Bernard Hopkins pushing 50 and shoving opponents around the ring

PHILADELPHIA -- Two months shy of 50, Bernard Hopkins is closing in on the era of his life when he should be thinking about AARP membership. Maybe retire and move to Florida for good with the rest of the Baby Boomers.

Hopkins has laid the smack down on Father Time with more authority than he's ever punished a fighter in the ring.

Now with a moniker of "The Alien," he was better known during championship reigns as "The Executioner," a catchy nickname he crafted for intimidation, not earned because of the careers he killed after scores of fighters were unable to solve his cunning style.

Outthink, outwork, outhustle. Outlast.

He's the Old Man Winner of his sport, making even greats such as Jersey Joe Walcott or Joe Louis look like rookies for fighting only deep into their 30s. And he's not going away.

Neither is his wit. With the challenger-of-the-month club not providing much of a challenge of late, Hopkins has had more fun sparring with the media that cram his workouts at Joe Hand's Gym.

Hopkins turned into a human rain delay with one recent interview, holding off a Q&A by tapping a tape recorder to make sure it's on before he leaned in and started asking questions that he's heard for the better part of a decade.

"Bernard, how do you look? Bernard, how do you do it? Bernard, how long are you going to keep fighting? Bernard, why haven't you retired yet?" Hopkins leaned back with a smile. "I just say sit back and enjoy the ride."

Late last night, Hopkins fought knockout-happy Russian Sergey Kovalev in a unification bout with three of the light heavyweight world titles at stake. Kovalev, with 23 KOs, was a 3-1 favorite.

The aging Philly fighter vs. the Russian juggernaut.

"We have a statue of Rocky and he ain't real," Hopkins said of the fictional Philly champ. "What I'm doing, they couldn't write in a movie."