Hopkins 175, Ornelas 173 1/2

Posted Dec. 1, 2009 at 04:59pm

By Doug Fischer

Bernard Hopkins (left) and Enrique Ornelas (right) engage in an intense staredown following Tuesday's weigh-in in Philadelphia, Penn. The light heavyweights will battle in a 12-round main event at The Liacouras Center on Wednesday. Photo / Jeff Fusco-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

Former middleweight and light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins weighed in at 175 pounds Tuesday for his 12-round bout against Enrique Ornelas at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Ornelas weighed in at 173½ pounds for the light heavyweight match, which will be televised on the Versus cable network (in the U.S.) beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Liacouras Center doors open at 5 p.m. The first bell rings at 6 p.m. ET.

The undercard fighters will weigh in on Wednesday at the Sofitel Philadelphia hotel. The undercard includes Philadelphia natives Danny Garcia (14-0, 9 knockouts) and Karl Dargan (5-0, 2 KOs), as well as 20-year-old prospects Derrick Wilson (5-0-1, 2 KOs) and Jesse Vargas (6-0, 2 KOs).

Garcia, a heavy handed junior welterweight, will face veteran Enrique Colin (29-5-3, 24 KOs) in the co-feature to Hopkins-Ornelas. Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez believes the 10-round bout will be Garcia's toughest test to date.

Wilson, a whirlwind of a junior featherweight, turned heads in the boxing community when he iced fellow prospect Charles Huerta in one round in July.
The Ft. Myers, Fla., resident will face Guadalupe DeLeon (7-9, 4 KOs), a 30-year-old journeyman from Mission, Texas, in a six-round bout.

Vargas, a Las Vegas-based junior welterweight who is signed to Mayweather Promotions, will face a fellow unbeaten fighter in Hector Ramos (3-0, 1 KO) in a six-round bout. Gomez describes Vargas as a "hell of a fighter."

"Vargas reminds me of a young (Antonio) Margarito because he applies constant pressure, but with a little more polish," Gomez said. "He trains with Roger Mayweather and has been taught to throw straight punches and nice combinations."

Dargan, a talented lightweight and former amateur standout, will face journeyman Samuel Santana (2-3-2) in a six-round bout.

The Versus broadcast of Hopkins-Ornelas opens with a same-day tape-delay telecast of the Roy Jones Jr.-Danny Green cruiserweight bout from Australia. If Hopkins and Jones are victorious, they are scheduled to meet in a pay-per-view event in March.

Should the Jones-Green fight end early enough, there is a chance that one or two of the Hopkins-Ornelas undercard bouts could make the Versus broadcast. The Garcia-Colin and Wilson-DeLeon are the slated swing-bouts according to Gomez.

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