Bernard Hopkins, 44, may be boxing's most notable "senior," but he's not the only one. Combat sports in general are seeing athletes push on into their mid-40s as top competitors. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Bernard Hopkins will turn 45 on January 15. One day later, his old rival Roy Jones Jr. turns 41.

And if they have their way, the two of them will meet sometime in the months after, in a rematch that has been brewing for almost 17 years.

Both have obstacles to get past on December 2. Hopkins will look to shake off some rust against tough Mexican Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia, Hopkins' hometown where he's never lost (10-0 career). Jones will be in Australia to take on minor cruiserweight titlist Danny Green. Should both win, the papers are already signed and drawn up. They'll meet again in 2010. They fought way back in 1993, with Jones winning a decision that Hopkins considers the only legitimate loss of his career.

They are probably the two best of boxing's 40-plus contingent, but it's a demographic that is changing, and changing the way we think about athletic primes. In other sports, a lot of these late-career surges have come from the use of performance-enhancing substances. Neither Hopkins nor Jones has ever failed a post-fight drug test. The same can't be said of 41-year old James Toney, who has done so twice, but Toney, too, continues on in search of glory.

Really, we're seeing what happens with the continued evolution of training, nutrition, and strength and conditioning coaches that have made age if not nothing more than a number, then at least closer to that old cliche becoming a genuine reality.

Evander Holyfield, 47, keeps looking for another heavyweight title fight. He does so foolishly, but the Holyfield types are becoming more the exception than the rule. Even Jones, once thought to be washed up after back-to-back knockout losses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson a few years back, has rebounded to spring back into legit contention at 175 pounds yet again. Fellow former heavyweight titleholder Oliver McCall, 44, continues to fight as well.

Current WBC cruiserweight titlist Giaccobe Fragomeni of Italy turned 40 in August. Light heavyweight has been chided as a Senior's Tour in boxing the last couple of years, but Glen Johnson (40) and Antonio Tarver (40) are still in the division's top ten for legitimate reasons. Tarver has given no indication that he plans to keep his career going following his second loss to Chad Dawson in May, so he might or might not be out of the conversation soon. Junior middleweight contender Verno Phillips turns 40 in just a couple of weeks.

It's a select few, and Hopkins is certainly one of a kind in boxing. He has never truly slowed down from his prime; he's not the same "Executioner" that made mincemeat of the middleweight division for 10 years, no, but he's a top pound-for-pound fighter even still.

Yet you can't help but wonder if this is going to keep becoming more and more the norm. Shane Mosley is 38 and as a welterweight, has shown no actual signs of getting slower, weaker or older. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is only 32, but has fought in such a way and is so much more than reflexes that if he wanted to, he seems like the kind of guy that could go on forever as a top boxer.

In MMA, some similar things have happened. Surely everyone has heard of Randy Couture by now, the 46-year-old UFC superstar whose career has been amazing to watch. Couture was pulling "Hopkins over Pavlik"-style beatdowns before before Bernard really knew who Pavlik was. Couture has slowed, yes, but still holds his own to say the least.

And Couture is rumored to be facing Mark Coleman at UFC 109 in February. Coleman turns 45 in December. Couture-Coleman nearly happened 11 years old, but was scrapped when Couture was injured. In some ways, Couture-Coleman and Jones-Hopkins II could mirror one another. They're both fights past their due dates, but with some intrigue in both cases, and there will be a fair number of fans looking to turn back the clock with the fighters for both of those bouts.

Fighting is still a young man's game. Scan the top fighters, and generally we're talking about guys who are 26 to 32 years of age. But the dinosaurs are getting harder and harder to kill off, and no matter how many times the younger generation of fighters keeps saying they'll retire before 35, I keep wondering whose fights we'll still be talking about coming next week in 2020.

