Bernard Hopkins: Questioning Pacquiao's Ability vs. African-Americans Not Racist

Filed under: WBA, WBC, WBO, Boxing Rumors, HBO, FanHouse Exclusive, Top Rank Promotions

During separate interviews with FanHouse on Wednesday, former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins reiterated comments from November -- when he asserted that eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao never has faced a top-notch African-American boxer -- and Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, defended Hopkins' statements.

Although Pacquiao has vanquished non-American black fighters such as Joshua Clottey of Ghana and Lehlohonolo Ledwaba of South Africa, Hopkins and Arum contend that the styles and skills of those two fighters don't measure up to their American-born black counter parts such as Floyd Mayweather, Zab Judah or Shane Mosley.

"Bernard Hopkins took some criticism for saying what he said, but Hopkins is a good student of the game. It's not any racist kind of thing that he's saying," said Arum on Wednesday. "It's just that the African-American style that we all know -- and, even though not every African-American fights that style -- but the African-American style is a distinct style."

The 32-year-old Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 knockouts) will defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) belt in an HBO pay-per-view televised bout against the 39-year-old former WBA welterweight king Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), although his WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt will not be on the line.

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