Hopkins set for title defense


October 11, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Bernard Hopkins changed his tune after his swan song.

He turned back the clock on Father Time.

And he has aged gracefully if grace is defined by pummeling fighters 15-plus years younger than boxing’s grayest graybeard.

Long the master of pre-fight head games, Hopkins has turned to cheek-and-chin games for his latest bout, and first since winning the WBC light heavyweight championship, becoming the oldest fighter to win a major world championship.

At 46, Hopkins won’t duck from the changing hair color on his face.

Tinged with more than a touch of gray, he intends to beat Chad Dawson by a whisker. Well, many whiskers.

So long, “Executioner.” Hello, “Silver Fox.”

“I want to look like his father,” Hopkins said. “I could be his father. It’s appropriate for me to look gray and have gray. If you do the math, he could be my son. I’m 46, he’s 29, I had him early, it all fits into the scheme of the professor versus the good student who wants to be a great student.”

Hopkins has fought off contenders and kids for most of his career while becoming one of the top pound-for-pound fighters of his generation.

For most of the last decade, Hopkins has been defined by his age. How does he still do it? Why? The oldest fighter to box there, achieve that. Age has been more than a number for Hopkins, the Philadelphia native, it’s been the one constant that drives the curiosity factor in all of his bouts.

For now, forget 46.

Hopkins (52-5-2) should be defined as a champion.

Hopkins became the oldest fighter to win a major world championship, taking the WBC light heavyweight title May 21 from Jean Pascal at the age of 46.

He dethroned George Foreman as the oldest boxer to win a world title when he beat Pascal.

Boxing’s ageless wonder will try to defy history again when he defends the title against Dawson (30-1) Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Dawson lost the light heavyweight championship to Pascal before beating Adrian Diaconu in May to earn another title shot.