Tell us a bit about your connection to Bernard Hopkins. How often do you two talk? Whatโs the most important piece of advice heโs given you?
ย We talk here and there. Heโll call me or Iโll call him once in a blue. But Bernard, I look up to him you know, heโs my mentor. Heโs one of the best in the game, who do you know that got into over 70 fights in boxing and can still speak properly he donโt slur or nothing. He can talk for days.
Heโs given me some great advice, the one thing I remember is he told me donโt let anybody get you, be smart. And I mean donโt let people take your money or make you sign something.
Do you think your nickname Lilโ B-Hop puts pressure on you? Could anything ever make you change it?
People say it could put pressure on me, but to me there is no pressure. Iโm just carrying the name of the B-Hop legacy and Iโm going to live up to it.
Could you ever change your name?
[Laughs] Iโve thought about it because B-Hop is somebody else. Everyone knows me as Lilโ B-Hopโ not as Chris Colbert. So I think Iโm gunna stick to Lil B-Hop.
Tell us about how you found yourself in the boxing gym for the first time? Did you know from that moment you wanted to be a fighter in the ring?
It was like six years ago. I was like 13 or 14. I used to street fight a lot outside and then one of my friends told me they wanted to go to a gym. I didnโt expect there to be no coaches, just a ring with gloves around that you could pick up and fight. So I went there because me and the kid had beef, problems. I was going there to fight him, to box.
I get there and there are lots of coaches and youโve got to learn. I see my team mate Ross Carrington Junior, and he said, โI beat you up, real good upโ and I had a short temper so anything you say to me I would snap fast like, โWhat?โ After that I was in the gym every day, I had to train to be able to get in the ring with him after he said that.
My second day I sparred with a kid call Mikita, heโs a guy with a lot of experience, a national champion and he beat me up. But I got my lucky punch in, a street fight punch, which changed it all around. Ever since then boxing has been my life. I eat, sleep and shit boxing.
Do you think boxing has changed your temper?
Oh my God, yes. Boxing has changed my life. You could tell me anything, as long as you donโt touch me. Back in the day I was quick to snap on somebody. I would be ready to fight for everything. Because I was short everybody would try me. I had โangry, short, black man syndromeโ. [Laughs] I was ready to fight all the time. Now you can say anything as long as you donโt touch me I have no problem. I havenโt had a street fight since my third day in a boxing gym.
If you werenโt a fighter now, what would you be doing?
Iโd be in the streets or in jail somewhere. The route I was going on was crazy. I was always in places I wasnโt supposed to be. Now Iโm always training, either at home, in the gym, or running. Even when I am home in New York, I am never in the streets.
If we look at boxers such as Amir Khan, heโs fast. Canelo, heโs got power. What qualities do you possess that separate you from your peers and competition? Speed? Agility? Power?
Speed and Iโm smart. I learnt from big B-Hop. But whatever people teach me I take that into consideration and I try to really work on it.
Youโre wearing the new adidas SpeedEx 16.1, what do you think?
Iโm a naturally fast person and always have been. My hands, my head movement and my feet are fast. So I need the best and quickest footwear to keep up with me when I train and fight. The adidas Speedex 16.1 is the perfect shoe for my fighting style, itโs light and packed with technology. That gives me added confidence in the ring. Itโs an honour for me to be associated with Adidas.
How much is speed something you are born with versus something you train for?
The speed was always there. Iโm just a fast person in general. Picking up sports fast, picking up schoolwork fast. My 40 was a 4.5s in high school.
What sports did you play before you went in to boxing?
I played football since I was six until my boxing pro debut in May 2015. I wouldnโt train for football, just play the games because I had the skills. And then I quit, I was wide receiver in high school and was going to play semi-professional, but I turned pro in boxing and you canโt do both. Injury would mess up my career.
What are some of the exercises boxers can do to speed up?
Work on the speed bag, the double end bag to work on your reflexes and your hand speed which needs a lot of hand-eye coordination. And then shadow boxing with weights. Like handheld dumbbells.
Tell us about being filmed by Netflix?
Yeah I love it, Iโm still giving those films, they wanted to come here todayโฆ but I didnโt answer the call [laughs]. You canโt do two shoots at one time. Itโs an ongoing documentary but it should be coming out in September.
Whatโs your short term goal?
My goal for the year is to be prospect of the year with a 10 and 0 record.
Tell us about your current routine.
At the moment I am training with Juan Carlos Payano heโs the WBA and WBO lightweight World Champion and an Olympic gold medallist. Iโm sparring with him, heโs getting ready to fight Rauโshee Warren, who is super-fast and I mimic him a lot. Whatever he does I do.
Itโs an honour to be training with him. He motivates me because of his hunger. When youโre not from here, from a Spanish country, itโs harder for you. Youโve really got to grind and work for what you want. They ainโt never give him nothing. He come in as an underdog.
Whatโs your long term goal?
To become World Champion and give back to my community. And just stay humble and focus. Get a company to invest. Stay smart. Make money.
Chris โLil B-Hopโ Colbert was speaking at an adidas boxing photoshoot at Church Street Gym in New York City. Chris wears adidas SpeedEx 16.1 footwear, designed for faster speeds in the ring. Available to purchase from www.adidasboxing.com from August 1.