Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins has made history before at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and now he is going back to try to make some more in the first defense of his second 175-pound title reign.

Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Thursday that Hopkins’ Oct. 15 defense against former titleholder and mandatory challenger Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs), a fight that has been set for more than a month, is headed for the Staples Center.

“It does look like it will be at the Staples Center,” Schaefer said. “It’s probably 95 percent it will be there. I am just working with them to finalize our deal.”

In February 2005, Hopkins, the longtime middleweight champion before he moved up in weight, outpointed Howard Eastman at the Staples Center to record his division-record 20th (and final) middleweight title defense.

“We had a great crowd when Bernard did his historic 20th title defense and now he will do his first defense of the historic title he won against (Jean) Pascal,” Schaefer said. “I think Los Angeles boxing fans, Los Angeles sports fans, the celebrities — I think they like these kind of meaningful events. Staples Center is very excited about it.”

Schaefer had been negotiating a deal to put the fight on at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. However, Schaefer said the deal went south when building officials insisted on the involvement of Main Events, which has a close relationship with the Prudential Center and has done several boxing events there. Schaefer declined to involve Main Events in the promotion. He said he had also looked into the Izod Center in the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, N.J.

Both of those arenas are not far from Hopkins’ hometown of Philadelphia. However, Schaefer, whose office is walking distance from Staples Center, has a close relationship with Staples Center officials.

On May 21, Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) made boxing history again when he became, at 46, the oldest fighter ever to win a world championship, outpointing Pascal in a rematch of their December draw to win the light heavyweight title at the Bell Centre in Pascal’s hometown of Montreal.

The fight will headline an HBO PPV card. Schaefer and Gary Shaw, Dawson’s promoter, have been working on the undercard.

WRITTEN BY Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter & FULL STORY HERE