The December 2 fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Danny Green will air on the Versus Network in the United States. Versus will also show Bernard Hopkins' return against Enrique Ornelas on the same evening. (Photo via resources2.news.com.au)

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Boxing fans in the United States (who don't have DirecTV) will be treated to a special two-fight night of the sweet science on the Versus Network on December 2, as the network has picked up a same-day tape delay airing of Roy Jones Jr.'s fight in Australia with Danny Green to go along with their airing of Bernard Hopkins' return to the ring. Hopkins faces Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia.

The fights, of course, are being set up to get both Jones and Hopkins ready for a 2010 rematch.

I'm glad Versus will be picking up the Jones fight so that we aren't forced to pay PPV prices to see Jones and Green, although Danny Green is Roy's best opponent since Joe Calzaghe took him to the woodshed in 2008. But as much as I thought early on that I was all on board with Jones-Hopkins II, I think I'm starting to change my mind on that one. It seemed neat in theory, but here we are inching toward the reality of the 45-year old Hopkins and the 41-year old Jones (who both celebrate birthdays on back-to-back days in January), and it's starting to really hit home.

Like, seriously? A rematch of a 17-year old bout that wasn't even a good fight?

My mind might wind up changing again, but I also know I'm entirely not too keen on paying the $45 HBO PPV pricetag that Jones-Hopkins II will carry. It's just not a relevant enough fight, especially when I know for damn sure the undercard will stink and that frankly the fight itself will probably be a bore, too. Both of them can talk a big game about going for the KO to get 60% of the purse, but I don't think Jones has enough pop to stop Bernard, and Hopkins has never really fought for knockouts. Do 45-year old dogs learn new tricks? And even if you consider both top five at light heavyweight, which is easy to do, what's next for either after that? Overdue retirement?

I do still find it to be an intriguing style matchup, given that Bernard has struggled with quicker guys that make him work hard in recent years, but is it really that interesting? I don't know. We'll see. After all, I've already changed my mind once.

Also, the Green-Jones fight, for those wondering, is for Green's paper trinket at cruiserweight, and from what I understand they'll be fighting with a 185-pound limit.

Bernard Hopkins and Enrique Ornelas meet on December 2 in Philadelphia. The Versus Network will televise the bout. (Photo via www.goldenboypromotions.com)

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Despite rumors that the Versus Network was pulling back from any involvement with boxing, it looks like Golden Boy Promotions has gotten them pulled back in. In a press release filled with quotes from Bernard Hopkins, Enrique Ornelas and others, it has been made official that Versus will carry the December 2 bout between Hopkins and Ornelas live from Philadelphia.

Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO) hasn't fought since a dominant decision win in October 2008 over middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins will be rooting for old rival Roy Jones Jr. to win on the same day, as Jones faces Danny Green in Sydney, Australia. Should both come out of December 2 victorious, they've agreed and signed off on a rematch in the first quarter of 2010. Jones beat Hopkins via unanimous decision way back in 1993.

Hopkins:

"At the end of the day this fight is not about me. It's not about me because I wanted to do something good and bring something good to Philadelphia. I have to win this fight for the big picture. If I come out of this fight with zero balance in my pocket I am good. I am not looking to get Vegas money or Atlantic City money. We got Versus involved. They are expanding into all different cities. They are putting Philly on the map. We are bringing boxing back to Philly. We are giving back to the community."

Ornelas:

"I am looking forward to the fight. I want everyone to know I am going to train my hardest and it is going to be a great night. Thank you to those who spread the word and make sure you let people know that December 2 is going to be a night fight fans won't want to miss. This is the opportunity of a life time and I am going to step it up and go toe-to-toe with Bernard Hopkins."

Hopkins is also donating a lot of money to charity with this card, and Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy will match his contributions, too. Bernard needed a tune-up fight, and he's using that tune-up fight not just to get himself sharpened up for Jones, but to give back to Philly. You can't argue with that.

Enrique Ornelas (R) will train with his brother, Librado Andrade, as he prepares for a December bout with Bernard Hopkins. Ornelas will in turn help prepare Andrade for Lucian Bute on November 28.

