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.

Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao will square off on November 14. It's just one of many compelling fights closing out the 2009 boxing year. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

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With one million people having bought last Saturday night's Mayweather-Marquez fight, the hope now is that a few more eyes might be on the boxing world right now. Frankly speaking, other recent superfights (Hatton-Pacquiao, de la Hoya-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Hatton, de la Hoya-Mayweather) haven't helped feed the idea that too many fans stick around past the casual event. The machine that is the UFC has done a phenomenal job not just bringing fans in, but keeping them interested.

Boxing, while far from the struggling sport it's made out to be often (it's a niche sport), hasn't been able to do that on a large scale. But there's an incredible slate of fights to close out 2009, and don't be fooled into thinking you should only pay attention to the big event fights. There's a lot more out there than just your Mayweathers and Pacquiaos.

September 26: Vitali Klitschko v. Chris Arreola, Heavyweights, HBO

Tomorrow night, Klitschko (37-2, 36 KO) and Arreola (27-0, 24 KO) will battle it out for some form of heavyweight supremacy. Yes, yes, it's hard to keep track of the titles. Vitali's brother, Wladimir, is currently the world heavyweight champion, but with Wlad on the shelf, Vitali is the best out there (and some will argue it's that way even when Wlad is healthy). Arreola is a gutsy, wild-swinging brawler that hopes he has the punch and chin to stand up to the powerful, technically-sound, but 38-year old and creaky Klitschko. It might not last long, and it might not be pretty, but chances are, someone's getting knocked out.

October 17: Arthur Abraham v. Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch v. Andre Dirrell, Super Middleweights, Showtime

The Super Six World Boxing Classic is shaping up to be a breakthrough way of promoting fights, and it's an idea anyone can get behind. Showtime, other major TV networks across the world, and several promoters all pitched in to get six of the best 168-pounders in the world together for a tournament, starting with a round-robin phase, then taking the top four and putting them into a single elimination format. These two fights will be the tournament's first.

Abraham (30-0, 24 KO) will meet what promises to be his toughest test yet from former undisputed middleweight champion Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO). Taylor's had a rough go of it in recent times, but every one of his three losses have come in good fights, one of them (his first loss to Kelly Pavlik in 2007) a classic. He's as hungry as ever, partially because he knows he needs a good showing. Froch (25-0, 20 KO) keeps defying the skeptics who say he's too slow, having beaten two faster men (Taylor and Jean Pascal) in his last two outings, both in fantastic fights. Young American Dirrell (18-0, 13 KO) is untested but highly skilled.

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Librado Andrade and Lucian Bute fought to a controversial decision last year. On November 28, they go at it again. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jacques Boissinot)

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When Lucian Bute and Librado Andrade meet for the second time on November 28, it's a safe bet that a lot more people will be paying attention than they did for the first tussle between the two in 2008.

That night, Bute largely dominated 11 rounds before succumbing to a brutal assault from the tireless Andrade in the final round, the fight ending under controversial circumstances and a fire storm surrounding referee Marlon B. Wright, who some believe gave Bute too much time to recover from a knockdown, and others believe blatantly did not call knockdowns beforehand, with Bute wobbling around the ring, holding himself up with the ropes.

Whatever you thought, you were left excited, and I don't think anyone held anything against Bute, a classy fighter who came to a later Andrade fight to cheer on his former opponent. He's even done the right thing, giving Andrade a rematch.

Showtime televised the first fight, and this time, HBO has decided to snatch up the action. Bute and Andrade will main event a promising Boxing After Dark card from the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, and have just finished a six-city tour of the province, according to FightNews.com.

Both fighters sound like they're anticipating the bout just as much as fight fans are. Bute had this to say:

"I'll be ready. I made some mistakes last October. It'll be different this time."

But Andrade, in warrior fashion, wins for best quote:

"I ran out of time last time. But I did what I had to do. Make no mistake, I got to him. It's the beginning of a rip, and we're going in there to tear it apart."

