Bernard Hopkins is a dichotomy of antics and warmth

QUEBEC CITY - There he goes again . . .

And again.

The public image of Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins, at times, can be that of someone who is arrogant and abrasive. That would be the Hopkins who twice threw a Puerto Rican flag to the floor in the lead-up to his megafight with Felix Trinidad, who shoved Winky Wright's face at a weigh-in, who dismissed Joe Calzaghe as a legitimate threat to him because, B-Hop sneered, "I would never allow myself to get beat by a white boy."

Then there is the more private perception of Bernard Hopkins, the one known only by the rare few who have earned his trust and respect. That Hopkins forged a special bond with a dying teenager, Shaun Negler, who idolized him. When the cancer-stricken Negler died on Oct. 23, 2008, just 5 days after Hopkins had shocked the boxing world by dominating the much-younger Kelly Pavlik, the North Philadelphia icon took it as hard as any defeat he ever received in the ring.

Both sides of this very complex and intriguing individual have come into play in his preparations for tomorrow night's Showtime-televised matchup of Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs) and WBC and Ring magazine light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KOs) in the Pepsi Coliseum.

It certainly appeared as though Hopkins was playing more mind games at a Wednesday news conference here at City Hall. The usually verbose former middleweight champion limited his comments to three words, which he asked be translated into English for a predominately French-speaking audience. Pascal, a native of Haiti, who relocated to the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec, when he was 4, instructed members of his team not to do so, because, he said, "In this town, we speak French. When I go to the States, you guys speak in English. There is no translation. Now you are in my country. You are not home."

Hopkins' reaction to Pascal's illogical announcement (most Quebecois speak English as a second language) was to snatch the champion's green-and-gold WBC title belt and act as if he was going to leave the podium with it. When Pascal reached to retrieve it, Hopkins hid it behind his back, as might a bullying child playing keep-away with a toy.

Eventually, the belt wound up back in Pascal's possession, but a tense moment never really eased. In the obligatory pose for photographers that followed, the two men got nose-to-nose, and Hopkins kept telling the clearly agitated Pascal, "I'm going to make you quit. I'm going to make you quit."