By Dan Ambrose: WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) says his goal is to knockout challenger Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) on October 15th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Hopkins, 46, said this to eastsideboxing.com’s On The Ropes Boxing Radio: “Most people are looking for me to beat Chad Dawson. Well, they’re absolutely right. But it’s the way I beat him that I think they’re going to be shocked and surprised about…That’s my goal and what I’m gunning for.”

Hopkins hasn’t scored a knockout in seven years since stopping welterweight Oscar De La Hoya with a body shot when De La Hoya moved up to middleweight to take the fight with Hopkins. Bernard has fought 11 times since then and never been close to knocking anyone out during that seven year time span. I think it’s safe to say that Hopkins won’t be knocking out anyone on October 15th, but it makes for a good quote but that’s about it. Hopkins was never a big puncher even in the prime of his career when he was fighting at middleweight, but at light heavyweight Hopkins hasn’t knocked out anyone. He’s like a lot of fighters that once they move up a division or two – in Hopkins’s case, he’s moved up two divisions – they lose their power. Hopkins is more of a pot shot and hold fighter nowadays. He hits and immediately grabs his opponents. If he fights a guy with no inside fighting ability, like in his two recent fights with Jean Pascal, Hopkins takes the fight to the inside to control the action.

There won’t be any knockouts in the Hopkins-Dawson fight on October 15th. By the same token, Dawson won’t be throwing 1000 to 1200 punches in the 12 round fight like he recently said he’s going to be looking to do. Dawson is a careful boxer, and he never throws a lot of punches. If he tries to throw anywhere close to 1000 punches, which is averaging 83 punches thrown per round, Dawson will likely gas out. Dawson needed to try and throw 1000 to 1200 against a softer opponent before trying it out against Hopkins. It could be disastrous for Chad if he tries to throw that many punches. I mean, he’s young enough to get his second wind and recover if he does gas out, but it’s better he has a more solid game plan in mind than just trying to mindlessly stick to a certain punch quota in this fight against Hopkins.