De La Hoya determined to win in underdog role

LAS VEGAS -- The smile was gone, and Oscar De La Hoya was in no mood to play any games. To those who think he has no chance against middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, though, De La Hoya had something to say.

No, he's not scared to be fighting a bigger, stronger fighter. No, he didn't take the fight just for a $30 million payday.

"The reason I took this fight is I know I can win," De La Hoya said Wednesday. "I'm not thinking of anything else because all I want is those belts. Believe me when I tell you, those belts are mine."

For the first time in his career, De La Hoya will be an underdog when he goes into the ring Saturday night to challenge Hopkins in a fight that could end up the richest non-heavyweight bout ever.

It's only the second fight at middleweight for De La Hoya (37-3), and he's taking on a champion who has defended his titles 18 times and hasn't lost in 11 years.

"This is the fight where I just suck it up and let everything loose," De La Hoya said. "This is for all the marbles. This is the fight that will define my career."

For Hopkins (44-2-1), it's a fight that means even more than that.

"I'm willing to leave my soul, body and life in there if it takes that," Hopkins said.

Hopkins is a 2-1 favorite in the scheduled 12-round fight, which will be televised on pay-per-view (HBO, $54.95) from the MGM Grand Garden arena.

Already a sellout with a $14 million gate, promoters are hoping the matchup is so intriguing that it will surpass the previous non-heavyweight record of 1.4 million pay-per-view buys set in De La Hoya's 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad.

If the fight sells as well as expected, the 39-year-old Hopkins could pocket up to $15 million. For a fighter who has never made more than $3 million before and whose career has been marked by battles with various promoters and managers, the money is vindication for doing things his own way.

"We've got two different agendas, come from two different places and have walked two different roads," said Hopkins (44-2-1, 31 knockouts). "He's the golden boy, but after Saturday night I'll be the new golden boy."

De La Hoya, who has won titles in five weight divisions from 130 pounds up, will have to show not only that he can be quicker than Hopkins but also that he has the stamina to stay on his toes all 12 rounds.

That's been a problem in previous fights, including his loss to Trinidad, where he was ahead after nine rounds but then ran the last three rounds.

De La Hoya (37-3, 29 knockouts) said he sparred 130 rounds in camp for the fight, compared to his usual 80, and went 12 rounds four different times.

"Stamina is not going to be an issue," he said. "Stamina is covered, speed is covered, legs are covered. Power? It will come, too."

Hopkins said De La Hoya had better be prepared to fight from the first round on. Though some have tried to compare the fight to the 1987 middleweight title bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Hopkins said the better analogy would be Hagler's third-round knockout of Thomas Hearns in 1985.

"I'm going to set a fierce pace. It's going to be a Marvin Hagler-Tommy Hearns kind of fight," Hopkins said. "If he takes a deep breath, I'm telling you, it's over."

The huge payouts to both fighters is a testament to the continued ability of De La Hoya to draw paying fans despite losing two fights to Shane Mosley and his fight to Trinidad. In his last fight in June against Felix Sturm, he looked out of shape and struggled to get a narrow win.

De La Hoya remains the biggest draw in boxing, with his fights on pay-per-view taking in $390 million exclusive of live gates. Because he is the prime attraction, he refused a third fight with Mosley because Mosley wanted a dollar more than what De La Hoya would make and turned instead to a much riskier fight with a champion many rate among the best middleweights ever.

Hopkins said he doesn't begrudge De La Hoya his place in boxing.

"Oscar is good for boxing. Unfortunately we don't have five or six of him," Hopkins said. "Oscar brings a crowd, movie stars, celebrities. I have nothing to say bad about Oscar, period."