In the run-up to his fight with Joe Calzaghe on April 19th, Bernard Hopkins offered up another delicious sound byte regarding his opponent. “When I fight Joe Calzaghe, I’m fighting a champion. When Joe Calzaghe fights Bernard Hopkins, he’s fighting a legend.” The always quotable B-Hop was placing his legendary status within the context of his 20-fight reign as middleweight champion, against such fighters as Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya, before moving up to 176 and dethroning Antonio Tarver. Hopkins’ labeling of Calzaghe as a mere “champion” is largely due to the fact that the Welshman has never fought in the United States. But so far Hopkins, a master of ring psychology, has been unable to get inside the mind of Calzaghe—if one can truly measure such an abstraction. And come Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Joe Calzaghe just might be the first person to definitively beat Hopkins since Roy Jones did it fifteen years ago.

First, although Hopkins is an ageless-wonder, a throwback to old-school fighters like Archie Moore and Jersey Joe Walcott who found success in the twilight of their careers, with each fight he gets a little older, meaning his opponent has that much more of a chance of beating him. Jermain Taylor’s controversial wins over Hopkins exposed Taylor’s limited skills but also Hopkins’ difficulty in dealing with Taylor’s agility and athleticism, two things that Calzaghe has—along with sound boxing skills. Second, at 43, Hopkins 48-4-1 (32), is sharp and as savvy as ever, but in his last fight versus Winky Wright he clutched and held his way through a stinker, a fight many thought should have gone to Wright. Wright was a junior middleweight moving up in weight; Calzaghe is the Ring magazine pound-for-pound super middleweight champion. Moving up from 168 to 175 should not affect Calzaghe’s boxing ability, and unlike Wright who looked soft against Hopkins and is not known for his punchin-power, Calzaghe packs considerably more pop and may benefit from the extra seven pounds.

Lastly, Calzaghe, 44-0 (32), is only 36 and is undefeated. Sure, Ricky Hatton was undefeated before he went from 140 lbs to 147 and lost to the best fighter on the planet—Floyd Mayweather Jr.,—but Hopkins is a different fighter than Mayweather, and Calzaghe is a better fighter than Hatton. In 2006 he put on a clinic against then hot American prospect Jeff Lacy and beat him up for twelve rounds, and last November he decisioned dangerous Mikkel Kessler in front of over 50,000 fans.

If Hopkins is assuming the mantle of legend, Calzaghe will be trying to secure his legacy with a win over his legendary opponent. Hopkins said he will negate the volume-punching of his opponent; he talked a good talk before the Wright fight, but his tactics consisted of punching-and-holding and wearing down the smaller Wright. Calzaghe has the hand speed to give Hopkins problems, but B-Hop has the ring smarts to make Calzaghe not want to throw punches. Both fighters wrote articles in the latest issue of Ring magazine detailing why they will win. Hopkins’ piece was more compelling.

But will it translate into a ‘W’ for the old warhorse? If Calzaghe does not allow Hopkins to frustrate him, Hopkins may be in for a long night. Then again, so might Joe Calzaghe.

Prediction: Calzaghe by decision