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T.K. Stewart reports that brothers Librado Andrade and Enrique Ornelas will train together in preparation for big fights in November and December, hoping to prepare one another for what would be the biggest wins of their careers.

Andrade (28-2, 21 KO) gets a second crack at IBF super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KO) in Quebec on November 28. HBO will televise on Boxing After Dark. Ornelas (29-5, 19 KO) has been chosen as the tune-up opponent for Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO) on December 2 in Philadelphia. Hopkins is taking the fight to shake off the rust as he looks forward to an agreed-upon but not finalized 2010 rematch with Roy Jones Jr., who fights Danny Green in Australia on December 2.

Andrade over Bute would be a pretty big upset, but we've seen Andrade come close to knocking Bute out before. Ornelas beating Hopkins would be absolutely massive, and would ruin a lot of big-money plans, a shot that Danny Green also has that same day. Ornelas is a natural middleweight, but really so is Hopkins, and the size difference is mostly in Bernard's three-inch reach advantage.

Ornelas is also probably a bit better than his record, which isn't a bad record at all. Four of his five losses have been majority or split decisions, and I felt he deserved a close win over Marco Antonio Rubio on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard, but it was certainly a debatable fight and not really a controversy by any stretch.

I know I should forget about it, too, but fact is Bernard turns 45 in January and hasn't fought since last October. Ornelas will likely look to make it a dogfight, and it's not impossible to imagine him just outworking a guy who's approaching AARP membership. Hopkins is a major favorite and deserves to be, and chances are he just outboxes Ornelas and wins a wide 10-round decision, but crazier things have happened than an old fighter looking really old against a guy he'd manhandle were he in his prime. It's a suitably dangerous fight for Hopkins, one he should win, but not a totally foregone conclusion.

Bute-Andrade II probably excites a lot of people more than it does me, but honestly the more I think about it, I just see Bute outclassing him the way he did for 11 rounds last time. Past Andrade's courageous, awesome 12th round charge, that fight was not close, but then again all you need is that one moment sometimes, and he's proven he can hurt Bute. I figure the closer it gets, the more excited I'll wind up being to see them lock horns again.

According to the Los Angeles Times,  Golden Boy Promotions and Lou DiBella have reached a deal for Shane Mosley to square off against Andre Berto on January 30 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This will end nearly a year of inactivity for Mosley, and the winner of this fight will make a strong case to be in the upper echelons of the pound for pound list.  Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer stated that he expects contracts to be signed later in the week.

This should be an important and interesting fight for a number of reasons.  First, it's a unification bout, and while the top guys have been facing each other for a while now, there actually hasn't been unification of the welterweight belts since Floyd Mayweather dropped a number of his belts after defeating Carlos Baldomir and Zab Judah.  Second, this could be a classic crossroads matchup, with the much older Shane Mosley facing the up and coming Berto.  At times, Mosley has looked as good as he ever has, while at other times it seems like the years have caught up with him.  If the good Mosley shows up, he could really teach Berto a thing or two.  Berto, on the other hand, has been criticized for being hyped up without stepping up.  This certainly is a big step up for Berto, and one he very well may fall off of.  Finally, it actually could be an exciting fight.  Mosley almost always likes to press the action, and while Berto's last fight was a snoozefest, I think Mosley is versatile enough to keep him on his toes and actually fight like he did against Luis Collazo.

Also mentioned in the article, Bernard Hopkins will be taking his tune-up fight on December 2 in Philadelphia against middleweight fringe contender Enrique Ornelas.  Ornelas, Librado Andrade's brother, was last seen losing a competitive fight to Marco Antonio Rubio in an eliminator to face Kelly Pavlik.  While Ornelas is a lot smaller than Hopkins, about 10 skill levels down from Hopkins and absolutely no threat to actually beat Hopkins, it still could be a fun fight to watch, as Ornelas likes to apply pressure, and Hopkins often opens up his arsenal when he knows he has his opponent outclassed.  This is, after all, just a tune-up, but Ornelas seems like an ideal opponent to help drum up interest for a Hopkins-Roy Jones rematch.