DE LA HOYA-HOPKINS POST-FIGHT ANALYSIS

Bernard Hopkins delivered an impressive knockout body punch against Oscar De La Hoya to end the fight in round 9.

September 19, 2004 - by Bert Sugar

Despite all the pre-fight hype by an array of writers wearing their pencils down to the nub comparing Hopkins-De La Hoya with Hagler-Leonard, Hagler-Leonard it wasn't.

For reasons that couldn't stand up to the vaguest examination De La Hoya, acting almost as if some highwayman of the long ago had ordered him to "Stand and Deliver," chose to stand directly in front of Hopkins instead of moving in and out throwing flurries as Leonard had. Maybe it was a psychological holdover from his fight with Felix Trinadad when his machismo had been called into question after he ran the last four rounds and now driven by a fear of being something less than a warrior he elected to take a stand. Or maybe he thought his strategy would throw Hopkins off his gameplan. But whatever it was that made him make his stand, it was as successful as Custer's last one.

There was no tortoise-and-hare story here, just Oscar standing in front of Bernard trading blow-for-blow and jab-for-jab and playing cat-and-cat with the stronger champion throughout the early going. And winning a majority of the opening rounds on the judges' scorecards.

But by the fourth Hopkins, who had looked somewhat tentative and a little offput by Oscar's strategy, unsheathed his jab and began closing the distance between the two--and every now and then throwing a left shoulder into the mix just to remind Oscar that he had made a mistake trying to match him on the inside.

As the fight entered the fateful ninth, Hopkins was ahead on two of the judges' scorecards (79-73 and 78-74), with the third judge having Oscar ahead (77-75). But truth be told, the real number for Oscar was "911."

In boxing, there are certain danger signs to be as strictly observed as railroad crossings. One of them is never-ever be backed into the ropes by Bernard Hopkins. But somehow, someway, Oscar found himself in the ropes with one minute gone in the ninth. And Bernard, following him like a tail to a comet, came forward behind a needle-to-the-lodestone left jab followed by a pluperfect left hook to the body which found Oscar's liver with a divining-rod accuracy.

The effect was not evident immediately. But after a momentary pause, Oscar, in a delayed reaction, succumbed to the law of gravity, his face contorted in pain, his powers barely those of respiration, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. As referee Kenny Bayliss tolled the count over him, Oscar tried mightily to rise, but his legs failed to uphold the functions they had sworn to uphold and by the count of "Ten" was on all fours pounding the canvas in frustration.

(To assess the effect of a liver punch, we called on that "Human Punching Bag," Randall "Tex" Cobb who said that a liver punch thrown in a sparring session with Greg Page was the only punch that had ever hurt him. According to Cobb, "Page hit me in the liver and I just stood there, frozen, mouth open. (Trainer) Georgie Benton called out "Time' and asked if I was 'okay.' All I could say was 'aaaaargh' and he called 'Time In.' ")

The "Liver Punch"--which will now go down with the "Solar Plexus Punch" thrown by Bob Fitzsimmons to win the heavyweight crown from Jim Corbett back in 1897 as one of the most devastating punches in history--may be debated for years to come. But what is not debatable is Bernard Hopkins' greatness. And as the discussion went on far into the night like a smokey party no one seemed to have the energy to leave the question was: where does Bernard Hopkins, that credentialed courier of old age at 39-going-on-Social Security with that old gray fist, stand in the pantheon of middleweight greats?

For, pruned of potential escape clauses, there is no doubt that Hopkins, a man who assaults both ears and opponents, deserves to be considered one of the all-time all-timers in the middleweight class. How else to assess the greatness of a man who has now successfully defended his middleweight title a record 19 times, made both Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinadad one with the canvas and laid waste to the middleweight landscape and the record books at the same time?

If you want to get in on the discussion about both the "Liver Punch" and the "Greatness"--with a cap "G"--of Bernard Hopkins, just tune in to the exclusive delayed broadcast of the fight Saturday, September 25th on HBO. Maybe then you'll come away with an appreciation of both the punch and the man who delivered it, Bernard Hopkins.