Bernard Hopkins vs Oscar De La Hoya

In a highly anticipated middleweight unification bout, Bernard Hopkins knocked out Oscar De La Hoya with a left hook to the body after 1 minute 38 seconds of the ninth round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 18, 2004. Hopkins retained the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation middleweight championships and added De La Hoya’s World Boxing Organisation title. Kenny Bayless counted De La Hoya out, making Hopkins the first man to stop him in 41 professional contests.

The championship was fought at an agreed limit below the usual middleweight maximum of 160 pounds. Hopkins weighed 156 and De La Hoya 155. Although separated by only one pound at the official weighing, Hopkins was the naturally larger man and had spent his professional career at middleweight. De La Hoya had begun at super-featherweight and was making only his second appearance in the 160-pound division. He entered as a 2-to-1 underdog before a sold-out crowd which remained strongly in his favour.

Hopkins, aged 39, had not lost for more than 11 years and was making the nineteenth defence of the IBF title he had won in 1995. De La Hoya had obtained his place in the contest by taking the WBO championship from Felix Sturm three months earlier, although that unanimous decision was widely disputed. Three days before facing Hopkins, De La Hoya suffered a cut between two fingers of his left hand while his training wrap was being removed. The injury required 11 stitches, but he said afterwards that the hand had caused him no difficulty.

The opening rounds were cautious. De La Hoya, expected to rely upon movement, instead advanced frequently and attempted to beat Hopkins to the punch with quicker combinations. Hopkins remained patient, protecting himself behind a high guard and studying the challenger’s entries. De La Hoya’s activity brought encouragement from the crowd, which responded loudly whenever he threw in combination, but few of his punches landed with enough force to trouble the champion.

Hopkins began to increase his pressure after the third round. He used his greater reach to touch De La Hoya with the jab, then stepped closer to work to the body. De La Hoya remained competitive and continued to initiate many exchanges, but he found it difficult to land cleanly on Hopkins’s head. The champion’s defence was economical, relying upon small movements, blocks and turns rather than wide retreats. When De La Hoya finished a combination, Hopkins was often in position to answer with the heavier single blow.

Through the fifth and sixth rounds Hopkins gradually established control. De La Hoya still possessed the quicker hands, but his attacks were becoming shorter and less frequent. Hopkins struck to the arms, ribs and flanks, forcing the smaller man to expend energy at close quarters. The challenger succeeded in bursts and was never badly hurt, yet his punches produced no visible effect on Hopkins. The champion, by contrast, was steadily directing more of his work downstairs.

In the seventh and eighth rounds the difference in physical strength became clearer. Hopkins pressed forward with greater confidence and obliged De La Hoya to give ground. Several body punches caused the challenger to tighten his guard and shorten his replies. De La Hoya continued to move and counter, but he no longer controlled the distance as he had during parts of the opening rounds. Hopkins remained composed and showed no sign of fatigue.

The official scoring reflected considerable disagreement. After eight rounds, judge Dave Moretti had Hopkins leading 79–73, and Paul Smith had him ahead 78–74. Keith MacDonald, however, favoured De La Hoya by 77–75. The Associated Press also had Hopkins in front by 77–75. The ringside punch figures credited Hopkins with landing 99 of 361 attempts and De La Hoya with 82 of 315, although neither had produced a sustained attack before the finish.

Hopkins came out with greater urgency in the ninth. As De La Hoya moved near his own corner, the champion placed two left hooks beneath the ribs. The second landed on the liver and De La Hoya folded to the canvas, first dropping to one knee and then bending forward with his face close to his gloves. He struck the floor in pain and frustration but could not rise before Bayless completed the count.

The blow brought a sudden end to what had been a measured tactical contest. De La Hoya had shown sufficient speed and enterprise to remain competitive, but he had never seriously disturbed Hopkins or forced him away from his plan. Hopkins let the smaller man use his early energy, increased the pressure in stages, and finished with a punch set up by the body work of the preceding rounds.

Hopkins advanced his record to 45 victories, two defeats and one draw, with one no-contest, and became the first middleweight to hold the four principal sanctioning-body titles simultaneously. De La Hoya fell to 37–4 and suffered the first knockout defeat of his career. The promotion produced approximately one million pay-per-view purchases and an estimated $56 million in television revenue. De La Hoya received a guaranteed purse of $30 million and Hopkins $10 million, the largest payment of the champion’s career.

Oscar De La Hoya deserves credit for taking this fight, but the warning had already come against Felix Sturm. Oscar received the decision that night, yet I thought Sturm beat him. He was a brilliant fighter from super-featherweight through welterweight, but he was never a proper middleweight.

Bernard Hopkins was the worst possible opponent for an undersized man. At 39, he had lost a little speed, but nothing upstairs. He understood distance, balance and body position better than nearly anyone of his generation. He made Oscar work without giving him clean targets and gradually took away the space he needed for his combinations.

The opening rounds were cautious, with Oscar using quick flurries and trying to pinch rounds. Hopkins remained patient, blocked much of the work and began edging closer. Two judges had Bernard comfortably ahead after eight; the third somehow had Oscar leading. That card was poor.

In the ninth, Hopkins raised the pressure. After disturbing Oscar with an uppercut, he placed the left hook beneath the ribs. It was not the biggest-looking punch, but liver shots do not need theatre. Oscar went down in agony and could not beat the count.

I never bought the suggestion that he quit. Anyone who has taken a clean liver shot knows the body stops obeying. Hopkins had identified the opening and finished the job like a master craftsman. Oscar was brave to try it, but he had climbed one division too far against a genuine great.