Bernard Hopkins will fight on despite Sergey Kovalev defeat

Bernard Hopkins says he will not retire, despite losing his light-heavyweight unification match against Sergey Kovalev last weekend.

Hopkins, who turns 50 in January, failed to win a round on any of the three judges' scorecards in Atlantic City but says he wants one more fight.

"If this is the last time I'm going into the ring, I will not cheat myself," said Hopkins.

"It will not be a freak show. I will never shortchange my dignity."

Hopkins, who said he would step down a division, added: "Who will I fight? I don't know. But it will be somebody I will be an underdog against because I want to be the underdog."

The Philadelphia-born fighter, who defended the middleweight title a record 20 times from 1995 to 2005 and has never been knocked out, was floored in the first round by Russian Kovalev, a fighter 18 years his junior.

However, he is already back in the gym as he prepares for his potential swansong against an opponent he has pledged he will not "cherry pick".

"Physically, if you see me, you'd think I didn't have a fight (on Saturday)," he said. "But inside, trust me, my arms and the back of my head and the top of my head, oh yeah, I was in a fight.

"I've been in the hot tub for the last 48 hours."