New life for 'Executioner'

By BERNARD FERNANDEZ

BERNARD "The Executioner" Hopkins finally can celebrate a happy occasion the way most people do.

"I had me a slice of cheesecake at the MGM Grand Monday night," the Philadelphia boxing icon said from Las Vegas yesterday. "It was my first dessert in, like, 3 years. I love sweets, too. It's just that, when you're a fighter, you got to be disciplined."

Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KOs), the former longtime middleweight champion, allowed himself to fall off the cheesecake wagon just this once because he's officially an active boxer again. On Saturday, he and former undisputed junior middleweight champ Winky Wright (51-3-1, 25 KOs) signed contracts to stage a 170-pound bout on July 21 at a location to be determined, and televised by HBO.

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