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Both choose different paths as youths, De La Hoya was pushed by his father to become a dynamic and highly successful amateur.
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While Oscar was coming up and making a name for himself in East Los Angeles as the next Sugar Ray Leonard, Bernard Hopkins was serving time in prison not thinking about a future gold medal.
In 1992 when a 132-pound Oscar De La Hoya strapped on his gold medal, Hopkins was also fighting no name fighters like James Stokes and Erick Rhinehart. Nobody in their right mind would have told you that these guys would cross paths, much less be part of one of the biggest fights of the decade. But yet here they are, each looking to put a notch on their legacies.
Each is looking to add to their Hall of Fame credentials. De La Hoya is looking to be the first fighter to win titles in 6 different weight classes. He is hoping it will culminate with him winning a undisputed crown at 160. Hopkins on the other hand, is looking to place another future Hall of Famer on his resume, and add defense number 19 to his incredible run as Middleweight champion
While other sports provide similar story lines, none provide the one on one combat between both sides of the tracks. For this one moment, fans will find out what makes a better fighter, a better pedigree of training, money, and popularity, or does a street background that includes a hardened prison stay make a better fighter. For one night, and that night only, we will see who is the better man.
In such a high stakes fight, it would have been hard for even Ralph Ellison to write a more compelling story. But it is part of what makes boxing the most written about, and most popularly 'Holllywoodized' sports. The drama is just so compelling, and on September 18th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, when Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya fight in that squared circle, a piece of boxing history will be written once again.
