INSIDE BOXING (September 19, 2004) - Last night, Bernard Hopkins showed the world what most of us have suspected- he is one of the best fighters of this generation. Before we start saying that Bernard only beat a junior middleweight, let face one fact. Hopkins beat one of the better fighters of our generation in Oscar De La Hoya.

When I was thinking about this fight, the one person that came to mind was Larry Holmes. Holmes was the Roger Dangerfield of Heavyweights, for no one really would give the Easton Assassin his due. For seven years, Holmes beat every fighter in front of him and all he would hear was that he beat a bunch of nobodies or that he was not Ali. He won 21 championship fights in a row and dominated the division not seen since Joe Louis and people still complain.

It was not until he would beat Ray Mercer and gave Evander Holyfield a tussle past the age of 40 when we finally realize that it was safe to mention Ali and Holmes in the same sentence. More

INSIDE BOXING (September 19, 2004) - It all went according to the script. The younger, faster boxer taking it to his older, slower foe. Try as he might the upstart could not do any serious damage to his aging but stronger adversary. As the rounds wore on it was becoming obvious to all that youth would not be served on this night.
Once again the aged champion would outsmart and outlast Mother Nature at least for one more night. Youth took his punishment in a manly fashion as his body was raked and ravaged by savage blows. Finally the old, proud champion landed the finisher. It was drilled into his foe's tender liver and rendered him helpless. Then it was over. The game challenge had ended. The torch had not passed but had remained firmly in the grasp of the King of the middleweights...Bernard Hopkins.

Pavlik Impressive On On Hopkins- DeLaHoya Undercard.

Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio scored a nice win by halting Carlton Holland in just two rounds. It was great exposure for the unbeaten Pavlik to fight and win in impressive fashion in front of the multitude of media at ringside.
The semi-main event to Oscar and Bernard was a very dull twelve round decision win for Juan Manuel Marquez over Orlando Salindo.
In an upset, Kofi Jantuah starched Marco Antonio Rubio in just 33 seconds ! [End]

Las Vegas, NV (IB – September 18, 2004) – In front of a packed crowd on hand at the MGM Grand garden, with millions watching around the world, it was Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (45-2-1, 1 NC, 32KOs) who proved to be too much for “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (37-4, 29 KOs) for the undisputed Middleweight Championship of the World.

To the surprise of many, De La Hoya was the one who came out early in the fight dictating the pace and being the more effective aggressor against Bernard Hopkins. This form of attack seemed to have put Hopkins in a more apprehensive state of mind and Bernard began settling for one punch at a time vs. punching in combinations. He was actually trying to outbox the boxer. However, after three rounds, it was becoming evident as the rounds were ticking bye that Oscar’s punches, which were landing more frequently, were not having a significant impact on Hopkins and Bernard began to settle into the fight as the stronger puncher. Bernard also began to pick up the pace. More

INSIDE BOXING (September 19 2004) - Preconceived notions dominated many a mindset leading up to the Hopkins vs. De La Hoya fight for the Middleweight Crown.

After winning a questionable Unanimous Decision over Felix Sturm last June in his debut performance at 160-pounds, who expected Oscar to have a chance at beating Bernard Hopkins, the best fighter in the Middleweight division? Moving up to 160 after having mixed results at 154 makes it reasonable to assume that this would be more then Oscar could handle. I remember what happened when Tito Trinidad tried that. The result wasn’t pretty.

Oscar De La Hoya surprised many fans Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins was on the menu and Oscar almost made Hopkins look old while winning three of the first four rounds on my card. But by the fifth round, Hopkins got comfortable and used his advantages in height and power to take over the momentum of the fight. In the eighth round, Hopkins landed a left hook to the liver that put Oscar down. He was out for the count. It was the first time Oscar was knocked out. More

INSIDE BOXING (September 17, 2004) - I just had the pleasure of reading an article in Sports Illustrated. It was a " Where Are They Now " piece on the great Marvin Hagler.

After reading the article I began to wonder what we will be reading about Bernard Hopkins and Oscar DeLaHoya ten, fifteen even twenty years from now. How will history view their impact on boxing ?

The answer to that question is hinged on the result of a ring battle this coming September. This will be more then a boxing match. This fight will shape our final perception of both winner and loser. A Hopkins victory will go a long way in the argument that he is among the best of all time. If Bernard loses he will then be considered overrated. A champion who had the benefit of competing when the middleweight division was void of serious talent. More

INSIDE BOXING (September 17, 2004) - Everyone has their opinion on the weather and everyone has their opinion on the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight as well. Before I give you mine, a few thoughts.

