By Blackbull
INSIDE BOXING (June 1, 2004) - Coming up, we have Oscar DeLaHoya and Bernard Hopkins ready to showcase their talent against tune-up opponents Felix Sturm and Robert Allen.
DeLaHoya’s opponent, Sturm, sports an impressive record of 20-0 with 9 knockout victories and certainly retains credibility to go along with his unblemished record. His last five fights have been both meaningful and against quality opponents. Meaningful in the sense they have been for world titles. Twice for the IBF youth middleweight title, once for the WBO Intercontinental title and two times for the WBO world championship.
Allen (36-4 27 KO’s) and Hopkins are strangers by no means. The two have fought each other twice. The first encounter in August of 1998 was ruled a no-contest after Hopkins fell out of the ring when being separated by referee Mills Lane in round four. The two went at it again on Feb. 6, 1999. There was no Lane this time as Rudy Battle was the third man in the ring. Hopkins stopped Allen in the seventh round.
Both Sturm and Allen are bona fide opponents and will come to fight on June 5. The tune-up tag is applied only because DeLaHoya and Hopkins have already agreed to face each other in September.
Will or can either Sturm or Allen derail the “fight of the century” contest between DeLaHoya and Hopkins? Unlikely. The fight between DeLaHoya and Hopkins could very well be the biggest fight in the history of boxing in regards to money. Certainly a “lock” to be the biggest fight in history, outside the heavyweight division.
Everyone from casual female boxing fans who just want to see DeLaHoya and could care less what a left hooks is, to the hard-core boxing fans who will analyze every round, are looking forward to the showdown between DeLaHoya and Hopkins. Not to mention the casino, the promoter, the producer and broadcasting company all the way down to sparring partners, all parties stand to profit from this fight. For this reason alone Sturm and Allen need knockouts to win. For HBO, June 5 is their “tune up” broadcast to the showdown.
Can Sturm or Allen go down in history as the guy who prevented the biggest fight in boxing history from ever taking place? We’ll find out this weekend.
SHOWTIME goes head to head with HBO PPV this weekend. Showtime will air the IBF middleweight championship contest between Kassim Ouma and Verno Phillips and Jeff Lacy will take on Vitali Tsypko for the WBC Continental Americas, NABA and USBA Super Middleweight titles.
It’s official: Felix Trinidad will face Ricardo Mayorga in his comeback fight on October 1, two weeks after the proposed DeLaHoya vs. Hopkins fight. The venue of the fight has not been determined, with Don King exploring sites out of “Only in America” U.S.A. This being a Don King promotion, we can rule out Atlantic City, New Jersey… Or can we?
DUD OF THE WEEK… Former world champion Steve Forbes, after getting his butt kicked by Carlos Hernandez in his last fight, goes backward. Team Forbes convinced 34-year-old, Arturo Cruz (19-14-2) out of a scheduled June 11 contest in Denver, Colo. to be his next opponent on June 4. Tyree Tidwell (0-6) losing all his fights by knockouts will be available for Forbes’ next fight.
PICKS… DeLaHoya over Sturm in eight, Hopkins over Allen in five, Jose Luis Castillo over Juan Lazcano by decision, Verno Phillips over Kassim Ouma by Decision, Jeff Lacy over Vitali Tsypko in 4…
Down the stretch… Gatti over Dorin by decision, Bojado over Leija in seven, Jermain Taylor over Raul Marquez in four (Marquez quits), Barrera over Ayala by decision, DeLaHoya over Hopkins by decision, Mayorga over Trinidad in nine.