By Chris LaBate
Former two division champion Bernard Hopkins would love to score a knockout over Jean Pascal on Saturday night. Hopkins challenges Pascal for the WBC/IBO light heavyweights titles at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. HBO will televise the fight. They fought to a controversial draw on December 18 in Quebec City. Hopkins has gone the distance in his last ten fights, and got his last knockout win in 2004 when he stopped Oscar De La Hoya in nine rounds.
If he can't score a knockout, Hopkins would be satisfied with giving Pascal a slow beating in the same fashion as William Joppy. Hopkins punished Joppy for twelve rounds in their 2003 clash. He left Joppy's entire face badly swollen like a bubble.
"I would love to go in there and get my knockout. That would stop my drought. The last time I had a knockout was Oscar de la Hoya. I've been in a drought for many years, but I'll take a good beat-down, sort of like a William Joppy type of beat-down," Hopkins said.
"It'd probably be better for Pascal to get knocked out than take a 12-round beating because we know that everybody that fought, well, not everybody, but most of the young fighters that were in the ring with me for more than eight to ten rounds weren't the same after that. I don't have to mention any names, we know who they are."