Boxing on TV this weekend: Hopkins vs Kovalev and Ajisafe vs Dickinson

Can the 49-year-old 'Alien' beat the Krusher?

Hopkins enters the ring in his memorable 'Alien' mask (GETTY IMAGES)

This weekend offers two boxing events on television, as the oldest World Champion in history faces off against one of the most powerful punchers in the world, while on terrestrial television a rematch takes place with the British light heavyweight title up for grabs.

Ajisafe vs Dickinson, Saturday night 10.00pm, Channel 5

Boasting one of the slickest styles in British boxing, Bob Ajisafe has had a frustrating career since he turned professional in 2007, having had only 15 fights over the course of his career, amassing a 13-2 record. Ajisafe won the British title back in March against Dean Francis in a very entertaining contest, and his clash with Travis Dickinson is the final of Channel 5’s light heavyweight tournament, which has been a success in giving this weight division some much needed attention.

Travis Dickinson turned professional in 2009 under a lot of hype, having defeated George Groves twice in his amateur days, including one win by knockout. Now 17-1, he comes into his fight with Ajisafe after an absolute war back in May against Matty Clarkson, which saw both men down three times before Dickinson won the fight in the sixth round.

These two men have met before, and Ajisafe dominated the contest back in December 2012, winning by a unanimous decision, and giving Dickinson his only professional loss. The question is, has Dickinson improved enough since that schooling to give him a chance in the rematch? Neither men have dynamic stoppage records as professionals, so there is every chance we will go to the scorecards again. The champion is a narrow favourite at 8/13, with Dickinson 6/4.

FRANK WARREN COLUMN:
Unfair on Khan if career is tainted by Islamophobia
All Eubank Jnr has brought to table is aggro
Dealing with Eubank was a nightmare

On the undercard, former heavyweight world title challenger Eddie Chambers looks for his 40th career win, and his fourth of the year under trainer Peter Fury against Brazil’s Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, while there are also appearances for Nick Blackwell, Peter McDonagh, and Yusuf Safa.

Travis Dickinson won the Prizefighter tournament in 2011 (GETTY IMAGES)

Hopkins vs Kovalev, Saturday night 2.00am, BoxNation

When Bernard Hopkins made - and lost, his professional debut back in October 1988, the Berlin Wall still stood, the English Premier League was four years away from creation, and Justin Bieber was still six years removed from existing inside his dad’s testicles. So much has occurred over the past 26 years, but as Paul Simon mused in The Boxer, “after seasons upon seasons, we are more or less the same.”

Now 49-years-old, 55-6-2, and riding a three fight win streak, Hopkins puts his WBA, and IBF titles online against Russia’s Sergey Kovalev, who has won 23 of his 26 fights by knockout.

To put things into perspective, the last time Hopkins stopped an opponent, Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, Kovalev was winning a silver medal at the Russian Championships. After making his professional debut in 2009, Kovalev has smashed his way through opponents, most notably dismantling Nathan Cleverly in his own backyard last year. Although his calibre of opponents has offered futile resistance in recent time, Kovalev’s last five victims had only two losses between them at the time of their fights.

So Hopkins, at almost 50, is fighting a man with intensely scary power, who can also box with great fluidity, has a good defence, and is in the prime of his career at 31. Why then are the bookies not offering massive odds against the man known as the Executioner? Perhaps because every time Hopkins was expected to lose badly, he has pulled out magnificent performances.

He destroyed 34-0 Kelly Pavlik in 2008, drew and then defeated Jean Pascal a couple of years later, and took the 24-0 undefeated record of Tavoris Cloud last year. And that’s just in the last six years. Hopkins was the first man to defeat not just Pavlik and Cloud, but also Felix Trinidad, Glen Johnson, and Joe Lipsey. This is the crossroads fight of all crossroads fights - Hopkins has never been stopped in 65 fights, and Kovalev is unstoppable. Simply mouthwatering.

The undercard in Atlantic City sees 36-1 Luis Carlos Abregu against 20-0 Sadam Ali, with undefeated Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov also in action.

In non televised action this weekend, Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek looks for win number 50 of a lengthy career against countryman Artur Szpilka, with former European middleweight champion Gregorz Proksa on the undercard, while in Germany two former world middleweight champions are in action, as Felix Sturm faces Robert Stieglitz.

Former Scott Quigg victim Stephane Jamoye returns to action in Belgium, while a future opponent for either Quigg or Carl Frampton, America’s Chris Avalos has a warm up bout in Texas.