Hopkins vs. Dawson Predictions: B-Hop Will Defy Father Time Again in Big Victory

At the age of 47, most boxers are long retired, but Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins isn't like most fighters. Despite being just three years from earning his AARP card, B-Hop is The Ring and WBC light heavyweight champion and will defend his title for a second time against "Bad" Chad Dawson on Saturday.

The first bout was marred by controversy as Dawson lifted Hopkins early in the fight and essentially dumped him out of the ring. Hopkins was unable to continue, so Dawson was shockingly awarded a TKO victory. Hopkins and his camp rightfully appealed the decision and it was eventually overturned as the match was ruled a no contest and the title was returned to Hopkins.

A rematch was put in place by the WBC, so there should be plenty of bad blood between Hopkins and Dawson. At 29 years if age, Dawson has a considerable advantage in the youth department and just one blemish on his record and because of that he is considered a huge favorite to beat Hopkins and perhaps send him into retirement.

This isn't the first time that Hopkins has been an underdog, though, so odds aren't going to scare him. Hopkins has defeated Felix Trinidad, Kelly Pavlik, Antonio Tarver and others as a significant underdog, so there is no reason why he can't do the same against Dawson. This isn't B-Hop's first rodeo so Dawson can't do anything to knock him off his game.

You would think that Hopkins' body has to give out on him at some point, but he has yet to show signs of it happening. People have been worried about Hopkins' age since before he even turned 40, but he's still going strong seven years later. Dawson may have the physical advantage in this fight, but Hopkins' experience simply can't be discounted.

It certainly can't be easy for Dawson to enter this fight as a -400 favorite against a future Hall of Famer like Hopkins. Dawson tried to take the easy way out last fight and it almost worked. That tells me that Dawson was intimidated and trying to assert his dominance, but Hopkins is well aware of his tricks now and won't be pushed around.

Hopkins is a master when it comes to making his opponents feel uncomfortable in the ring because of his smash-mouth style and that is something Dawson will have to deal with. When it comes down to it, Dawson's best bet may be to go for a knockout early as it will be extremely difficult to defeat "The Executioner" on the scorecards.

Dawson hasn't exactly been a model of consistency over his past few fights as he lost to Jean Pascal, beat Adrian Diaconu and then cheated against Hopkins. He most definitely isn't as unbreakable as the betting odds would suggest and that makes him a very vulnerable opponent for a boxer as savvy as Hopkins.

There hasn't been any sort of noticeable drop off in Hopkins' performance over the past couple years, so I can't imagine that he's ready to hang the gloves up. Hopkins isn't a fighter who needs any extra motivation, but Dawson had to spark something deep inside Hopkins with his antics last fight, and that will be a main contributing factor in another victory for the ageless wonder.