Bernard Hopkins was beaming in Atlantic City back in October when he downed the much younger Kelly Pavlik. Little did he know that dominant win could be his swan song. At 44 years old, Hopkins is only going to take a big money fight, but the choices are slim and BHop says he's getting the lionshare of the money or he won't fight the likes of Chad Dawson, Tomasz Adamek or even Antonio Tarver. That's right. Tarver a huge underdog tonight against Dawson, would certainly make for a big rematch against Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs), if he puts in a rousing victory.

Hopkins says he's ready to fight someone in September but the terms have to be right:

"I'm not waiting on nobody," Hopkins told Yahoo! Sports. "If it ain't set up by at least June or July, whoever it is, then it's a wrap. It's a done deal. What's the purpose? If a guy's 44 years old, they should be beating his door down."

Listen to Hopkins talk about Dawson and Adamek (2:45 mark):

Hopkins claims that Dawson wants a 50-50 split. Dawson told ESPNRadio1100 on Friday that's not the case:

"We haven't even talked about money. No one's even mentioned anything about money. Let's just fight man. Stop all the bullcrap. I go to the ratings, they have Bernard rated above me. He's one, I'm two. Don't you think one and two should fight? The money will be good for both of us. Let's just fight."

Now word is leaking out that Hopkins is throwing the name Felix Trinidad into the mix. Huh? That set off Keith Idec of the North Jersey Herald:

(Hopkins') penchant for trying to peddle fiction as indisputable fact has become rather ridiculous. No one other than Hopkins, Trinidad and Don King, Trinidad’s promoter, has any interest in seeing Hopkins-Trinidad II.

How, exactly, could this warrant a rematch?

And why does Hopkins think he can conveniently dismiss higher-risk, higher-reward fights against Dawson or cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek in trying to convince everyone that a Trinidad rematch matters?

Idec is right but it's all part of Hopkins' negotiating games. We're not exactly sure why the games are needed with Dawson. If he wins tonight, he sounds like he's going to be pretty reasonable to try and seal a deal with Hopkins. At that point, the ball's in BHop's court. Does he really want to play with the 26-year-old Dawson?