By Dan Ambrose: 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO’s) is hoping to go down in the record books with a win over World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KO’s) on May 21st at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Hopkins, if he wins, will be the oldest fighter to ever win a major world title in boxing. The old record is George Foreman, who was a ripe 45 when he knocked out IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Michael Moorer in 1994.

What made Foreman’s win more impressive was that Foreman retired from boxing for a decade and came back heavy, weighing in over 250 in many of his fights. It wasn’t like Hopkins who has been fighting consistently, not taking long breaks and always stays in shape. Foreman also knocked Moorer out, which made the win look even better. Hopkins likely won’t be knocking Pascal out on May 21st. Hopkins hasn’t knocked anyone out since 2004 and he doesn’t seem to punch hard enough at light heavyweight to score knockouts, even when matched against fringe contenders like Enrique Ornelas.

Hopkins and Pascal fought last year in December with the fight being scored as a 12 round draw. Hopkins fought well at times but was knocked down twice in the early rounds and had trouble with Pascal’s hand speed until he began to tire in the 2nd half of the bout. Hopkins then was able to turn the fight into a mauling type bout on the inside and get the better of Pascal.

If Pascal can throw more punches than last time, he stands a good chance of winning the fight because Hopkins is a lot slower and there to be hit. However, Pascal has to set a faster pace and try to tire Hopkins out. He can’t let Hopkins maul him on the inside like last time. That won’t work and will only result in Hopkins getting a victory this time.

If Hopkins wins, he’s supposed to take on Chad Dawson, if he wins his undercard fight against Adrian Diaconu. From there, Hopkins will be looking to take on Lucian Bute, the IBF super middleweight champion. That could be a pipe dream on Hopkins’ part if he can’t get past Pascal or Dawson.