Bernard Hopkins may be the best boxer in the world pound-for-pound, but he is a man haunted by a turbulent past. The undisputed middleweight champion was jailed for armed robbery as a 17-year-old and his mental scars far outnumber those he has picked up in the ring in the ensuing years.
Certainly, nothing Howard Eastman throws at him when they meet next month will phase Hopkins, a man who dodged rapists, knives and battery acid during his four years inside.
"Some people come over all vicious locked in a cage," the 40-year-old told BBC Radio Five Live.
"If you put a dog in a basement with no light and feed him through a hole in the door, that dog will be vicious.
"If you do the same to an individual and then let him out into society, he's going to bite somebody."
The reason Hopkins did not go back to biting people was boxing.
"Getting jailed got me mentally ready to do something different with my life.
"It takes a strong mind to not be affected by jail. Everyone who does time in jail needs therapy, and my therapy is boxing."
 |  People see me with the the Bentley and the penthouse. But let me tell you about the life before this world |
Some say he is guilty of carrying too much baggage, of refusing to let go of the past and enjoy the considerable fruits of his labours.
But the man who has defended the world middleweight crown 19 times feels it is more important people realise where he came from than what he has become.
"People have to understand that what got me where I am is the trials and tribulations of adversity.
"People see me now with the Range Rover, the Bentley and the penthouse and they say 'life is good' - and it is.
"But let me tell you about the life before this world."
Hopkins' clash with London's Eastman is likely to be one of his last, but "The Executioner" still has some big scalps in his sights.
Wily as ever, he has only put his WBC belt on the line against Eastman so that if the unthinkable happens, he will remain the kingpin at 160lbs.
The winner of May's super-fight between Felix Trinidad and Winky Wright will probably face Hopkins later this year.
And Hopkins may want to avenge his 1993 defeat to Roy Jones Jr before hanging up his gloves for good.
But it is a sobering thought that even in retirement, all the Bentleys in all the world will not be able to keep the demons at bay.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Box clever