Hopkins ‘would love' to box Mooney over ‘steroid boy' comment

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Charvarius Ward fired the first shot, but DeAndre Hopkins is looking to land the final blow. 

After San Francisco's 38-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night at Estadio Azteca, the 49ers cornerback recalled his feisty matchup with the former All-Pro wide receiver, who he referred to as "steroid boy" after Hopkins previously was suspended for the first six games of the 2022 NFL season for violating the league's Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. 

Ward's comments went viral and he doubled down on his nickname for Hopkins on social media. In speaking to reporters Friday after Cardinals practice, Hopkins finally responded. 

"I'm not the kind of guy to go to social media and stuff like that," Hopkins said. "Obviously, it sounded very personal. The crazy thing about this league, is that you never know when you might end up on a team with somebody. It is what it is, I'm not the kind of guy to give a public service announcement about somebody else, but we're all in the fraternity together. I hate to hear a guy talk like that about somebody, about anybody.

"So for me, I pray for people like that, but you know a lot of people are tough when they can go and tell you something or say something. But I respect guys like Le'Veon Bell who get in that boxing ring. I wish there was something that that guy over there that said something to me, I would definitely love to get in the boxing ring and see how tough he is in real life."

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Multiple players, including Bell and former 49ers running back Frank Gore, have stepped into the ring recently, and it sounds like Hopkins would like to squash the beef -- literally and figuratively -- in the ring. 

It's probably safe to assume that neither Hopkins nor Ward's contracts would permit such an activity.

For now, they will have to settle for a re-match on the field at Levi's Stadium on Jan. 8 to close out the regular season. 

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