De La Hoya strengths will be his hand speed and mobility. Look at the first nine rounds of the Trinidad fight and you can easily see the strategy that could defeat Hopkins. Then look at the three last rounds of the same fight and you see the main weakness of De La Hoya. In the big fights, he fails to close the show and always leaves his big moments hanging in the hands of the judges.

Hopkins weakness will be his age and hand speed. He is the slower fighter. His advantage is that he can pressure De La Hoya all fight and he will not tire down the stretch. More

LAS VEGAS, NV (IB – September 15, 2004) – We are now only three days away from the blockbuster showdown between “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) and Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (42-2-1, 1 NC, 31KOs) for the undisputed Middleweight Championship of the World. This fight will take place at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be broadcasted on HBO PPV (Paid Per View). This is one of those MUST SEE fights between two great champions putting it all on the line for a “Quest for History.”

Prior to the start of the press conference, I caught up with the promoter Bob Arum and here is what he had to say: More

INSIDE BOXING (August 11, 2004) - With all the discussion centering on the upcoming De La Hoya-Hopkins fight, the one question that have been asked is what would a loss or a victory mean on each fighter’s legacy?

My own thesis is that a victory will enhance both fighters but a lost will not or should not affect their place in history. Consider the example of Hagler-Leonard fight, since this fight has been contrasted to that classic battle.

When Hagler came into the match, he was considered the most feared Middleweight and very few pundits gave Leonard much of a chance. Hagler had beaten the best at the Middleweights and had already beaten two of Leonard rivals, Duran and Hearns. Leonard had only one fight in the previous four years. Leonard victory enhanced his status as a great fighter and cemented his place in boxing history. By beating Hagler, Leonard added to his resume that included Hearns, Benitez, and Duran. While Leonard reputation was enhanced, Hagler did not lose his place in boxing history. Having eleven knockouts in twelve previous championship fights, losing to Leonard did not diminish a brilliant career. One reason was that this fight was a close fight and Hagler’s supporters could make the case that Hagler actually won the fight. More

INSIDE BOXING (September 8, 2004) - The September mega event between Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins is upon us and many have compared this to the famous Leonard-Hagler fight.

The first similarity was that both Leonard and De La Hoya were two of the better fighters of their generation whereas both Hagler and Hopkins were the best Middleweights of their era. Both Hagler and Hopkins were overwhelming favorites.

Here are some differences that need to be explored. When Hagler faced Leonard, both fighters had one great fighter that was on both fighters resumes- Tommy Hearns. Leonard defeated Hearns by knocking him out in the 14th round in one of the greatest welterweight fights whereas Hagler pounded Hearns in eight of the greatest minutes in boxing history. The one fighter that both Hopkins and De La Hoya shared on their resume was Trinidad. Hopkins pounded Trinidad and stopped him in the 12th round. De La Hoya out boxed Trinidad before essentially giving Trinidad the last three rounds and losing a controversial decision. More

Las Vegas, NV (IB – September 3, 2004) – Approximately two weeks to go before we witness “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) take on Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (42-2-1, 1 NC, 31KOs) for the undisputed Middleweight Championship of the World. Since we had went inside the De La Hoya camp last week with the Mayweather interview, Insideboxing.com wanted to get the other side of the story from the Hopkins’ camp. Here is Bouie Fisher’s appraisement of Bernard going into this fight.

RB: Bouie, when I spoke to Floyd Mayweather, he conveyed that there is a mutual agreement in place for both Oscar and Bernard to weigh-in at 158lbs. Is this your understanding? If so, what, if any, affect would this have on the bout? More

Big Bear, CA (IB – August 27, 2004) – Considering we are now only 22 days away from the historic showdown between “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) and Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (42-2-1, 1 NC, 31KOs) for the undisputed Middleweight Championship of the World, Insideboxing.com wanted to know how does Floyd Mayweather Sr. prepare Oscar for this challenge? I went straight to the source to find out and here is what Floyd had to say:

RB: Floyd, I see the outcome of this fight as being very dependent on Oscar’s conditioning. Given this, what do you have to do to prepare Oscar physically to make sure he doesn’t run out of gas against Hopkins?

FM: “The method I got for Oscar in preparation for this fight is something new we are trying. During his 4-5 mile runs, there will be spurts where I will have him sprint for a quarter mile, then slow down to jogging speed, then sprint again for another quarter of a mile.”

RB: What are you hoping to accomplish by utilizing this method? More

(IB – August 26, 2004) – To keep this story simply stated, “It doesn’t get much better than this folks!” On September 18th Live from the MGM Grand, and broadcasted on PPV on HBO, boxing is putting on a Championship bout of historic proportions. So much so, that even if you were not a boxing fan, you must seriously consider paying to see this fight – it’s that good…

The “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) is attempting to take on a TALL ORDER when he steps into the ring against Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (42-2-1, 1 NC, 31KOs) for the undisputed Middleweight Championship of the World. There will be a total of four belts on the line (WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO).

