18.02.04 – By Frank Lotierzo: Can it be, can the proposed match up between undisputed middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins and five division champ Oscar De La Hoya actually be close to being finalized. If this fight does happen, I will be one of the most surprised. In the past I have praised De La Hoya for being one of the few active fighters who has been willing to consistently fight the best fighters in his division. Regardless weather or not you like Oscar, trying to deny him the credit for fighting everybody who was supposed to be somebody, is either short sighted, or you’re naive about the fight game. All that being said, I never thought he’d take a fight with Hopkins. At least not until there were more clear signs that at age 39, he has severely eroded. Which if you go off of his last fight with William Joppy, it doesn’t appear that’s the case.
Although Oscar has always fought the best fighters, usually versus all of his previous opponent’s it was easy to make a case to justify why he could win. Against Hopkins, that is definitely not the case. In fact it’s almost the complete opposite. I can’t see any way he wins against Hopkins. As far as I’m concerned, De La Hoya has one shot versus Bernard. That is Hopkins’ shows up on fight night an empty package. Another words he is Leonard versus Norris, Ali who fought Holmes, or Holyfield in any one of his last several fights. Again, based on Bernard’s last couple fights, that doesn’t look likely.
Hopkins is a very unique fighter in many ways. However, when it comes to how much of his skill and ability that he has retained at such an advanced age for a fighter, he may be at the top of the class. I can’t think of one single fighter who at age 39 has been able to retain so much of their ability. Another thing that makes Hopkins so special is his mental toughness and determination. He is a fighter that you would practically have to beat to death to get him to even think he might not win. B-Hop is a bad man. He is a tough guy and is someone who can handle himself in all situations.
Everyone knows this is a fight that Hopkins’ has longed for. Just look how Felix Trinidad brought out the best in him. If you think that was something special, I can’t imagine how sky high he’ll be for De La Hoya. This proposed fight with De La Hoya will bring even more media attention to him than the Trinidad fight for two reasons. First of all, De La Hoya is a much more well known fighter than Trinidad to the quasi Boxing fan. The other thing that hurt the Hopkins-Trinidad fight was that it was in New York. It took place two weeks after the September 11th Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The last thing on the mind of the World’s media center was a Boxing match. Thus, Hopkins was shorted some of his glory and adulation. That will not be the case if the De La Hoya fight happens.
A fight between Hopkins and De La Hoya is one of the biggest fights that can be made today in Boxing. It is definitely the biggest fight that can be made with the name Hopkins on the Marquee. Which will make Hopkins even more formidable. Against De La Hoya, Hopkins will get everything out.
Couple the fact that Hopkins is the bigger, stronger, and more experienced fighter, exactly how does Oscar pull out a win. Hopkins is taller with a longer reach, he’s the overall sharper and better puncher, and he’s the more versatile fighter. Hopkins can handle Oscar inside and outside, he can beat him either by going on the attack, or he can beat him by countering moving back. Bernard also has the edge in stamina, especially seeing how De La Hoya has faded somewhat down the stretch in a few of his big fights. And lastly, Bernard has the better chin, that is something that cannot be disputed.
Over the next few month’s many will compare this fight to the Hagler-Leonard middleweight title fight back in April of 1987. And that’s a fair comparison, outside of Leonard coming off a nearly three year retirement. Only in my opinion, this is a poor man’s Hagler-Leonard. Although you still have the multi division champ who is the media darling taking on the blue collar established middleweight champ, I think at this stage Hopkins and De La Hoya are slightly more eroded than Hagler and Leonard were. I’ll take 30 year old Leonard over 31 year old De La Hoya every time, and I’d make 32 year old Hagler the favorite over 39 year old Hopkins.
The difference is, I like Hopkins’ chances much better in this fight than I liked Hagler’s. In Leonard, Hagler faced a much tougher style match up than Hopkins will confront in De La Hoya. In the Leonard-Hagler match up, there were things that Leonard was better at than Hagler. It was much easier for me to picture Leonard upsetting Hagler than it is envisioning De La Hoya upsetting Hopkins, presuming Hopkins’s isn’t shot. The only advantage De La Hoya has over Hopkins is age, and better foot speed. Foot speed is something Leonard had an abundance of over Hagler. Which enabled him to win the first three rounds, which is where I believe the fight was won for Leonard and lost for Hagler. From round four on, Hagler and Leonard battled on pretty even ground with Hagler probably getting the better of it slightly. The problem was that Leonard was up three rounds to none going into the fourth round. Over the next nine rounds, Leonard won at least four which gave him the fight 7-5 in my opinion. I don’t see this happening to Hopkins.
The thing that scares me the most about picking Hopkins is one of the things that led me to pick Leonard over Hagler. Although I felt Leonard had the advantage in styles, I also felt he waited for the right time to challenge Hagler. It was obvious after Hagler fought Mugabi that he wasn’t the same fighter that went through Hearns a year earlier. Like Leonard, De La Hoya is no fool. He must know that for him to have a shot versus Hopkins, he can’t face the one that took Trinidad apart. If Hopkins is the same fighter who fought Trinidad, De La Hoya has no shot. No doubt De La Hoya feels the time is right to challenge the most complete and formidable fighter of his career. We’ll see if he is as good a fight handicapper as Leonard was. Right now I’m willing to bet that he isn’t?
GlovedFist@Juno.com