During the build up to this event, every man and his dog gave their opinion concerning the outcome of this first super fight in the middleweight division since Hagler-Leonard. I was no different, except for one key ingredient. I picked the winner and the round in which the fight would end, so I'm going to bask in a little glory of my own knowing that my pre-fight analysis has not left me with egg on my face.

I must admit that the fight was not fought in the fashion I was expecting, I think that was the case for most observers. The fight certainly did not live up to expectations of spectacular entertainment, but at least it did not turn into a boring snooze fest either, so I am grateful. I really expected to see Hopkins set a furious pace, similar to what we saw against William Joppy, mixed with some skilled boxing as we saw Bernard utilize against Trinidad.

Instead we saw the older and ALLEGEDLY slower man with the inferior boxing skills (according to many boxing experts and commentators) out speed, out jab and totally outclass Oscar De la Hoya.

After a very dull first round Hopkins starts to find range with his jab and the occasional leading left hook and some very fast long range lead right hands. Oscar landed only a handful of solid punches the entire bout, a few light jabs, one grazing right hand and a few good body punches. The punch that remotely had any effect on Hopkins was a low blow not seen by Kenny Bayless.

The reason Oscar did not land many punches was due to Hopkins' very effective head & lateral movement and also his glove positioning was close to perfect. Bernard was evading or blocking most of what De la Hoya fired in his direction.

I do believe that Hopkins, like Marvelous Marvin Hagler before him, played with fire in the early rounds by being too cautious, not throwing enough punches and trying to out box De la Hoya. From my perspective (and Bernard's I would assume) Hopkins was easily out boxing De la Hoya and always in control of the fight.

At the time of stoppage, I had Bernard winning 6 out of the 8 completed rounds. But my or anyone else's opinion counts for very little on the judges scorecards so it did not surprise me when I heard on the Australian telecast that one judge had Oscar ahead on points. I was disappointed that a trained judge could have De a Hoya ahead; luckily Bernard took the decision out of the judges hands and saved boxing from suffering another potential black eye.

Being a fan of Bernard Hopkins, I felt he  was not working hard enough to take the early rounds decisively. It may have been obvious to me that Hopkins was landing the cleaner and heavier punches. I think Oscar did achieve some success in stealing a few close rounds on the scorecards as the judges must have scored some punches that hit Bernard's gloves and they must have scored some punches that did not land at all.

From the 7th round onwards Bernard stated to pick up the pace slightly, having a clear effect on Oscar. I sensed Hopkins had plenty left in the tank. I was also surprised that Bernard had barely thrown any body punches, was it one of his tactics to make Oscar think he was targeting that million dollar face for a spectacular KO and lull him to sleep and not protect his body? (Bernard said not so in a recent interview).

Oscar showed us all those impressive abdominal muscles quite a few times during the build up to this fight, it's unfortunate for him that this conditioning couldn't help his ribcage withstand Bernard's crushing shot to the liver.

During the week leading up to this bout I became  frustrated with boxing commentators and respected boxing journalists' perception that De la Hoya
was the better schooled boxer and in possession of superior speed. I felt De la Hoya would have problems with Hopkins' speed and boxing skills. How sweet it was to see what I envisaged happening come to reality. Something to think about for people who think speed is everything, IT IS NOT! Speed kills if used correctly and wisely. Oscar may be faster (slightly, perhaps) with his flashy flurries of punches. However, these visually impressive combinations mainly hit thin air or gloves and they certainly were not enough to phase a skilled opponent like Bernard Hopkins.

These tactics may have worked previously for Oscar when facing smaller and/or less skilled opponents, against who he had less to fear as far as punches being sent back in his direction, and I'm certainly not forgetting that under that pretty face is a very sturdy chin. Bernard, on the other hand, threw fast and accurate single punches that found their target through good planning and technique, not by throwing a bunch of punches and hoping for the best.

For the first time in his career Oscar De la Hoya faced an opponent who was not only physically larger than himself, but he was facing an opponent who was in possession of substantially superior skills than himself and also comparable speed. Don't get caught up in the hype that De la Hoya only lost because he fought a bigger man, that's only half the reason. Under rated speed used in superior fashion and a better skill level won this fight for Hopkins.

Everyone knew leading up to this bout that both men had good chins, I said that if De la Hoya hit Hopkins it would just make Bernard come on stronger as it was unlikely Oscar had the power to hurt him. Oscar, whilst in possession of a good chin does not like getting hit and when he has been hit hard in previous bouts it has upset his rhythm and mindset. This was evident when Hopkins landed those four lead straight right hands in round 4.

Readers of my pre-fight analysis of this bout know I'm not much of a De la Hoya fan, but I will give him credit where it is due. He did not run and turn this event into a disgracefully boring farce. He came in determined an confident he would win. He also took the bout up to the bigger, stronger champion and gave Hopkins more difficulties than I expected.

Oscar did not quit; it was evident  to me that the single body shot he took everything out of him, rendering him unable to recover before the 10 count. I can empathize with the pain he was in, I've been there in my own training and could relate to his. I gained some new found respect for the Golden Boy when he banged his gloves on the canvas as the pain of the loss came to reality. When De la Hoya rose, he even tarnished his golden boy image by saying "Fire Truck," such was his disappointment and frustration.

In my eyes De la Hoya has become more human and less perfect, so I guess that's not such a bad thing. It's good for these fighters who have handed out so many
devastating KO's to be on the receiving end for a change.  In most cases it will make them a better person and I'm sure this type of loss will give Oscar a whole new perspective of the sport.

As for Hopkins, he wants Roy Jones Jnr. or Antonio Tarver, or so he says. It may be tough to get Jones in the ring; he may still demand unrealistic amounts of money and Tarver has been ordered by the WBC to face Paul Briggs, their #1 contender, next. Here is a very interesting and VERY biased concept, perhaps Tarver could defend his title against Briggs and Hopkins could make his 20th title defense against Sam Soliman on the same card. Wishful thinking on my part to see two Aussies fighting for world titles against two of the world's best fighters. I can dream...