NEW YORK -- Bernard Hopkins sat in a chair at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, getting his hands wrapped by trainer Nazim Richardson, looking as fit as any 48-year-old on the planet.

Hopkins looked and sounded on Tuesday afternoon as if he was ready to teach another pup that the old dog has a set of tricks that would again prevent youth from prevailing.

His foe Saturday night at Barclays Center, 31-year-old Tavoris Cloud, had done a workout for the press before Hopkins, and then chatted with media. The IBF light heavyweight champ spoke confidently of getting his hand raised at the end of the night, but it was the elder statesman Hopkins who drew most attention at the venerable training facility.

In the lead-up to the bout, Hopkins has talked about being motivated by the promise of shutting down the promotional company of Don King, Cloud's promoter and top client. But at Gleason's, he offered some reasons why he'd prevail in the light heavyweight scrap, and lobbied for his exploits to be treated with more reverence by the mainstream press and fans.

The Philly-based hitter told the media that he is 100 percent healthy entering this bout and repeated that assertion a few times for effect.

"I'm not saying you're going to see a new Bernard Hopkins," he said, "I'm too old for that crap."

But, he noted, some time off has done him good. Shoulder woes from his first fight with Chad Dawson, in October 2011, have healed up, and he hasn't fought since losing a rematch to Dawson on April 28, 2012.

Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) brought up his age, 48, time and again. If he beats Cloud, he will break his own record, the one he set when he beat then IBF champ Jean Pascal on May 21, 2011, to become the oldest man (at age 46) to win a world title. George Foreman, at age 45, had held the mark.