I know some people really think Andrade deserved to win that fight, but I'm not really in that camp. I think it's indisputable if you go back and look at the tape that Bute beat the count, and would have beaten any count (he was up by about an eight-count). Whether you think it should've been stopped as Andrade chased him around the ring is another story, I suppose.

If Andrade beats Bute in the rematch, it will be a genuine upset. Bute is simply a far more skilled boxer, which takes nothing away from Andrade, who has gotten a long way on very few strengths. He's a good puncher with a ridiculous will to keep going, and he takes a shot as good as anybody. But he's also slow, flat-footed, and predictable, and I think he knows that, too. He wins because he finds ways to get at his opponents, ways that men with lesser desire and toughness would never uncover.

Lucian Bute and Librado Andrade will settle their unfinished business on November 28, with HBO televising this time around.

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Rick Reeno reports that the highly-anticipated rematch between IBF super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute and the relentless Librado Andrade will take place on November 28, most likely in Montreal, with HBO televising instead of Showtime.

This is one of those rematches that has to happen given the controversy around the first fight, and it's also one of those rematches that I think winds up being pretty predictable. Bute clearly outclassed Andrade in the first fight, until he ran out of gas late in the fight and got caught. Whatever you think of the count, I think most of us can agree that referee Marlon B. Wright handled the situation very poorly and lost control of the ring. Wright is the real reason the rematch is happening. I expect Bute to widely (not easily) outpoint Andrade.

It also seems curious that HBO is the network for the rematch, should that prove to be true. The timing is odd, but makes sense. With Showtime's super middleweight tournament, they all but control the 168-pound division, which in my view is legitimately the best in the sport. Bute has been a "Showtime fighter" for a while now, and HBO coming in and grabbing him could have ramifications. If Bute were to stay unbeaten at 168 through the entire time the tournament runs, the way to crown a legitimate world champion at the end of it all would be the winner against Bute, and HBO would probably have more money to make that happen than would Showtime. Kelly Pavlik's comments were annoying, but they weren't without truth

I'd also guess some of this stems from Bute and his team being unhappy with the lack of invite for the tournament, though Showtime has said he simply rejected an invitation. I'm also curious about that whole deal. Why would Showtime lie? They've got a great tournament even without him, and part of me wonders if Bute got the invitation, and he and his handlers decided it was a pipe dream and just went, "Thanks, but no thanks."

• If Vic Darchinyan chooses to vacate his IBF junior bantamweight title, there's talk that the belt could be up for grabs between mandatory challenger Simphiwe Nongqayi and Jorge Arce. That's fair enough. 115 is such an empty division that Arce is still top five-ish, and Nongqayi isn't an entirely unreasonable mandatory scaled against some of the other loads of crap we've seen come down the pipe and challenge for titles. Nongqayi beat Arce's brother, Francisco, in April to win the title shot. Jorge recently won the sanctioning body's international title with his stoppage of Fernando Lumacad.
• Ricky Hatton is in the hospital right now, but it doesn't sound like anything serious. Of course, since it's Ricky Hatton, it's big news that he probably has food poisoning. They say it's not swine flu.
• Ken Norton had a statue erected in his honor in his hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois. Congrats, Ken.
• Branson Wright of The Plain-Dealer wrote an article praising Kelly Pavlik for not taking part in the super middleweight tournament, as if he were invited for one thing, and as if he's some hotshot superstar about to make a ton of money for another thing. Ohio-based coverage of Pavlik is really weird; there's nothing else like it in American boxing. They're fanatical, support basically every single thing he says or does, and are in love with him in a way that reminds me of British coverage of their fighters. I'm not saying that's good or bad, I just find it interesting. And like the Brits (I say this with love, guys), they appear to be self-deluding over Pavlik in Ohio.
• Speaking of the Brits, here's a fine article on Amir Khan.
• Sebastian Sylvester and Giovanni Lorenzo will meet for the vacant IBF middleweight title on September 19 in Germany.