One final puzzle piece

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

Loquacious and opinionated, it doesn't take much to get Bernard Hopkins going. Give him a chance and he'll talk your ear off.

Or face him in the ring and he'll knock your block off.

Hopkins, 39, is the longest running champion in boxing today and one of the longest running in history. He has held at least one of the three legitimate middleweight titles since 1995 and has held all three since 2001.

He has made 17 consecutive successful title defenses as he goes into a June 5 fight against Robert Allen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as part of a doubleheader that will, in theory, lead him to a Sept. 18 fight against Oscar De La Hoya.

De La Hoya faces Felix Sturm in the other half of the June 5 twinbill. The winners will advance to the September date.

"What better build up can you have?" Hopkins said this week from his training camp in Miami. "You've got Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins and they're not fighting two stiffs from down the block.

"The curiosity of someone losing is going to sell tickets."

Ticket sales are not an issue, as sellouts are expected both June 5 and Sept. 18. Hopkins will receive in excess of $10 million if he's a participant in the September bout and De La Hoya is assured of almost $30 million.

Hopkins says he'll do his part and dispatch Allen to the scrap heap in the first of the key bouts.

"He's crazy, fighting me again," he said of facing Allen for a third time. "What motivates me is Robert Allen trying to make $10 million to fight De La Hoya; he's trying to take a shortcut to what I've been working on for 15 years.

"But Robert Allen will not be rated anymore in boxing after June 5. He will not be recycled on anybody's list."

Hopkins is 43-2-1 with 31 knockouts, including a TKO-7 victory against Allen in 1999 in a fight that was mandated after the first Hopkins vs. Allen fight ended as a no-contest the previous year.

Allen, 34, is 36-4 with 27 KOs and has worked himself back into the mandatory challenger's position for the International Boxing Federation portion of Hopkins' undisputed title.

"He's not going to lie down," Hopkins reiterated. "He's got everything to gain and nothing to lose."

Hopkins admits that Allen is likely inspired by Antonio Tarver's surprising knockout victory against Roy Jones Jr. two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

"He's got to be motivated by what Tarver did," Hopkins said. "This is a time to step up and I'm taking him very, very serious."

Hopkins, who implies that he will utilize Top Rank's Bob Arum as his promoter throughout the remainder of his career, arrives today in Las Vegas after five weeks of training in Miami. De La Hoya is already here -- and on Hopkins' mind, to some extent.

"Providing I deliver, I'll be on top of the mountain," Hopkins said of beating both Allen and De La Hoya, who he expects to be tougher at his new weight of 160 pounds.

"I believe the days of De La Hoya tiring out after the seventh round, as he has for the last two or three years, are over," Hopkins said. "He's been a bona fide middleweight who's been fighting against his own body chemistry.

"I'm not being fooled by De La Hoya tiring (as he has in the past). He's going to look strong and he's going to have endurance now.

"When he needs to dig down, it's going to be there."

De La Hoya last fought at 154 pounds and began his professional career as a junior lightweight 12 years ago. His fight against Sturm will be his first at 160.

Hopkins wants to reach 20 successful title defenses -- Joe Louis apparently holds the record with 26 defenses -- and says he is willing to fight only until he hits 42 years old.

"I will not fight past 42," he said. "I'm not going to embarrass myself and my family.

"That gives me two good years and some big fights can happen in that time frame. That's enough time to do a lot of great fights."

He mentioned fighting Tarver at light heavyweight but didn't feel he would face Felix Trinidad again, having defeated him in 2001.

"I'm not waiting around and I'm not waiting for Trinidad," Hopkins said. "I'm not waiting for these guys to catch me when I'm down. Trinidad is history."

Hopkins, conversely, says he is part of an ongoing history.

"That September fight, that's legendary stuff," he said of the carrot before him. "June 5 is leading to history (and Sept. 18) is the biggest fight in boxing history.

"Ah, that's my motivation."