Philadelphia's Bernard Hopkins, the No. 7-ranked boxer in SI.com's most recent pound-for-pound ratings, is fighting WBC and Ring light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal on Saturday at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City (10 p.m. ET/PT, Showtime).

Hopkins, who turns 46 on Jan. 15, can surpass George Foreman as the oldest boxer in history to win a major world title. Foreman was 45 years and 299 days when he knocked out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title in 1994; Hopkins will be 38 days older Saturday against Pascal, the 28-year-old who upset Chad Dawson in August to capture the 175-pound title.

Pascal, a Canadian citizen who was born in Haiti, is a still a relative unknown in the United States, but he gained instant renown among hardcore fans in August when he upset the recognized light heavyweight champion Dawson, who was undefeated and a consensus pound-for-pound choice. Before that, Pascal became the first to defeat the tough Adrian Diaconu (repeating the feat in a rematch) and acquitted himself nicely in an exciting loss to Carl Froch. Already a star north of the border -- more than 15,000 tickets for Saturday's bout were sold within 48 hours of the on-sale date -- Pascal handpicked Hopkins as an opportunity to build a legacy of his own.

Hopkins, who held the middleweight title from 1995 until 2005, had already locked up first-ballot Hall of Fame status before turning 40. Since then, he's arguably surpassed Foreman and Archie Moore as the greatest quadragenrian fighter in history. He's fought nine times since his 40th birthday, including: a unanimous decision over Howard Eastman in a division-record 20th consecutive middleweight title; two razor-thin decision losses to then-up-and-coming Jermain Taylor, who was 13 years his junior; a lopsided unanimous decision over Antonio Tarver for the Ring light heavyweight title; another lopsided decision over fellow pound-for-pounder Winky Wright; a controversial decision loss to Joe Calzaghe; a points whitewash of middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik that derailed his career. He's a masterful tactician, perhaps our generation's finest thinking-man's fighter, with a peerless ability to make adjustments on the fly. But the Pavlik coup was more than two years ago -- and subsequent victories against Enrique Ornelas and a rematched with a faded Roy Jones Jr., were fully deserved but hardly impressive.

Pascal is a fast and athletic risk-taker who likes to step inside, deliver explosive combinations and dart out of range. He proved his credentials as a brawler as the underdog against Froch in a Fight of the Year candidate and a pair of bouts against the rugged Diaconu. He's aggressive and sometimes wild, tendencies Hopkins has shown he can leverage to his advantage.

Even as Hopkins' knockout power has diminished -- his last stoppage came against Oscar De La Hoya in 2004 -- the North Philadelphia boxer-puncher remains one of the sport's trickiest opponents. While "The Executioner" may no longer have the physical tools to go toe-to-toe with an in-his-prime champion like Pascal, he'll try to outfox his opponent with shrewd counterpunching and awkward tactics. He's always been one of the game's most effective practitioners of psychological warfare, though Pascal to his credit has seemed unaffected by Hopkins' gambits thus far. The biggest question is whether a nearly-46-year-old Hopkins, who's always had trouble with speedy opponents (like Jones and Calzaghe), can overcome the agility Pascal brings to the table.

Oddsmaker William Hill lists Hopkins as a 2-to-1 underdog.

Hopkins says boxers don't retire from the ring; the ring retires boxers. Say what you want about his advanced age or defense-oriented style, but Hopkins realizes he can still be competitive against whoever is in front of him, which equals more fights, which equals more justified paydays and more chances to compete at what he loves to do. Yes, Father Time is undefeated, and Hopkins is at an age where it could all go south very rapidly. Is Saturday the night when it finally happens? Maybe. Pascal is young and strong, but he's raw. I'm skeptical about Hopkins' ability to win a decision in a building with more than 16,000 screaming Pascal fans. He'll need to make it convincing. I believe he will. Hopkins by a unanimous decision.

Join the conversation about Pascal-Hopkins on Twitter. Track the hashtag #PasHop to see who's tweeting what about Saturday's fight.

· @GoldenBoyBoxing (Golden Boy Promotions)

· @OscarDeLaHoya (Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions president)

· @SHOsports (Showtime Sports)

· @jeanpascalchamp (Pascal)

· @THEREALBHOP (Hopkins)

· @ChrisMannixSI (SI.com's Chris Mannix)

· @BryanAGraham (SI.com's Bryan Armen Graham)

· @timdalhberg (Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press boxing columnist)

· @danrafaelespn (Dan Rafael, ESPN.com boxing columnist)

· @NYPost_Willis (George Willis, New York Post boxing columnist)

· @AntonioTarver (Showtime boxing analyst; former light heavyweight champion)

· @AlBernstein (Showtime boxing analyst)

· @DeBlaz (Chris DeBlasio, Showtime Sports)

· @kellyswanson1 (Kelly Swanson, Hopkins' publicist)

· The fight will be televised live on Showtime in the United States at 10 p.m. ET/PT and distributed live on pay-per-view in Canada on Canal Indigo, Bell TV, Shaw TV and Viewer's Choice in French and English at 7 p.m. ET.

· Showtime's Steve Albert, Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver will be calling the main event and undercard, with Jim Gray reporting from ringside.

· A stacked undercard includes the returns of former junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (against Michael Lozada) and top middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs (against Jesse Orta). Also fighting is much-talked-about British heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury (against Galen Brown).

· The referee for the fight is Canadaian native Michael Griffin. Here's a look at his resume.

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