UNDISPUTED CLASH Bernard Hopkins USA vs Oscar De La Hoya USA Boxing Fight Highlights

Okay gentlemen. Trunks are high here. Any punch thrown in this area will be considered a clean punch. Trunks are okay here. Now guys, we went over the rules in the dressing room. I want you to keep the fight clean, protect yourself, and what I say you must obey. Good luck to both of you. Touch up. Tonight, Oscar De La Hoya makes a similar step up against the champion who has not lost in 11 years. It's a fight many feel he can't win. Leonard proved them wrong. Will De La Hoya do the same? We're scheduled for 12 rounds and here we go. The talk is over. It's time to get busy. One for the ages. I think Oscar knows that he's not going to make it work running for 12 rounds like he tried to do against Sturm. He's going to have to box Hopkins right there in front of him just like he did Trinidad early in the fight. Once he starts taking off running, he's going to be in trouble. Like former NBA star Charles Barkley who was giving him the famous X sign for the executioner. Not up on his toes. We thought he might be sticking and moving all night, but that's hard to maintain for 12 rounds. Who expected De La Hoya to be backing up Bernard Hopkins in round one? I'm Alan Massingale with Rich Berrada who you just heard from and Lester Bedford. One of 12. Crowd already chanting Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. The critical for Oscar right here early in the fight is establish that jab. He's got to keep Hopkins off of him with that jab. Many people thought as Rich Berrada put it out he was crazy to take this fight. That was a punch over the top. Didn't do any damage. You can see right away that Hopkins has some nice power that Oscar may not be accustomed to in that long. I can't think of one. Oscar hasn't fought at 160 pounds except for once in his career and that was against Felix Sturm. You don't know how he's going to take these shots from Hopkins, the guy who's been champion for 10 years. De La Hoya rededicated himself in his camp. Rich, I didn't expect Oscar to be right in front of Hopkins. No, I didn't expect him to be backing up Hopkins. That sends a message to Bernard Hopkins right away in the first round, I think. This is the only way Oscar has a chance. That's a good jab from Oscar. Oscar's got the hand speed to stand in front of Hopkins and fight him. He can't get too close. He starts getting too close and Hopkins is going to start digging into his body and he's going to start wearing Oscar down and leaning on him. I thought with the exception of one Hopkins punch, very good round for Oscar De La Hoya. There's that nice jab by Oscar. Thought he had a good first round. What a relationship he has forged with Floyd Mayweather Sr. You see how intensely he listens to Floyd. Oscar struggled many years trying to find the right trainer, but he finally found one late in his career. Changing Floyd Mayweather out of this fight, they were going to get a new trainer. There was some very serious consideration, I know for a fact, about changing trainers. I think one of the problems was that everybody was uncomfortable with Oscar carrying that left hand way down low. You'll notice tonight that he's got that left hand a lot higher than he's been carrying it. He's not rolling with those punches. This is more of a style that's reminiscent of Oscar's early career. Of course, everybody knows about Oscar's power in that left hand. Oscar's actually ambidextrous. He has equal power in both hands. He plays golf left-handed. If you have to try to define Hopkins' skill, how can you do it, Rich? I mean, he can do everything and has in his career when needed. He's very smart. I mean, the guy is a true professional prize fighter. So he knows all of the nuances of boxing. He doesn't just jump up there and do the obvious. He needs to ratchet up the pressure here a little bit. Hopkins' corner encourages him to establish that jab as Oscar's corner was, too. It's important for both of them to establish that jab. What I don't see from Hopkins is a good, strong jab. He's just poking at Oscar's head. He's not really using that jab. Well, he tried to launch there. From his hand this week, they cut his hand. He has 11 stitches wrapped up inside his glove in the palm of his hand. The doctor said it shouldn't be a factor. We're at 30 seconds left, round 2. That's a big right hand from Hopkins right there. That kind of stunned Oscar momentarily. Yeah, first hard punch of the fight, really. That's Hopkins who's moving. Pretty good, quick right hand from Bernard Hopkins. Yeah, he's fighting a better second round now. Oscar just landed a right hand. Final seconds of the round, Oscar throwing punches, showing his speed. Not that effective. Yeah, it's not effective speed, though. Oscar's got to throw those punches one at a time. He can't throw three punches at a time. Oscar De La Hoya moving forward, lands a right from long range. Both fighters now well into the fight. They're well-oiled. They're confident. He's going to have to use that jab to set it up. He'll land three, four punches. Those are amateur-style combinations there that really don't have any effect. He's not really scoring with them. He's certainly not going to do any damage on Hopkins with them. He might leave himself wide open. Now they clinch. Work out, work out, work out. Stop, stop. Step back clean, fellas. Step back. Oh, big right hand from Hopkins. That was quick, baby. That was quick. Wow, that was quick, and it was hard. Best punch of the fight. Good counterpunch from Hopkins. He absorbed it well, though, De La Hoya. His legs look completely unbeatable. You know what's amazing? A guy can come from 130 pounds all the way. You never know, though, with Bernard. I remember there were never more accusations