Three years ago Karo Murat was being barged around a Birmingham ring by Nathan Cleverly before the referee stepped in to end the one-sided assault before the start of the 10th round.

Murat had showed plenty of bravery, but was clearly outclassed, as the judges’ scorecards showed — he had lost every completed round on two of the scorecards, and won just won one on the third.

But boxing is a strange business and on Saturday night in Atlantic City Murat will be the man tasked with the increasingly realistic opportunity of bringing an end to the remarkable career of 48-year-old Bernard Hopkins.

That a relatively ordinary fighter such as Murat should get the chance is simply how boxing works, in the same way Trevor Berbick shut down Muhammad Ali’s fighting record, or Joey Archer holds the honour of retiring Sugar Ray Robinson.

Murat has done nothing much since losing to Cleverly, rebounding with two low-key wins and a draw before a stoppage win over journeyman Sandro Siproshvili last June proved enough to earn him his shot.
Murat knows the headlines will be saved for Hopkins irrespective of the fight’s outcome.

The veteran rebounded from a 2012 points loss to Chad Dawson with a superb win over previously unbeaten Tavoris Cloud last time out.

Murat believes Cloud was in awe of Hopkins and is grasping for hope in the symmetry of Saturday  night. Hopkins is fighting in the same city in which he lost his professional debut to a nobody called Clinton Mitchell in 1988.

Murat said: “I’m going to surprise a lot of people. He (Hopkins) had his first pro fight in 1988 in Atlantic City, and we are fighting again in Atlantic City.

“So it will be a good closing-out for him to finally retire at my hands. I’ve followed his career since I was 12 or 13 years old. I have all the respect in the world for him.

“But you see the mileage on him. He looks like a 48-year-old. He doesn’t have the speed any more. I’m 30 years old now and I’m physically and mentally on top of my game.

“The time is now to beat Hopkins. When Hopkins fought Cloud, a lot of people said the time had come, but he schooled him and showed the world that he’s still ready.”

Outside the ring Murat endured a tumultuous upbringing before finding his vocation.

He was born and raised in Iraq to Armenian parents who fled the country for Germany to avoid persecution around the time of the first Iraq war.

Murat was persuaded to visit a boxing gym at the age of 12 and quickly adapted to the sport, turning professional in 2006 with three consecutive first-round wins and maintaining a winning record until running into Cleverly in 2010.

Cleverly, who had been hoping for a lucrative shot at Hopkins himself, got tired of waiting and instead took an admirable risk against big-hitting Sergey Kovalev, getting bombed out in the fourth round of their bout in August.

While Cleverly nurses his bruises and continues to consider his future, it is the unlikely figure of Murat who has his chance to make a bit of boxing history on Saturday night.

At Hopkins’s advanced age, he stands every chance.