Bernard Hopkins Jr. is a former professional boxer. Hopkins was born into a housing project in Houston. Growing up, he often found himself getting in trouble with the law. By the age of 18 he found his passion in boxing, and used it as an outlet. 

Hopkins first became a world champion by winning the IBF middleweight title in 1995. He would go on to compile 19 defenses against 17 opponents; a division record at the time. In 2001, Hopkins successfully unified the middleweight division by defeating Félix Trinidad to win the WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine and lineal titles. A victory over Oscar De La Hoya for the WBO title in 2004 cemented Hopkins' status as undisputed champion, while also making him the first male boxer to simultaneously hold world titles by all four major boxing sanctioning bodies. Hopkins competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers from the late 80's to the mid 2010's, having held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed middleweight title from 2001 to 2005, and the lineal light heavyweight title from 2011 to 2012. In 2001, Hopkins was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

In 2011, The Ring ranked Hopkins as third on their list of the "10 best middleweight title holders of the last 50 years." As of October 2020, he is ranked by BoxRec as the sixth greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.