Boxing.com

On Saturday, May 21, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, in a fight broadcast on HBO’s World Championship Boxing, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs) gets to avenge his majority draw to WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs).

The seemingly ageless Hopkins is up for this fight. He believes an injustice was done when he fought Pascal on December 18 of last year and wants to right a terrible wrong. But this fight has more meaning than that. Hopkins is about to surpass George Foreman as the oldest titleholder in boxing history.

“This is a hell of a milestone,” Hopkins said. “This is something that not any old fighter gets to do, or most athletes from any sport for that matter. I am glad to be able to represent that at this stage of my career.”

Some think Hopkins is the gift that keeps on giving. Others wish he’d button it up and get on with being a promoter. And both camps to their credit have a point.

“I am already going in a champion,” said Hopkins, who holds the WBC/IBO light heavyweight titles. “At the Montreal press conference, Pascal was trying to be cute and he gave me his belts. I never gave them back, so I have them in my possession. I just have to make it official next Saturday because I don’t think anyone should have a belt unless they win in the ring.”

Hopkins is clever and glib and talks a blue streak, but his recent performances in the ring left something to be desired.

“Fifty percent of me is always going to be 100 percent [of someone else] in today’s world of athletics. When people look at me, they should think ‘He is not the norm.’”

Hopkins is not the norm. There’s no disputing that. He’s one of a kind, sui generis.

“The only way you can get experience is from the clock. Time works with some people and against some people. Fortunately, the clock has worked in my favor.”

Hopkins is a physical marvel. That he can still do what he does at his advanced age is nothing short of a miracle. But that applies to every boxer at every age, whether they’re in the Golden Gloves or approaching retirement.

“The difference between me in my 20s and me in my 40s is that I have learned not to waste a lot of energy,” continued Hopkins. “When you are young, you are filled with raw emotions and you want to prove that you are the new young lion in the jungle. Pascal is a new lion, but I am the old lion.”

Hopkins may be an old lion, but he can still roar with the best of them.

“I am the professor and Pascal is the student. Sometimes the student thinks he knows more than the professor. Every now and then, you have to show them that because you know a little doesn’t mean you know as much as the teacher. I think he respects what I have done. He would be a fool not to.

“When I can no longer perform physically and mentally, then I will know I am ready to leave the sport. It is the same thing that happens at any job. You know when it is time to leave. I have too much pride as a man and too much pride for Philly to embarrass myself by staying in boxing too long.”