By Jim Dower: WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO’s) will be making his 4th defense of his World Boxing Council belt against 45-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-1, 32 KO’s) in a fight at the Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Compared to Hopkins’ last fight against 41-year-old Roy Jones Jr., which didn’t do well in terms of ticket sales, this fight is selling incredibly well with over 15,000 tickets already purchased for the clash in Quebec. It’s great news for Hopkins and Pascal, because this fight will really help both of their careers, especially the winner.

Pascal, 28, is 17 years younger than the 45-year-old Hopkins and a lot faster than him. This is going to be a really tough fight for Hopkins, because he’s faced limited opposition since pulling off a big upset in his 12 round decision win over Kelly Pavlik in 2008. Pascal is a lot faster than Pavlik and Enrique Ornelas, two of Hopkins’ opponents in the past two years, and has a lot more in the tank than Jones did in his 12 round decision loss to Hopkins in April. Hopkins is hoping to use the Pascal fight to revive his career, but if he’s to have a chance at beating Pascal, he’s going to have to look a lot better than he did in the Jones and Ornelas bouts.

That version of Hopkins would lose to Pascal by a long shot. Pascal recently defeated Chad Dawson by a 11 round technical decision. Dawson was considered by many fans to be the best fighter in the light heavyweight division, and yet Pascal easily beat him. Hopkins is going to have to do more than relying on his old punch and grab technique that he’s fallen into as he’s aged in the past two years. Pascal is too fast to be beaten by that style, and Hopkins is going to have problems as he comes in trying to clinch and maul. That won’t work for him. He’s going to have to beat Pascal in a straight up fight if he wants to win. At 45, it’s doubtful Hopkins has enough left to beat someone in the class of Pascal.