By Keith Idec

PHILADELPHIA — Bernard Hopkins happily reminded the throng of reporters surrounding him that he had already proven many of them wrong several times.

Nearly 46 and admittedly removed from his physical prime, the former middleweight champion confidently spoke about his fight against Jean Pascal tonight in a familiar defiant tone.

“Bernard Hopkins is going to win this fight,” Hopkins promised, “and win it impressively.”

The fact that he’ll face a man 17-plus years younger than him, in hostile territory no less, didn’t seem to faze the surefire first-ballot Hall-of-Famer one bit. He proceeded to remind us for seemingly the 10,000th time that a hardened reformed criminal isn’t easily intimidated once he survives five years in prison.

Hopkins talked the same way about boxing then-undefeated Felix Trinidad nine years and three months ago, before beating the Puerto Rican icon so soundly that Trinidad was never really the same. Nearly five years after that career-changing, 12th-round technical knockout win at Madison Square Garden, Hopkins promised another respected opponent, Antonio Tarver, didn’t stand a chance against him, despite that Hopkins was 41 and moving up two weight classes to challenge Roy Jones Jr.’s conqueror for light heavyweight supremacy.

Their June 2006 fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City was almost as one-sided as his demolition of Trinidad, whom Hopkins warned was severely flawed, despite his unblemished record and victories over Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas and a fading Pernell Whitaker. Hopkins expertly exploited Tarver’s imperfections, yet two years later was widely viewed as an underdog against Kelly Pavlik, right back at Boardwalk Hall.

Hopkins pummeled Pavlik, who was every bit as one-dimensional as Hopkins projected prior to their 170-pound, catch-weight fight. “The Executioner” felt so disrespected before he fought Pavlik, then the unbeaten middleweight champion who twice beat the man who topped Hopkins twice, he was near tears as he glared at the media section after the final bell sounded to conclude another masterful performance.

It is difficult to pick against a man with that track record, but even Hopkins acknowledged that these circumstances are slightly different than when he fought Trinidad, Tarver and even Pavlik.

A notoriously economical puncher, Hopkins said he’ll have to be more active than usual to win over judges inside a sold-out Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, where the Haitian-born Pascal has developed a large fan base since relocating to Laval, Quebec, just outside Montreal.

And while Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC) doesn’t see anything special in Pascal (26-1, 16 KOs), no fighter in boxing history has ever won a recognized world title at Hopkins’ age. George Foreman was 38 days younger than Hopkins the November 1994 night he knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round to win the IBF heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

“The young are always a threat to the old,” Hopkins said. “Once you become old, the enemy is youth. I understand that.”

Hopkins has an even better understanding of how to be a masterful matchmaker.

In his mind, this 12-round fight for Pascal’s WBC and The Ring light heavyweight titles is more about what Pascal never was than it is about what Hopkins no longer is. Chad Dawson called out Hopkins numerous times on television, but Hopkins respected that Dawson’s speed and style would present problems for him that he simply didn’t need to test himself against after all he has accomplished.

Once Pascal upset Dawson by 11th-round technical decision on Aug. 14 in Montreal and mentioned Hopkins as a potential opponent in post-fight interviews, Hopkins jumped at the opportunity to challenge Pascal.

Hopkins suspects Pascal’s win was more the byproduct of an off night for a distracted Dawson (29-1, 17 KOs, 1 NC) than it was due to Pascal’s prowess. Dawson seemed like he was starting to take control of the fight from a tiring Pascal when it was halted due to a nasty cut over Dawson’s right eye, yet Pascal had built enough of a lead to win the fight on all three scorecards (108-101, 106-103, 106-103).

More important, Hopkins’ critics could no longer lament that he was avoiding Dawson if he was willing to face the man who had just defeated Dawson.

While that factor in Hopkins’ decision is pretty transparent, it’s probably safe to assume based on how he handled Trinidad, Tarver and Pavlik that Hopkins knows things about Pascal’s physical and mental makeup that we don’t. The legendary multi-millionaire simply would not have gone anywhere near Pascal’s adopted home province of Quebec if he wasn’t certain this wasn’t going to amount to more surprisingly easy work for him.

“Even though he has youth, I have knowledge and I have wisdom,” said Hopkins, who is about a 2-1 underdog. “I watched this guy’s defense, how he has his head down when he throws punches, and how he throws wide punches. Those types of punches don’t hit Bernard Hopkins.”

Straight punches from better boxers haven’t hit Hopkins with any regularity during his 22-year pro career. That’s one of the major reasons he remains a legitimate light heavyweight threat four weeks shy of his 46th birthday, when most former champions his age have already given their induction speeches in Canastota, N.Y.

If there’s such a thing, he’s a fresh 45, more than prepared physically and mentally for what awaits him tonight.

“As you watch my athlete,” said Naazim Richardson, Hopkins’ trainer, “please give him his due respect. Please understand this man’s age, what he has accomplished and what he has been able to do for years.

“He is exceptional and I want him to get his just due. Trust me, if he wasn’t prepared, I wouldn’t be here. The preparation will all come to fruition [tonight].”

Pascal, of course, is well aware that Hopkins hasn’t looked anything like the fighter who pulverized Pavlik in his last two bouts. He clearly won those two 12-round fights against Enrique Ornelas (30-7, 20 KOs) and Jones (54-7, 40 KOs), but those wins were even less aesthetically appealing than many of his previous ugly-yet-convincing victories.

“Bernard Hopkins says the smartest guy will win,” said Pascal, who has lost only a 12-round unanimous decision to WBC super middleweight champ Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KOs). “He says he is the intelligent man and I am the idiot. After the fight, everyone will know who the dummy really is.”

Hopkins predicted that Pascal’s opinion will sway sometime after the midway mark in the fight, when he’s well aware that he’s not facing an ordinary fighter, despite that Hopkins turned pro when Pascal was 5 years old.

“If I’m 28 years old,” Hopkins said, “I’m thinking they’re not expecting me to match his speed, his energy and his punch output. They’re thinking they’ll get seven rounds in the bank and then I’ll have to play catch-up. That has to be his plan. At some point, he’ll start thinking, ‘My corner lied to me.’ … Then he fades. Then he gets desperate. Then he’s in trouble.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for the Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.