By Keith Idec

Bernard Hopkins expects Chad Dawson to bounce back Saturday night from his devastating defeat to Andre Ward.

The 48-year-old light heavyweight champion learned first-hand how difficult Dawson is to beat at 175 pounds and anticipates the skilled southpaw to revert to his usual form against Adonis Stevenson.

Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs, 2 NC) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title versus Stevenson (20-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at Bell Centre in Montreal. The 30-year-old Dawson hasn’t fought since Ward dominated him in a super middleweight championship fight Sept. 8 in Oakland, Calif.

“He should beat [Stevenson],” Hopkins said. “I think Chad wants to prove that he gave up too much weight [fighting Ward at 168 pounds]. I think Chad Dawson has better skills than the other guy. The guy’s a big puncher, but to me, if you’re going into the ring and you think a punch is going to get you the victory, you’re really gambling on one thing. I look for Chad Dawson to win this fight by decision.”

Stevenson, a Haitian-born southpaw who lives near Montreal, is 35, yet will participate in the first significant fight of a 6½-year pro career that began when he was 29 largely because of a four-year incarceration.

Dawson, meanwhile, will try to get back on track in this HBO “Boxing After Dark” main event after making what turned out to be a disastrous decision to drop down to 168 pounds for the Ward fight. Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) dropped Dawson three times before Dawson informed referee Steve Smoger he didn’t want to continue in the 10th round.

That thorough victory elevated Ward to the No. 2 spot on most mythical pound-for-pound lists. Hopkins thinks Ward’s overall ability, combined with Dawson’s willingness to move down to Ward’s weight class, make the lopsided loss less damaging to Dawson’s reputation.

“Chad wanted to come down and Chad paid the price,” Hopkins said. “But Andre Ward, I don’t see anybody beating him at 68, not even [Carl] Froch.”

If Dawson wins Saturday night and Hopkins (53-6-2, 32 KOs, 2 NC) makes a successful mandatory defense of his IBF light heavyweight title against Germany’s Karo Murat (25-1-1, 15 KOs) on July 13 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, don’t expect to see Dawson-Hopkins III. They’re the top two light heavyweights in boxing, but Hopkins acknowledged that there’s little public interest in a third fight against Dawson, who defeated Hopkins by majority decision in their rematch 13 months ago in Atlantic City, six months after they settled for a controversial no-contest in Los Angeles.

“As far as me and Chad, there’s no money there,” Hopkins said. “There’s no real motivation or anything there for me to fight him. The styles just don’t mesh together.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.