By Jake Donovan (photo by Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages)

Bernard Hopkins did his job. Roy Jones didn’t.

Now what?

Even with the long overdue rematch between ring legends hitting the scrap pile the moment most Americans awoke Wednesday morning, it was still business as usual for the 44-year young Hopkins.

The former undisputed middleweight champion returned to the ring for the first time since his masterful dismantling of Kelly Pavlik more than a year ago, this time easily turning away the challenge of determined but ultimately outgunned Enrique Ornelas at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hopkins weighed in at the light heavyweight limit of 175 lb; Ornelas a shade lighter at 173 ½ for their 12-round bout that topped a card which aired live on VERSUS network.

The hometown crowd rallied hard behind their legendary local hero from the ringwalk al the way until the opening bell. But only as Hopkins can, action quickly came to a grinding halt, as boxing’s ageless graybeard refused to allow Ornelas to fight at any semblance of a brisk pace.

Ornelas remained unfazed by Hopkins’ bag of tricks, putting forth his best effort to impose his will on his veteran foe. He enjoyed modest success in the opening two rounds, but Hopkins came on strong in the third, taking the fight to Ornelas for the first time in the fight.

An exchange of straight right hands early in the fourth prompted Hopkins to go into boxer mode, bouncing on his toes while shooting his jab. It hardly slowed down Ornelas, who was persistent on forcing an inside fight throughout the night. Both fighters went to the body late in the round before ending the frame in a clinch, drawing a brief smattering of boos.

A right hand from Ornelas briefly swayed the crowd midway through the fifth round, drawing a round of “ooh’s” as he connected on the inside. Hopkins threatened to fall behind, but managed to smother Ornelas and dig to the body towards the end of the round while minimizing the incoming by providing no room for his opponent to get off his punches.

With the fight much closer than expected through five, Hopkins went to work early in the sixth. A combination upstairs had Ornelas briefly shook, though the Mexican came right back moments later with a right hand of his own that landed on Hopkins’ ear.

A fair amount of two-way clinching marred what threatened to become an action-packed round, though Hopkins came on in the final minute of the round, landing right hands and offering enough movement to prevent Ornelas from effectively responding.

Hopkins rediscovered the Fountain of Youth formula in the seventh. Several right hands found their way upstairs, along with a bolo punch to the body that momentarily caused Ornelas to double over. The eighth wasn’t quite as adventurous, though still with Hopkins well in control.

Having dropped the past several rounds, Ornelas did his best to slug his way back into the fight. A fast-moving ninth round saw the Mexican land his best punch of the fight, a left hook that caught Hopkins on the chin.

Things slowed a bit in the tenth, but picked up in the championship rounds (even though no actual championship was at stake). An exchange of right hands drew the crowd of their seats midway through the 11th, but Hopkins quickly regained control and closed the round strong with a combination straight down the middle.

With the house on its feet, both fighters came out throwing in the 12th and final round. Two way action ensued, but was interrupted by a clash of heads that had Ornelas believing something was amiss with his left eye.

Hopkins was warned for the infraction, but used it as motivation as he unloaded to the body, causing Ornelas to clinch in order to remain upright. The brave Mexican would last the distance, but not before enduring another body attack in the closing seconds of the bout.

Scores were 118-110, 120-109 and 119-109, all in favor of Hopkins, who improves to 50-5-1 (32KO). The win marked his first ring appearance in nearly 14 months, though showing little sign of ring rust or of his being a middle-aged prize fighter.

“Credit to Ornelas (now 29-6-1, 19KO) for coming to fight. He didn’t come to lay down. He took some great shots; I took some great shots. I think for 44 years old my engine level was fantastic. I threw punches like crazy.”

The lingering question now is, at whom he will next get to throw more punches.

The game plan going into the day was for Hopkins and Roy Jones to square off next March, but Jones obviously failed to live up to his end of the bargain when he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Danny Green earlier in the day in Australia.

“This means nothing,” was Hopkins’ immediate response, though proceeding to express disappointment over the fight being stopped with Jones on his feet. His analysis was obviously one from a jaded view, failing to see Jones was no longer able to defend himself, or even realizing where the fight took place (“Everyone knows what happens when you go to Europe”).

Rather than dwelling on what will not happen, Hopkins now moves forward with his latest dream in what most believe will be the final lap in a legendary run.

“I will be heavyweight champion in 2010.”

TELEVISED UNDERCARD

“Swift” Danny Garcia was showcased in the live televised co-feature, fighting in a scheduled 10-round bout for the first time in his young career. The undefeated Philly prospect only needed two of them to stop overmatched journeyman Enrique Colin.

The fight was a mismatch long before the opening bell, and proved to be as much in real time. Garcia scored knockdowns in each of the first two rounds. The first came late in the first round, when Colin missed with a right, leaving himself open for a left hook that rocked him and a right hand that dropped him for an eight count.

Beating the count only prolonged the inevitable for Colin, who was eventually put out of his misery early in the second. A straight right hand flattened the Mexican, with no count required as the fight was stopped on the spot.

The official time was 0:55 of round two.

Garcia improves to 15-0 (10KO) with the win, his fifth of the year, including his third straight knockout. Big plans are in store for the Shelly Finkel-managed prospect in 2010. Hopefully a considerable upgrade in competition is on the menu.

While fighters are entitled to a soft touch or two during the developmental stage, Colin, who drops to 29-6-3 (24KO) had no business being in the ring on this night. The fight comes just six weeks after having been dropped and stopped in his native Mexico, not to mention his moving up in weight for this assignment.

Colin has now suffered back-to-back second round knockouts, with all but one of his six losses coming well inside the distance.

With plenty of time to kill, Derrick Wilson gained airtime in a televised swing bout. For the second time in as many fights, Wilson was involved in a shocking result on the VERSUS Fight Night Series, only this time not to his liking.

Fighting for the first time since scoring an upset knockout over Charles Huerta earlier this summer, Wilson had his hands full with rugged journeyman Guadalupe De Leon, who crept closer to .500 after scoring a well deserved split-decision in a considerable upset. 

Wilson came out in the opening round fighting like a man intent on history repeating itself. De Leon was more economical with his punch selection, landing at a higher percentage but throwing and landing few punches in the first three minutes as Wilson set a busy pace.

The following three rounds became boxing’s version of the tortoise and the hare. De Leon slowly but surely gained control of the fight, while Wilson struggled to rediscover his rhythm, finding himself outworked in the middle rounds before both fighters closed strong.

Credit to at least two of the three judges, who simply saw it as they score it, even if it meant a sub .500 fighter knocking off a previously undefeated prospect. Wilson won on Alan Rubenstein’s scorecard by an unacceptable 39-37, a card that was overruled by matching tallies of 39-37 in favor of De Leon.

It’s by far the biggest win of De Leon’s career, improving to 8-9 (4KO) as he snaps a three-year, seven-fight losing streak in the process.

Wilson suffers his first loss as a professional as he falls to 5-1-1 (2KO). 

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions East.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .