Bernard Hopkins returns to the ring in his home town of Philadelphia on Wednesday night with his sights set on a heavyweight title showdown next year with Britain's David Haye.

Former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Hopkins, 44, fights the well regarded Enrique Ornelas of Mexico at the Liacouras Centre at Temple University for his first fight in Philadelphia since 2003.

It is a low-key bout for 'The Executioner' as he fights for the first time since dismantling Kelly Pavlik in October last year.

However, with a long-awaited rematch with Roy Jones Jr already set up for March, Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) is looking to emulate his old foe in becoming a middleweight-turned-heavyweight champion in 2010 at the age of 45.

Jones Jr made history in 2003 when he became the first middleweight to win a heavyweight title in more than 100 years after beating John Ruiz.

And Hopkins believes that after Haye took the WBA crown from the 7ft 2in tall Nikolai Valuev four weeks ago, he can add to his legacy in similar fashion.

"I'm going to look good, then I'm going to finish off Roy Jones Jr and then I might become heavyweight champion in 2010," Hopkins said of his fight with Ornelas (29-5, 19 KOs) during a pre-fight media conference call.

Without naming Haye, who is signed to Golden Boy Promotions, the company of which he is East Coast president, Hopkins said a potential fight with the Briton would catch the public's imagination.

"Anything is possible, when a guy beats a guy they call 'The Giant' then things happen," he said.

"Just think outside the box. Think who he's been fighting and who he's going to fight and second of all, what weight did he come from and how did he do it.

"So at the end of the day, when you put these things together, you say to yourself, 'is this something that I would buy?' - 'is this something that I will watch?' and whoever wins or loses you will say 'yes I will buy and watch it, because it's interesting'.

"I've seen things happen in boxing and that's all you need to make a good chemistry.

"Never rule anything out with me. People have ruled me out a lot of times in my life, and that's been my biggest motivation.

"December 2 starts a marathon for me, a marathon of super-greatness and the boxing world are going to be scratching their heads. I'm going to have their attention next year."

With that in mind, Hopkins said there was a lot riding on his fight with Ornelas, being shown on the Versus cable network in the US, a channel best known for showing the Tour de France and hunting programmes.

He continued: "I've got plenty to lose in this fight. I'm not expecting a big front page, I'm expecting to shake off some dust and to get hit a few times.

"And if I want to plan my next three hit-list fights, I have to look at Enrique like he's Roy Jones. If I don't everything is blown."

Hopkins added that Ornelas was a far from ordinary tune-up opponent for him ahead of the Jones rematch.

He explained: "I've waited 17 years for that fight but I wanted to fight this year. We weren't in a rush or a panic but we got Roy to sign and that's pretty big.

"So now, I don't care if we're on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel, I would like to shake off some dust, some rust.

"I'm not crazy. I know I can't jump out of bed and fight anybody out there. That's why I wanted a tough fight against a tough guy like Enrique.

"I wanted someone that can push Bernard Hopkins and if I sleep on it I'll get beat.

"This is going to take me into 2010 with a bigger fish to fry. I will win and I will look impressive."