Sooner or later, Father Time catches up with every age-defying athlete. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar eventually stopped tossing in skyhooks, Morten Andersen stopped kicking field goals and Julio Franco stopped swinging a baseball bat.

More than most sports figures in his sparsely populated 40-plus age bracket, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins has warded off the inevitable ravages of time. At 44, he remains one of the three or four finest pound-for-pound boxers in the world, a level of excellence that, on the face of it, should be inconceivable for someone who has made his living these past 21 years by swapping punches in the prize ring.

Then again, the North Philadelphia native has had plenty of time to rest up. He has not fought since Oct. 18, 2008, when he again fooled the oddsmakers by scoring a ridiculously easy unanimous decision over previously undefeated Kelly Pavlik, 17 years his junior.

On the basis of that performance, Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) received another award yesterday at a news conference to announce his Dec. 2 bout against Enrique Ornelas (29-5, 19 KOs) at the Liacouras Center. John DiSanto, of Philadelphia Boxing History, presented Hopkins with a bronze statuette of 1970s middleweight terror Bennie Briscoe to signify his selection as Philly's 2008 Fighter of the Year.

"This man is a legend," said Hopkins' trainer, Naazim Richardson. "You're going to regret it that he was right here for you to see if you don't come out on Dec. 2. You want to be able to tell your kids and grandkids, 'I saw Bernard Hopkins fight at the Liacouras Center.' "

The Ornelas bout (which will be televised by Versus) will be Hopkins' 10th in his hometown, but his first since March 29, 2003, when he defended his undisputed middleweight championship by defeating terrified French challenger Morrade Hakkar, who quit on his stool after eight rounds at the First Union (now Wachovia) Center. Before that, you'd have to go back to Nov. 23, 1993, when Hopkins whacked out Wendall Hall in three rounds at the Blue Horizon, to find a Philly entry on B-Hop's Hall of Fame-worthy resume.

Ornelas, 29, a resident of La Habra, Calif., by way of his native Mexico, figures to put up stiffer resistance than did Hakkar; Richardson describes him as a "Mexican Joe Frazier," which suggests he at least will stand and trade instead of constantly retreating.

But Ornelas mostly represents a means to an end for Hopkins. If all goes according to plan and another 40-something boxing legend, Roy Jones Jr. (54-5, 40 KOs), clears his Dec. 2 hurdle against Danny Green (27-3, 24 KOs) in Sydney, Australia, the two golden oldies would meet sometime in early 2010 in a rematch of their May 22, 1993, showdown, in which Jones won the vacant IBF middleweight title on a unanimous decision in Washington's RFK Stadium.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said two dates, Feb. 27 and March 13, have been reserved for Jones-Hopkins II at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"This is a fight I have to win for the big picture, so I take it very seriously," Hopkins said. "See, I need to be pushed. I'm on a tightrope a thousand feet up with no safety net every time I step in that ring. That's how I take boxing and that's how I take life."

In case Ornelas didn't quite grasp the meaning of Hopkins' message, it simply is that he can't expect the living legend to take him lightly while looking ahead to Jones. *