Here is what we know so far: More

LAS VEGAS, NV (IB – June 6, 2004,) – As most observers and fans had expected, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins were both successful in winning there pre-requisite fights. What took the night by surprise was the level of difficulty encountered by De La Hoya in route to him winning a unanimous decision win by the score of 115-113 by all three judges over Felix Sturm.

Going into last night’s fights, it was assumed that Hopkins (44-2-1, 31 KOs), who was making his eighth tenth straight title defense, was expected to receive stiffer competition from Robert Allen (36-5, 27 KOs) than De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) was to receive from undefeated and unknown Felix Sturm (20-1, 9 KOs).

However, what we witnessed was a relentless, gut-wrenching performance by Felix Sturm. This German fighter, making his debut in the United States, did more than just hold his on. Sturm showed a good stiff jab that controlled much of the fight, had Oscar’s nose bloody, and had most folks thinking we just saw an upset that was going to prevent the blockbuster showdown between Hopkins and De La Hoya on September 18th. More

LAS VEGAS NEVADA (18 de Setiembre 2004) - En la arena del hotel MGM habia casa llena con 16,112 fanáticos con boleto pagado para ver el evento de boxeo titulado: Choque Historico. El circuito cerrado solo en el MGM fueron 384,000 a un precio de mas de 50 dólares.

De las celebridades presentes se encontraban Sugar Shane el cual tuvo su conferencia el día 17 para su pelea revancha contra Winky Wright, en tal ceremonia hubo desde lobster, camarón de lo mejor por tres horas y licor gratis por espacio toda una hora.

También en la mañana del 18 de septiembre se llevo a cabo la conferencia oficial de la trilogia entre Eric Morales contra Marco Antonio Barrera. Por cierto en los pasillos nos encontramos a Manny Pacquiao que anda buscando pelea con el que quiera.

Retornando a los invitados en la arena estaba el popular periodista Larry King, el basquetbolista de los campeones Detroit Pistons, Rashe Wallace, Charles Barkely, Stallone, Michael Fox, Magic Jonhson, Morales, Thomas Herns, Tyson, Barrera que como todo buen padre cargaba a su hijo dormido cuando estaban las peleas en su apogeo y tambien estaba presente la ex de Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman y muchisimos otros más. Continuar

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (18 de Setiembre 2004) - En la arena del MGM Grand más de 5000 almas gritaban alborotadas ante las cámaras de television. Todos ansiaban con cosquillas desde el cerebro hasta la espalda y viseversa el momento de la báscula. Las cámaras seguian enfocando los ángulos de los presentes y los gritos mas frenéticos hacian un eco por doquier.

Los fanáticos se retrataban con todos los que tenian que ver con el evento, por ejemplo con Joel de la Hoya padre de Oscar, con Joel junior, con Eric Gomez encargado de las comparaciones en las producciones de Boxeo de oro y con otros más. Continuar

INSIDE BOXING (11 de Setiembre 2004) - El nombre de Oscar de la Hoya se escucha por doquier en todos los bares de la ciudad del juego, se habla de la comparacion de numeros en las apuestas, del valor del mexicoamericano por aceptar una riña contra Hopkins quien sin lugar a dudas sera el mas grande y por consecuente el mas fuerte, pero su curriculo a pasado en vela por la gente no involucrada en los golpes de cuero, si embargo de Oscar se saben la historia al reves, ademas no todas las peleas de Hopkins son que digamos la gran cosa, digo aburridas y sin chiste.

Es obvio que Oscar va hacer sufrir al Verdugo obligandolo con pluma, papel y sello para acompletar 158 libras cuando el límite de la categoría mediana es de 161 libras, otra de las incognitas sera del peso que se adquiere después del peso oficial, que sin duda Bernard por ser su peso natural añadira al menos de 10 a 15 libras mientras Oscar si gana 5 ya sera mucho, tambien sobre la bascula se habla de la ventaja que representan las libras extras pero en su defecto de que también pueden afectar en la rapidez de manos y de pies. Continuar

Respecto al porque se le miro tan lento en su anterior pelea contra el elemán, Joel nos comentó que a una semana de tal evento Oscar se lastimo la espalda y cuando el quiropráctico le saco radiografias se descubrio que los discos L4 y L5 estaban deslocados, por tal razón no le fue posible a su hermano hacer movimientos acostumbrados y también como queria plantarse en las 160 libras lo antes posible su físico se miraba chonchito y agregó todavía en cuestión de las extra lonjitas que traia” Continuar