that he was going to fight a dirty fight. It was when he fought Tito Trinidad, and he fought the cleanest fight imaginable against Trinidad. Oscar looked perfectly fine. He just didn't want to make that mistake again. That came so fast, though. It's hard to counter that. Straight right from Hopkins. Looking for that lead right again. Oscar's got to lead him with that jab. He's got to get Hopkins off balance. If he can just tap him on the forehead with that left hand, he can bring a right hand behind it. Floyd Mayweather had asked him a couple rounds ago to double up on that jab and bring that right hand behind it, and he has not done it. Final 10 seconds, round 3. Do you give Hopkins a round for one big shot, Rich, or how do you look at it? There's the right hand by Bernard Hopkins that stopped Oscar De La Hoya right in his tracks. Take a look from above. Lead right hand. Sucker punch. How did that get through? I mean, he's, like, in shock when he's getting hit with that right hand. Round 4. Scheduled for 12. Bernard Hopkins, undisputed middleweight champion. Hasn't lost since 1993. Oscar De La Hoya trying to do what many people thought was the impossible, was to beat the man who's held the middleweight title longer. 18 defenses than anyone in history. Good combination from De La Hoya. That's what he needs. Speed, baby. Speed of hand, combinations, and then get out of there. That's what Oscar can do to win this fight. That's what he should do to win this fight. I've never understood telling a fighter why he looks so bad or how he looks so bad. You can tell him, give him instructions that'll do him some good. Don't tell him how bad he looks. Tell him what he needs to do in the fight to win. Hopkins unloading a little bit more this round. Both fighters extremely quick. Good jab from Hopkins. Digging to the body. He's the champion. De La Hoya's very, very fearful of that right hand. He's fighting very tentatively, knowing that that right hand is coming over the top. De La Hoya was going to the body there. If he catches Hopkins off balance, that's what he's hoping to do. That's hard to do. Bernard Hopkins is trying to make Oscar De La Hoya make a mistake. That's why he was backing off hand down. He doesn't mind exchanging with Oscar. A low blow by De La Hoya. He got away with it. Not even a warning. No. What's the rule? The bigger guy usually wins. Good jab from Oscar. I think Hopkins is improvising. He's just doing it as he goes along so you see why it'll work. Especially with holding that left hand down that low. Hopkins has no fear of Oscar's power right now. He's perfectly okay with stepping in there and throwing that right hand. If he gets hit, he gets hit. I'd fear the judges get to work. Absolutely. Some of these rounds are very close. Let's take a look at that round. Hopkins coming forward. De La Hoya partially blocked that shot and tried to answer back himself. Now we'll take a look to see if that blow was a little bit below south of the border. That one definitely was. Not even a warning from Kenny Bayless. He looked over to Hopkins and kind of warned Hopkins. Very close. I have it even on my card. I think, Rich, you have it even as well? Yes, I do. 38 all. Round 5 scheduled for 12. A lot of people think that in Vegas the advantage controversial decision so it doesn't really mean anything about being in Vegas for Oscar judging by those two fights he lost. That's what he needs to do. I'm really surprised by what Bernard Hopkins is doing here. I have to admit, he's standing back looking to pot shot Oscar when I thought he was applying relentless pressure. Well, what he's doing is allowing Oscar to steal some rounds by setting back and pretty much throwing the round up in jeopardy at the end. The last 30 seconds, the rounds have been won in the last 30 seconds. Hopkins feigning. Are you surprised, guys, that Oscar's standing there not moving more? He's so aware of Hopkins' power. He's having to fight very focused with a tremendous amount of concentration to keep him getting hurt here. To reiterate, Hopkins is a true middleweight. Always has been. This is only Oscar's second fight moving up. He's only at 155. Because right now, they're fighting fairly even. If Oscar trained the way he said he did, I don't anticipate that being a problem, but he has had problems in the past when he told us how hard he trained. There's that big right hand. Hopkins keeps trying to land. Oscar, as Lester pointed out, his concentration has to be razor sharp. One mistake, and he's going to eat it. Inside 20 seconds, round 5. Oscar countering off the combination from Hopkins. Final 10 seconds, round 5. Oscar stumbles. He got hit. He wanted to flurry. He wanted to move in and flurry at the end of the round, and Hopkins caught him on the way in. Let's take a look at that nice jab of Bernard Hopkins working that jab. Now, here's what happened at the end of the round. De La Hoya heard the 10-second warning, started to come in, and ran right into that long left of Hopkins. Nonetheless, it looked like it looked worse in real action than it did in the replay. Round 6, scheduled for 12. Trying to use his power advantage and his reach advantage. De La Hoya throwing a jab inside. Hopkins, I expected to see relentless pressure. De La Hoya, I expected to be a dancing master in there in the first few rounds, but apparently not wanting to expend that energy. I think he learned his lesson this third fight when he took off running, and that's what's been taking off running late in the fight, so I think he's conserving energy here tonight, and the plan was to box Hopkins up close. They feel like he has a superior hand speed, and that may be his only chance is to conserve some energy. He's going to have to fight for 12 rounds because knocking Hopkins out is going to be