18.08.04 – By Neil Goodman: We are now just one month away from the big showdown, Hopkins Vs De La Hoya for the undisputed world Middleweight title! This is in essence a ‘Super’ fight and will without doubt be a great occasion, but I do not think the clash will compare with Marvin Hagler vs Sugra Ray Leonard. Many observers and writers have drawn numerous comparisons between the two events and fighters involved, but unfortunately as the sport stands we are no longer in a golden era.
The sport keeps hoping for the next great heavyweight (Klitschko need not apply), we long for great fighters (Roy Jones need not apply), we crave super fights and I simply can not see Hopkins V De La Hoya fitting the bill.
Whilst this outlook seems ultimately pessimistic in general the sport is not in bad shape, but boxing needs capture the imagination of sports fan, boxing or otherwise. The media and promoters can not keep dressing up matches and boxers to be something they are not. A great example of this would be Mike Tyson; he will never recapture the form which took him to the title 1st or 2nd time round (no matter how many comebacks he makes).
Why is Hopkins V De La Hoya not what it seems?
To be blunt the fight will not be competitive. Hopkins can try and probably succeed is blasting De La Hoya out of the fight. Alternatively he can box De La Hoya and win heavily on points. Hopkins is more than adept at boxing cautiously, mauling De La Hoya on the inside to sneak a points win.
De La Hoya has been fighting reasonably often and boxing in competitive fights, but has shown nothing remotely close to the form he will need to display to beat Hopkins. If you disagree with this opinion then I suggest you take a quick look at the Vargas and Strum fights will remove any visions of an Oscar winning performance!
Against Vargas, Oscar did not show the sort of defence required to keep Hopkins at bay and to prevent him inflicting damage (both on the inside and outside). In the Strum fight, Oscar showed he could not handle a fully fledged Middleweight.
Of course, Oscar will come to the ring super fit and weighing a couple of pounds lighter than he last outing, he will look to box, box, box. Hit and move is the name of the game. But all the while Hopkins will be standing right there in front of him, beating him to the jab, banging the body and piling on the pressure.
I leave you with this thought; Hopkins took the night off against Allen. He did what he needed to do and nothing more. What he did not do was put in the sort of intimidating performance which may have acted as a wake up call to the De La Hoya and prevented the fight going ahead. The contracted weight for the fight being 158 lbs and not the full middleweight limit, may actually work in Hopkins favor. Hopkins now will need to be even more rigorous in his training regime, making him razor sharp
for the fateful night in September.
Executioner versus Golden Boy there is only one winner.