‘The fight of my life’

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

Oscar De La Hoya has been talking a lot lately about upending Bernard Hopkins to become the middleweight champion of the world.

But as another California Golden Boy said in Easy Rider, "talkin' about it and bein' it -- that's two different things."

De La Hoya acknowledges that he's in for the toughest challenge of his splendid career when he meets Hopkins on Sept. 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for Hopkins' undisputed title.

The scheduled 12-rounder will be available on pay per view.

"This is a dangerous fight, a very risky fight," De La Hoya said on a conference call Tuesday from his training camp in Big Bear, Calif. "But this is the type of challenge I need to elevate myself to another level.

"This is the fight of my life."

De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs), a sure-fire Hall of Famer, has won eight world titles in six weight classes in his 12-year professional career.

He is coming off a lackluster performance, however, in a unanimous decision against Felix Sturm on June 5 at the MGM. Although he won by 115-113 on the scorecards of all three judges, De La Hoya was criticized for showing up for the fight in flabby condition. Some ringside observers thought Sturm, a German fighter who was a big underdog, should have been awarded the decision.

"In that fight I showed a lot of people what I (shouldn't) do," De La Hoya said. "I will be a different Oscar on September 18."

De La Hoya, who had moved up in weight class to face Sturm, said Tuesday that he is training at 154 to 155 pounds. He will likely step into the ring with Hopkins weighing several pounds under the 160-pound middleweight limit.

He stressed that he has kicked his training program into a higher gear at Big Bear and vowed to come to Las Vegas in superb shape.

"Every time I go into that gym here, it's like I'm leaving a part of me inside that gym," De La Hoya said.

"I've been sparring 12, 13, 15 rounds consistently, so I can tell myself during the fight that I'm not going to get tired. ... Before, I would (spar) 12 rounds once. This time, I've already done 12 rounds five or six times."

Hopkins (44-2-1, 31 KOs) has defended his title a record 18 times, including a lopsided unanimous decision against Robert Allen on the same card as De La Hoya-Sturm.

At age 39, like a pugilistic Barry Bonds, Hopkins appears to be growing stronger with age. He's a minus 220 favorite Sept. 18 in Las Vegas sports books; De La Hoya is a plus 180 underdog.

"He's one of the great talents we've had in this generation," De La Hoya, 31, said of his opponent. "I don't see him slowing down at all. He looks to be in his prime. He's done a great job in conditioning and in taking care of himself."

De La Hoya-Hopkins is not only being hailed as the fight of the year, but it's also drawing comparisons to a bout often called the "Fight of the Decade" -- the 1987 middleweight title fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler at Caesars Palace.

In that fight, Leonard, a charismatic underdog, outpointed Hagler, the established champion. Boxing fans still debate the split decision and like to relive the memorable ninth round of that slugfest.

Perhaps it's no surprise that Hopkins -- who'd play Hagler's losing role in such a diorama -- is dismissing comparisons to the 1987 fight, while De La Hoya has been more amenable to them.

"Ray's performance against Hagler was great," De La Hoya said. "He knew going into the fight that Hagler was slowing down."

Hopkins has relied instead on old-school trash talk, threatening to pummel De La Hoya so badly that he'll have to drink his meals through a straw.

De La Hoya shrugged off those comments Tuesday.

"He says he's going to rearrange my face or whatever -- big deal, go ahead and do it," De La Hoya said. "We're gonna go to war."