Can Hopkins keep promise?

So much for the fear there won’t be sufficient action when Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright square off tonight at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The two fighters took care of that concern at Friday’s weigh-in at the Las Vegas hotel.

After both had come in at 170 pounds, the catch weight for this match, Hopkins shoved Wright in the forehead, igniting a scuffle between the two entourages. Calm was soon restored, but not before Freddie Roach, Hopkins’ trainer, fell on the scale and bruised his ribs.

Hopkins may have been trying, one last time, to send a message to Wright, who has been frustrating him throughout the promotional tour by refusing to buy into Hopkins’ typical baiting tactics. Or perhaps Hopkins was sending a message to critics, who have predicted a boring match because of the clash of styles.

Styles make fights. But styles also sometimes make good fights unlikely.

That has been the concern here, especially considering that Hopkins is 42, Wright 35.

Wright (51-3-1, 25 knockouts) is the best defensive fighter in the sport. He has made a career out of standing in the center of the ring, hands plastered to the sides of his face, elbows tucked into his rib cage, forming a shell, a turtle with gloves. And from that position, Wright has attacked, his arms lashing out, inflicting damage and piling up points, before retreating to a defensive posture.

Pleasing to the judges if not the spectators.

Wright won an easy decision over Ike Quartey last December but fought to a draw against Jermain Taylor in his previous bout. Wright has not lost in 7 1/2 years, since being on the short end of a controversial majority decision against Fernando Vargas.

Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 knockouts) has tended to start slowly and play it conservatively in recent matches with the exception of his total dominance of Antonio Tarver 13 months ago. Hopkins, in reviving memories of the man who held the middleweight title for a record 10 years, beat Tarver, 118-109, on all three judges’ scorecards.

But before that, there were consecutive losses to Taylor, one by split decision, one by unanimous decision, both fights in which Hopkins appeared to be conserving his energy for long stretches against his younger opponent.

So could we be looking at a boring match tonight, one in which neither fighter presses the action, one staying in his shell, the other holding back and only the referee showing an interest in picking up the action?

No way, insists Hopkins.

“I am going to make this a fight,” he said. “People are going to be surprised. Brawling is not my style, but if Winky goes into his shell, what do you think I’m going to do, just stare at the guy? If he just stands in the middle of the ring, it will be the easiest $4 million I ever made.”

A few years ago, Hopkins scoffed at the idea he would be making any money in the ring at this point in his life. He had vowed to honor a promise to his mother to quit fighting at 40. But then along came Taylor and a chance for Hopkins to close out his career against the man touted as his middleweight successor.

And then came the rematch.

And then came a chance to move up to light-heavyweight to fight Tarver.

And now?

“I’m pretty sure if [Michael] Jordan could have one more historic event on the court, he’d do it,” Hopkins said. “Why not get that itch, satisfy yourself and be happy, no matter what happens? ....

“I don’t want to have this good-looking new body just to walk around and look handsome.”

Said Wright: “My aim is to make him re-retire, make him wish he never brought my name up.”

And if the fight indeed turns out to be a dud, at least they can always point to the weigh-in.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

steve.springer@latimes.com