almost impossible. I would like to see Oscar start making Hopkins move to his right. Hopkins has a little more trouble in setting his feet when he has to move to his right. He's very comfortable right down the middle, and Oscar's standing there for him, letting it come right to him. If Oscar could force him to his right, it'd take Hopkins out of his rhythm. Not only that, he could move away from that big right hand. Oscar doing a good job defending here. So far. See, you see, Oscar started moving to his left and allowed Hopkins to move to his left or straight down the middle. Oscar went searching for a punch there. It wasn't there. Hopkins jabbing and standing away. I don't see the pressure yet from Hopkins. I'll tell you, what's not happening here is what a lot of people predicted early on when this fight was made, that Bernard Hopkins was going to destroy Oscar De La Hoya and it was going to happen quick. That's when you've got to rely on your experience and your training to carry you. Final seconds. Hopkins misses with three punches. I think Oscar's had a very good round boxing here. He really fought very well. I thought that was his best round, Rich. I thought that was his best round. There you see De La Hoya hitting and not getting hit, moving out of there. De La Hoya, very effective round boxing in that round. Showed the jab. I saw something that shocked me in that corner. Nobody came out with a water for Oscar De La Hoya. Now, the Hopkins corner. Good punch from Oscar. Hopkins corner wanted to say, make Oscar fight. I could sense that Hopkins was turning it up a notch towards the end of that last round. De La Hoya got hit and he decided, hey, I'm going to hit right back. Good swift exchange there. See, Oscar got him with the jab and he brought the right hand behind it. That's what he's got to do, but he's got to lead with that jab. He's got to hit Hopkins with that jab before Hopkins hits him with that right. Nice right by Hopkins. Hopkins is turning up the heat. He's just pressing him now. He's just laying his body on him. I didn't notice that there was that much size difference before, but now all of a sudden, when Hopkins pressed him to land on him a little bit, Oscar's just looking smaller and smaller. Now Hopkins is beginning to take the lead. This is the kind of pressure I expected from Bernard earlier in the fight. Look where Hopkins is holding his left hand. Good right hand from Hopkins. He's now starting to turn it up, and Oscar counters. That's where I thought Oscar should go. Neither Hopkins or Oscar, either one. Neither one is throwing body shots. Hopkins spins out of trouble. With that height, you'd think that Oscar would try to get to that body, but I think he's fearful of dropping those hands. Hopkins has been a master at being able to attack all parts of the body. Really, he's breaking the guy down bit by bit. But he's not breaking Oscar down to the body here. Not tonight. He's just head-hunting. Final seconds. Round 7. Good round for Hopkins. Here's Bernard. Two jabs. Followed up with a right hand. Knocks Oscar back a couple of steps. The accumulation of those punches on Oscar are starting to take effect, I believe. Round 8. We shall see. He is not coming forward with Oscar. He doesn't have a plan for Oscar to execute here. He's telling him this is the most important fight of his career. He's got to give him a plan. Wow. That's some heavy shots exchanged inside there. As Les to point out, Hopkins loves to go to his left. Oscar is giving Hopkins too much room there. He's got to close the gap and fight him up a little closer because Hopkins is getting room to extend those punches. He's got a lot of power when you give him room. Oscar is going to have to answer back here now because this is where Hopkins begins breaking the guy down. Halfway through round 8 now. Oscar fighting on the inside. Getting inside that long reach of Hopkins. In the corner last round, Hopkins had a little smile. I sensed that he had a very confident feeling about this fight the rest of the way. He was totally confident when he was in the corner. Bernard working that jab much more in this round. Listening to Torrey Fisher's instructions. Doing a good job of going out there. The execution is executed. Left hand from Oscar landed off the right from Hopkins. Oscar was searching for a way. Searching for anything he can do to get an advantage but he's just outsized and outmanned here. He needs to make something dramatic happen. He's allowing Hopkins to just take over. That's where his corner needs to tell him what he needs to do to counter, give him a strategy. Hopkins has moved ahead on my scorecard. Round 9 and he continues to put the pressure on we expected from the get go. Now it's Oscar who's going back. Look for something from Hopkins this round. He was saying, this is my round. If he's that confident he should just let it go. You've got to bring something with substance and Oscar just has not been able to do that. It was certainly a break that Oscar was happy to take I'm sure. Hopkins saying round 9 is his round. I think his confidence has grown that he can handle this guy. And Oscar's felt probably some of the hardest punches of his career. Certainly from a world class all time middleweight. Nice left hand underneath by Oscar. For Oscar De La Hoya. 9th round. And he called it too. He said this is my round. Take a look at the knockout. Inside he comes. Left hook to the head. Down goes Oscar to one knee. Now he will crumble over. He's been hit with a body punch. Body punch first then the shot to the head. And there is the exultation of victory for the executioner. Bernard Hopkins just too big and too strong for Oscar De La Hoya. That's painfully evident especially to De La Hoya now. Boy he put some butter on the road too didn't he?