Danny Green Wants Bernard Hopkins

IBO cruiserweight (200 pounds) champion Danny Green called FanHouse from Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Saturday, where the man nicknamed "The Green Machine" was in town to cheer on fellow Australian, Vic Darchinyan, in defense of his WBC super flyweight (115) title against Tomas Rojas at The Agua Caliente Casino.

Only 10 days have passed since Green (28-3, 25 knockouts) took just 2 minutes, 2 seconds to destroy Roy Jones, the only man in boxing to win titles in the middleweight (160 pounds), super middleweight (168), light heavyweight (175) and heavyweight divisions.

Not only did Green's effort scuttle a planned megabout between Jones and the legendary, Bernard Hopkins, but it gives him perhaps a lucrative option of facing Hopkins himself.

"Bernard Hopkins is not going to fight [light heavyweight champion] Chad Dawson. We all know that -- no way, no how -- unless we put up some ridiculously stupid money. And he's not going to get [WBA heavyweight champion] David Haye, who has John Ruiz and then Nikolay Valuev, any time soon," said promoter Gary Shaw, who is advising Green.

"So the likely candidate for Green is Bernard Hopkins, and, the question is, if Hopkins would be willing to fight Danny Green here in the U.S. or in Austraiia," said Shaw. "I believe that if Bernard is willing to fight, and if Bernard is willing to travel, that we could find him more money in Sydney, Australia, than we could here in the U.S."

Green offers his opinions on the matter, as well as his feelings, post-Jones, in this Q&A:

FanHouse: How has life changed for you since your first-round knockout of Roy Jones on December 2?

Danny Green: Without a doubt, obviously, knocking out Roy Jones in such devastating fashion when I wasn't supposed to even last the distance is very, very satisfying and there's been such a massive, massive buzz.

I've been on a high for about 10 days. It's been unbelievable after all of my many years in the sport. I'm pretty jazzed that it happened in my home country. It felt great to shock the world.


FH: So what's gone on in your life over the last 10 days since then?

Green: My face has become very strained, because I can't stop smiling. I can't wipe the smile off of my face. Back home, in my hometown of Perth, there was nearly 6,000 people there to welcome me back home to the city.

For Perth, that was quite a massive reception. I've never had that before. It was phenomenal. The talk on the streets has been great. I've been lucky to have such massive support.

It was the biggest fight in Australian history. There was a lot of publicity and hype around the fight, and to do it, even when I was an underdog in Australa, was phenomenal.

And it was great to prove that wrong. I had a lot of belief in myself before the fight. I even told Roy Jones in the press conference that 'I see the fight ending with the referee clawing me away from Roy Jones as I'm raining blows at him when he's in trouble.'

And that's how the fight ended.


FH: How did you know that you were going to be victorious over Roy Jones in such a way?

Green: I watched Roy Jones from ringside from the front row when he destroyed Jeff Lacy. And what he did to Jeff Lacy was pretty special. Although, Jeff Lacy may not be the best in the world, he had been a world champion.

To watch Roy Jones expose him was pretty incredible to watch. The best thing about the fight with me and Roy was that he had destroyed Jeff Lacy, which sold our fight even more.

I don't think that anyone really gave me a chance, which I'm really happy about. I don't want to blow too much smoke. I just knew after that that if I was able to let my fists do the talking, that I would be able to sit back and be enjoying the victory.


FH: Was the punch a right hand right behind Roy Jones' left ear?

Green: When you watch it on YouTube or something like that, you really can't get an appreciation for it because you can't hear it properly. But when you watch a replay, and you turn the volume up, you hear a massive smacking sound.

I've replayed it and turned the volume up a little bit. I thought that the punch landed really well. I felt it land well. He stumbled face-first. That's when I realized that I had to go in and be very clinical and accurate with my punches.

I threw a massive amount of punches, but I tried to pick them accurately. One thing I've had is good success in finishing guys.

When I get them hurt, I finish them. When I had Roy Jones hurt that early, I realized that, 'You know what? I can't let this fish off of the hook. I've got to land it.'

So I went in and did the job, and it was very, very satisfying and very, very exciting. I was so excited, that I wanted to rip the roof off of the stadium.


FH: What was that move you pulled when Roy Jones had his hands high around his head and ears, and you took your left glove and tried to pull his guard down to hit him some more?

Green: I don't know why the referee stopped me. That's legal to pull a bloke's hand down and smash him over and over because he's guarding his face. To pull his glove away from his face and then to hit him isn't an illegal blow or move.

But we actually practiced that move because we knew that that would be a defense that Roy Jones would use. We knew that he would do that, but it didn't matter.

Every punch that I threw during that onslaught was a punch that was designed to have an effect on Roy Jones when he's on the ropes.

If he puts his gloves up high, there's nothing open around the head. So you come at him hard to damage the ribs, and then up through the middle. I went down to the body hard.

I ripped him hard at the body, which then brought his arms down and opened him up for some uppercuts. I smashed over the top and smacked him in the ears.

But you know what? Roy Jones is a warrior.


FH: What fight do you want for yourself next?

Green: What I believe is the next big thing for me is Bernard Hopkins. Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins are two of the biggest names in the sport, and they're two legends of the sport.

The day that they're eligible, they'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I would love to bring Bernard Hopkins to Australia. No one thought that we could bring Roy Jones to Australia.

I have a feeling that if the money is right, Bernard Hopkins, being a very smart, shrewd character, he would come too if the money works out.

To me, that would be very exciting. I've never been in position of talking about bringing one of the greatest legends of the sport down to Australia. We did it with Roy Jones. I'd love to do it again with Bernard Hopkins.