By Jim Dower: Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KO’s) looks to have lost a step or three in his last two fights in the past year, and it’s unclear whether the 45-year-old Hopkins has enough left to beat any of the champions in any of the divisions now. His whole fight game his deteriorated to the point where he’s unable to fight hard for the entire round of his fights and he’s resorting to using a clinching technique to slow the action down to something he can manage. On December 18th, Hopkins faces what is likely the best fighter in the light heavyweight division in 28-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO’s) at the Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

This is very good fighter indeed, because Pascal looks to be even better than Jermain Taylor, and Hopkins lost twice to Taylor five years ago. Hopkins had huge problems with Taylor’s hand speed and fast combinations. It’s not likely that Hopkins will have improved any during the last five years of aging. While he may be able to slow the action down to try and nullify Pascal’s superior hand speed and work rate, he won’t be able to match him in those areas. Pascal is simply too young and superior on offense for an old guy like Hopkins to get his way with.

One would hope that Hopkins will hang up the gloves if he’s beaten by Pascal in this fight. There’s really no point in Hopkins carrying on with his career, because he ‘d probably lose to most of the top super middleweight champions and I can’t see him wasting his time fighting the most vulnerable of the super middleweight title holders WBO champion Roberto Stieglitz. And at light heavyweight, Hopkins would have problems against champions Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud. Those guys throw a lot of punches and are too strong to be beaten with the old punch and grab technique that Hopkins now relies on more and more.

Hopkins might be able to beat WBO light heavyweight champion Jurgen Brahmer, but that fight wouldn’t draw flies because Brahmer is totally unknown in the U.S. A fight betwee Hopkins and Danny Green of Australia fight be a decent fight at cruiserweight, but Green throws a lot of punches and has good power. However, Green doesn’t have a major title, holding down the IBO belt instead of the more recognized titles. Hopkins would likely have problems against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck and IBF champion Steve Cunningham. They throw a lot of punches and are bigger than Hopkins.