DE LA HOYA, HOPKINS ALREADY TALKING ABOUT SEPTEMBER FIGHT.Byline: Robert Morales Staff Writer Oscar De La Hoya's incredible appeal and Bernard Hopkins' extraordinary mouth should have fans drooling drooling the discharge of saliva from the mouth. A normal feature in some breeds of dogs such as St. Bernard, Newfoundland and English bulldog, presumably because of their loose, pendulous lips. by the time their scheduled Sept. 18 world middleweight title fight arrives. The superstars first must win their respective June 5 fights at the MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. Grand in Las Vegas. But chances of De La Hoya losing to Felix Sturm or Hopkins to Robert Allen are, respectively, slim and none. All four boxers were in attendance Tuesday at a downtown news conference. Hopkins, to no one's surprise, stole the show with his humor and bravado. ``This is another opportunity to show the world that Bernard Hopkins has continued to get younger and not older,'' said Hopkins, 39. The world middleweight champion from Philadelphia has made a record 17 title defenses. ``We are big. September is big. You all wish you could skip past these months and go right there, don't you? ... We like to wear throwback jerseys. Well, I'm a throwback fighter and I'm going to emulate everything you've seen from Sugar Ray Robinson Noun 1. Sugar Ray Robinson - United States prizefighter who won the world middleweight championship five times and the world welterweight championship once (1921-1989) Ray Robinson, Walker Smith, Robinson to Marvelous Marvin Hagler.'' If De La Hoya (36-3, 29 KOs) and Hopkins both win June 5, their fight also would be at the MGM Grand. De La Hoya, who is moving up in weight, is looking to make history by winning world championships in six weight classes. Sturm is the WBO middleweight champion, but Hopkins (43-2-1, one NC, 31 KOs) is considered the world middleweight champion because he holds the WBA, WBC WBC white blood cell; see leukocyte. WBC abbr. white blood cell WBC, n stands for white blood cell. and IBF IBF See: International Banking Facility belts, all of which are more prestigious than the WBO. ``Let me tell you, this middleweight division, it's scary,'' said De La Hoya, 31, of East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. , who Tuesday signed the contract for the two-fight deal; Hopkins signed last week. ``But you know what? I love it. I love it because it's a new challenge.'' There are many experts who believe De La Hoya is simply in too deep against Hopkins. ``There are a lot of people who do want to see me get beat up,'' De La Hoya said. ``But I'm going to go out there and work hard, because these last fights of my career are going to be the defining moments of my life.'' According to Hopkins, his fight with De La Hoya will be a defining moment for a maligned sport. ``This is what boxing needs,'' he said. ``We're taking boxing out of ICU ICU intensive care unit. ICU abbr. intensive care unit ICU see intensive care unit. ICU . Boxing is in critical condition.'' Robert Morales, (626) 962-8811 robert.morales(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: OSCAR DE LA HOYA Oscar de la Hoya (IPA pronunciation: [ˈɑs.kɛɹ dɛ.lɑ.ˈhɔɪ.jɑ][1]) (born February 4, 1973) — nicknamed the Golden Boy |
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