RIO DE JANEIRO -- The New York Times is reporting that the Soviet Union had a state-sponsored doping program ahead of the 1984 Olympics before it boycotted the Los Angeles Games.The paper reported online that the Research Institute of Physical Culture and Sports had a supply of anabolic steroids to inject track and field athletes.The Times quotes a document it says was signed by Dr. Sergei Portugalov, who headed a government-run sports medicine research center in the Soviet era, as well as being the longtime chief doctor for the Russian athletics federation.The 1983 document says a range of data proves that the main opponents of Soviet athletes will use the aforementioned injection form of anabolic steroids at the upcoming Olympic Games.The Times says the document was obtained from a former chief doctor for the Soviet track and field team. 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Last month, when I traveled to London to cover the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook middleweight world title fight, I stayed at the hotel next to the O2 Arena, the same place where the HBO crew working on the American broadcast was staying.On the morning of the fight, I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. As I was walking out, Bernard Hopkins, who was working on the telecast as HBOs analyst, was walking in. We had seen each other a few times during fight week but hadnt had much of a chance to talk. He invited me to sit with him. Weve known each other since 2000, and I have covered around two dozen of his fights. I would say I know Hopkins as well as any fighter I have covered in my career. Weve met each others families and when we chat, it is often not even about boxing at this point.But when we sat down on this morning, we talked about Hopkins career. At 51, did he still want to fight again after a two-year layoff and a one-sided loss to Sergey Kovalev, and if so, when and who would he want to fight?So we sat and talked it out for more than an hour while overlooking the River Thames on a lovely London morning. This was not an interview, rather just a deep conversation about what Hopkins wanted to do.The former middleweight and light heavyweight champion made it clear he wanted a farewell fight and that he wanted it this year, before he turns 52 in January. He saw the hoopla surrounding the recent retirement of Kobe Bryant and wanted the chance to leave boxing on his own terms with a similar farewell fit for a king. For some of the fights in the later years of his career, he has come into the ring to the classic Frank Sinatra song My Way, and hed be damned if he wasnt going to go out on his terms.Hopkins made one point very clear, over and over: He did not want to fight a walkover opponent. Sure, he wanted somebody he would be favored to beat but a real opponent with a good record. He used the word respectful and credible. He wanted somebody whom nobody could say was a soft touch or an unworthy foe. Somebody the fans and media would see as a legitimate fighter.But he is 51 and doesnt move like he once did. So one concession was that he wanted to make sure whoever he faced was not somebody that was too slick and moved a lot. He didnt want to have to chase a guy for 12 rounds. He wanted a guy to come to fight and be in front of him.Then Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) asked my opinion on who he should fight. He would have preferred to fight for a world title at either light heavyweight or super middleweight but none of those titleholders were available. I put my thinking cap on and came up with two names I thought fit his requirements well.Both were from Long Island, New York, with good records, straight-ahead styles and fan bases. Each was certainly a respectful and credible opponent. They were also fights I believed could be made without any political issues, and both were opponents I felt HBO would approve.One was Seanie Monaghan (27-0, 17 KOs). The other was Joe Smith (22-1, 18 KOs). Hopkins asked me for my view of both fighters and his eyes grew wide. He liked what he was hearing. He punched their names into his phone and began to look them up. He said he would do his homework and also take the names to Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya and president Eric Gomez to see what they thought.I said to Hopkins, Wouldnt it be funny if you wound up fighting one of those guys and we could joke about it for years to come that the fight was hatched over a cup of tea in London at a restaurant overlooking the River Thames.Hopkins laughed and agreed. A month later it has come to pass.Hopkins will in fact face Smith in his last fight -- The Final One as it has been dubbed -- on Dec. 17 on HBO from The Forum in Inglewood, California.I was at a fight and you was there also and we were looking at the river in London that morning, Hopkins recouunted to me after the fight was set on Monday.dddddddddddd I had just done a light run and walked in for breakfast and we got to talking. A name was kicked around and you said, I know a guy respectful and credible and he has a following, and you said Joe Smith.Hopkins was enamored by the fact that Smith was coming off a very big win, an upset first-round knockout of contender Andrzej Fonfara on June 18 on NBC in prime time.I didnt know Joe Smith until you mentioned his name, Hopkins said. I went and did my research. Hes promoted by Joe DeGuardia and we have a good relationship. I knew that Joe respects me and that wed be fair in any deal, and here we are.I was doing my research on him like I do on all of my opponents. I said this is a guy I want. We are fighting for legacy. Hes fighting for his legacy and Im fighting to keep mine intact and make sure I go out with no negatives. But when I looked at the tape I said to myself, Why did Dan tell me to look at this guy, another puncher in front of you who is coming to rip your head off like Sergey Kovalev?But then I thought what do I want? Do I want a guy who is a C-level? Thats not Bernard Hopkins. I have to be honest about doing this final fight.Hopkins has not scored a knockout since he stopped De La Hoya with a body shot in the ninth round in 2004. I bust his chops about that sometimes.He said he wants to finish his Hall of Fame career with a KO, so he is doing some work with weights, which he has not done in years, not since he worked with fitness guru Mackie Shilstone to bulk him up to light heavyweight in the first place for his 2006 upset of Antonio Tarver to win the title.I want to go out with a knockout, Hopkins said. I didnt have one in 12 years since I beat Oscar, my partner. Not just the win -- I want the knockout. This is not just promotional talk. That will be the bow on a long career.When told he would be facing an opponent who was not even born when Hopkins turned pro in 1988 (the year I graduated high school), Hopkins paused.Its not only crazy, its insane, Hopkins finally said. Im an old m-----f-----.Then Hopkins began figuring out how many presidential administrations his career has lasted. He turned pro during Ronald Reagans second term and boxed through George H.W. Bushs term, two Bill Clinton terms, two George W. Bush terms and two Barack Obama terms.I dont want to still be boxing when Hillary Clinton is sworn in, he said, offering his prediction for the outcome of next months election.Im done. This is the final one, and what a good way to end it, he said. Joe Smith is all action, hes credible, hes hungry, he throws a lot of punches, only one loss. A young guy. And he come off a big, confident win. So he has momentum to know that he belongs. Thats the kind of opponent I need. I want to put on a fantastic show. I want to be able to enjoy this.Hopkins said -- and Gomez backed it up -- that his contract has language legally stipulating that this is his last fight, as opposed to when he retired the first time after beating Tarver a decade ago and was bored to death a few months later.He said it will be different this time. He is 10 years older and knows it is time.I signed off on this in writing that I am done, he said. It says this is my final fight and I will not return as a fighter ever again. This aint bulls---. Im done, win, lose or controversy. But I came back for this fight because I wanted to go out on my terms.People might think thats cocky, but if they know my career I did just about everything my way. But if I was coming into the restaurant that morning in London two seconds later we wouldnt have seen each other and had that conversation about Joe Smith.Its a conversation we will no doubt discuss for years to come. ' ' '