By Mark Vester
Former two division champion Bernard Hopkins is hungry to unseat WBC/IBO light heavyweight king Jean Pascal on December 18 in Montreal, Canada. After two of his recent fights produced lackluster performances, against Roy Jones Jr. and Enrique Ornelas, the 45-year-old veteran wants to put on a showing that mirrors his 2008 dominating win over Kelly Pavlik.
Pascal is an aggressive fighter who loves to come forward with big shots. Hopkins prefers to counter-punch. The clash of styles puts a smile on Hopkins' face. He expects to dish out a lot of damage if Pascal intends to fight in his usual style.
"My history shows anybody that came straight to me, they take a severe beating," Hopkins said to Chris Mannix of sportsillustrated.com. "I'm versatile. If he runs, I'm going to track him down. He's an aggressive guy, but he's elusive aggressive. Joe Frazier, he came straight to you. This guy, you worry about pressure, about missing and him ducking and hitting you at same time. I'll set traps for that. Bear traps. You know the bear is coming, you set the trap for the bear, jab, left hook, right hand."
A win for Pascal would probably be the end of the road for Hopkins. But if Hopkins manages to pull off the upset, he is going to pursue a lot of big fights in 2011.
"There is potentially $20-plus million on the table," Hopkins said. "There are more bodies, more names. I'm back in business again. The money that is out there, with me being one of the oldest fighters in the world, there are major fights on the table."
