody will tell you your value, and it’ll be less than you’re worth.”
Style as a Business Move
Revisiting our 2017 talk, Bernard emphasized that for guys like Magic and Deion, style wasn’t just about vanity; it was about “branding before we called it branding.” In 2025, we see that same mindset in his executive role. You’ll rarely catch B-Hop without a sharp, tailored suit—a “clean” look that mirrors his “clean” lifestyle of nuts and bananas. He once told me, “I can give advice with a suit and tie on and still be the same guy from the streets of Philly.”
He’s still the “Alien” because he refuses to age by the world’s standards. He recently noted, “Age is not a problem. It becomes a problem when people try and make us think old.” ### The 2025 Verdict In 2017, the headline was about who Hopkins respected in the fashion game. In 2025, the story is about how Hopkins is respected as the elder statesman of the entire sport. He’s moved from the “Mount Rushmore of Fashion” to the Mount Rushmore of Boxing Executives. As he told me years ago, “I was made to be where I’m at. I just had to go through some challenges so that I can educate others later.”
The suit is still sharp, the mind is still sharper, and the execution? Still flawless.
