ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – One is a rangy, powerful lefty champion with a natural size advantage and a hunger for stardom.

The other is a beefed-up 41-year-old middleweight who’s lost his last two fights but still may have a few tricks up his sleeve.

On Saturday, light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver squares off against Bernard Hopkins in a 12-round fight that will either put an exclamation point on Hopkins’ remarkable career or add his name to the roll call of fighters who overstayed their greatness.

In a battle of counterpunchers, the 6-foot-2-inch left-hander is betting $250,000 that he’ll knock out the aging Hopkins in five rounds or less. Under a clause written into their contract, Tarver has to pay that much to the charity of Hopkins’ choosing if he doesn’t.

Tarver, 37, of Tampa, Fla., is powerful and confident, with a 24-3 record that includes a pair of victories over Roy Jones Jr.

A former Olympic bronze medalist, he sees Hopkins as a retirement-ready relic: Earlier this week, he gave him a gift-wrapped rocking chair at a news conference in New York.

He calls himself “the legend killer.”

“I’m going to take advantage of all of his disadvantages,” said Tarver. “I’m going to go in there and box smart, and when the opportunity comes, I’m going to crush him. That’s basically it. If I hit him and hurt him, I’m going to get him out of there.”

Hopkins, who reigned as middleweight champion for 11 years and 20 fights before dropping two in a row last year, promises some surprises of his own.

The Philadelphia tough guy, who made his pro debut here in 1988 as a light heavyweight, has spent most of his career as a 160-pounder. He lost a unanimous decision to Jermain Taylor in December, his second loss in a row to Taylor.

Tarver thinks Hopkins is biting off more than he can chew in jumping to light heavyweight.

But Hopkins, a 21/2-to-1 underdog in Las Vegas, is clever – and unpredictable.

“He’s very crafty,” said ring historian Bert Sugar, who rates Hopkins among the 10 best middleweights ever. “He’s got an unusual way of getting in with his right hand first, and he’s an excellent counterpuncher.”

Hopkins, who is famous for staying fit even when he has no bout scheduled, trained for five weeks in New Orleans under the tutelage of conditioning coach Mackie Shilstone and trainer Nazim Richardson.

That’s not to say he didn’t eat a few large breakfasts this time around. Since he’s fighting at 175 instead of 160, he has been freed from worrying about making weight. He and Tarver both weighed 174 at the official weigh-in Friday, one pound under the class limit. But he’s in fighting shape, his camp says.

“We had a camp that’s about strategy, that’s about performance, that’s about execution,” said Richardson, who says a key for Hopkins is to fight Tarver from angles, because he’s left-handed.

Tarver, who went up to 210 while serving as on-screen foil to Sylvester Stallone in the upcoming movie “Rocky Balboa,” is back down now. But size won’t decide things, according to Hopkins.

“If you are judging this fight on who’s bigger, then you’re a fool,” said Hopkins, whose pre-fight bluster has been peppered with references to his hero Sugar Ray Robinson – and the Biblical battle of David and Goliath.

The fight, which airs live from Boardwalk Hall at 9 p.m. EDT, is $49.95 on HBO pay-per-view.

“If I’m not a star, a star will be born Saturday night,” said Tarver.

AP-ES-06-09-06 1856EDT