GOLDEN BOY IS BATTERED BOY.

Byline: Doug Krikorian Special to the Daily News

LAS VEGAS - It was exquisitely majestic as it was savagely brutal, a perfectly timed left hook that will secure a place for Bernard Hopkins in fistic lore.

It came at 1:38 of the ninth round against Oscar De La Hoya, and it left De La Hoya reeling haplessly on the mat, unable to rise, unable to catch his breath, unable to beat the count of referee Kenny Bayless, unable to continue to absorb further punishment from Hopkins.

Hopkins became an alchemist Saturday night in front of 16,112 at the MGM Grand with that frightening punch to De La Hoya's liver, turning gold into dust, reducing boxing's Golden Boy to the Battered Boy by methodically dismantling the 31-year-old East Los Angeles native with a relentless attack that culminated in such a startlingly quick fashion.

``I gave him a Hopkins liver sandwich,'' Hopkins cracked afterward.

De La Hoya said: ``What can I say? ... Bernard just caught me with a perfect punch.''

It indeed was a perfect, devastating punch that followed a brisk jab by Hopkins, as Hopkins rushed in and bulled De La Hoya against the ropes, dipped momentarily and dug his lethal weapon into De La Hoya's body, securing his legacy in boxing history and leaving De La Hoya's tarnished.

This was going to be the fight in which De La Hoya was going to assure himself a place in his sport's pantheon after faltering in his other high profile bouts against the likes of Sugar Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad.

This was going to be the fight in which De La Hoya was going to display all his masterful sweet science skills honed to prime condition the past few months with a monastic training regimen at Big Bear Lake.

Instead, it turned out to be a glowing coronation for Hopkins, as he made his 19th successful defense of his middleweight title and did so with a dramatic flair that will gain him new advocates in the best pound-for-pound fight judging.

He ended it with the kind of punch they'll be showing in TV replays for generations, much like they have with that vicious right hand that Rocky Marciano landed against Jersey Joe Walcott and the left hook that Sugar Ray Robinson bounced off the jaw of Gene Fullmer.

Indeed, it turned out that Hopkins, who has campaigned as a middleweight throughout his long career, was too big, too strong and also simply too good for De La Hoya.

Not that De La Hoya embarrassed himself.

That didn't happen until the final moments, but before that he fought gamely against Hopkins, frustrating him at times with his slick movement, landing occasional combinations, evoking loud cheers from a crowd that was overwhelmingly in his corner.

``I have to give Oscar credit in that he didn't run like I thought he would,'' Hopkins said. ``He fought a good fight and gave me trouble.''

But not that much trouble.

``For the first couple of rounds, I wanted to prove to the world I could out-box Oscar - and I think I did that,'' Hopkins said, and he did. ``But then as the fight went on, I began to step it up and became more aggressive.''

No doubt Hopkins' size - he's 6-foot-1 and has a 3-inch reach advantage - made a difference, but he also turned out to be a superior boxer.

De La Hoya has fought a lot of tough men across the years, but never one with the ring mastery of Hopkins, a cool assassin on this evening when he landed all the power punches, including the one that forever destroyed the invincibility myth that had built up around De La Hoya despite those three previous failures in his career.

No one ever had knocked out De La Hoya before, or even had him in serious trouble.

But this time he took on a challenge that turned out to be too imposing.

He will be well-indemnified for his pain, as he was guaranteed a $25 million salary.

But his reputation as a great fighter has been irreparably harmed.

Great fighters don't get knocked out in such a manner in showdown conflicts.

But so what?

Oscar De La Hoya is rich beyond comprehension from his ring work, and figures to squeeze many millions more in the future.

And so will Bernard Hopkins, who earned at least $8 million Saturday night and enhanced his stature with that left hook that those who saw it - and the one who didn't, De La Hoya - won't soon forget.