On September 18th two of boxing's best met in the ring for one of the sport's most anticipated matches in recent memory. Undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins squared off against Oscar De La Hoya.  Leading up to the fight many had compared it to Hagler - Leonard. However, as most of us know by now, the world of boxing rarely lives up to the hype. And hype is what surrounded this fight from day one. Even a poor performance from Oscar de La Hoya in his fight against Felix Sturm didn't seem to derail the hype of the upcoming bout.

 

Hopkins and De la Hoya had promised victories in outstanding fashion, both had  said the other was going to be in the fight of his life. Well, come fight night did the bout lead up to its expectations, to its glory, to its hype? My answer is a resounding NO. The fight ended the way most thought it would; and no, I don't mean by a body shot but with Bernard Hopkins the winner.

 

The early rounds were hard to score as both men seemed to be waiting on the other to make a move. Both seemed to hold to much respect for the other. As the fight wore on it was becoming clear that the naturally bigger man -that would be Hopkins- was starting to wear down De la Hoya, slowly taking over the rounds. Oscar never faded completely as he would occasionally throw flurries trying to keep Bernard Hopkins away. At the same time Hopkins' right hand was now starting to land more often causing De la Hoya to go on the defensive, using head movement and his legs to stay away from the oncoming Hopkins. 

 

Half way into the ninth round Bernard Hopkins landed a left hook to De la Hoya's  body that  sent him to the canvas. It was obvious that De la Hoya was in pain from the body shot; he tried to get back on his feet unsuccessfully as referee Kenny Bayless reached the ten count. 

 

The bout that was surrounded with so many expectations was now over and in the history books, with Bernard Hopkins becoming the first man to hold the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO titles at once. He also made the 19th successful defense of his middleweight title.

 

Bernard Hopkins will be focusing on more "mega fights" with the likes of Light Heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver and a possible rematch with Roy Jones Jr. With this victory Bernard Hopkins improves his record to 45-2-1 (32 KO's) while Oscar de la Hoya suffers his first knockout loss and drops to 37-4 (29 KO's).