If the 46 year-old can overcome the younger champion on his home soil and take his WBC 175lb Title, “B-Hop” will beat “Big” George’s record by almost six months and claim the sixth world title of his glittering career.
Two-time heavyweight champion Foreman, was 45 years and 299 days when he defeated Michael Moorer for the WBA and IBF Heavyweight Tiltles in 1994 and Hopkins could beat that record by 162 days on the night – re-writing the boxing record books.
Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO’s), held all four of the middleweight titles between 2004 and 2005 and reigned as champion of the division for nearly ten years. He has since campaigned at light-heavyweight after losing his titles to Jermain Taylor in 2005 and has lost just once at the higher limit.
The Philadelphia-born fighter’s only loss at 175lbs so far was against the formidable former super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in a close split decision in 2008 and he has since beaten Kelly Pavlik, Enrique Ornelas and old foe Roy Jones Jr.
His opponent Jean Pascal, has just one defeat in 27 contests after losing to WBC Super-Middleweight Champion Carl Froch in 2008, before moving up to 175lbs and claiming the WBC Title from Adrian Diaconu. The pairs first bout last December ended in a controversial majority draw, with most boxing experts at ringside having Hopkins a clear winner on the night, despite Pascal flooring him twice.
