De La Hoya Is Nearly Taken by Sturm

Moments after his less-than-enthralling unanimous decision, Bernard Hopkins jokingly said he would jump in the ring to help Oscar De La Hoya if he needed it in his debut at 160 pounds against World Boxing Organization champion Felix Sturm.

All that was at stake was a $24-million megafight between the two middleweights in September that was contingent upon their winning their respective fights at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Turns out Hopkins was not needed Saturday night to run through the crowd of 13,041 and interfere on behalf of De La Hoya and his payday -- judges Michael Glienna, Dave Moretti and Paul Smith saw to it.

All three scored the bout 115-113 for De La Hoya, even as Sturm dominated the fight in terms of punch stats. The Times had a split card with Steve Springer scoring it a draw, 114-114, and Paul Gutierrez had Sturm winning, 115-113. Associated Press had it a draw.

Consider: De La Hoya may have thrown 251 more punches than Sturm, 792-541, but Sturm landed more, 234-188, for a far greater percentage, 43%-24%.

Sturm dominated De La Hoya in jabs as well, landing 37% (112-306) compared to De La Hoya’s 15% (58-398), and in power shots, 52% (122-235) to 33% (130-394).

Then there were their faces. Sturm looked as though he just finished a Sunday drive on the autobahn while De La Hoya looked like someone who had fallen out of a moving car.

None of that mattered, though, as De La Hoya, who began his pro career at 133 pounds and looked to be slightly out of shape and soft around the middle in his first foray at middleweight, won a world title belt, even if it was the fringe WBO’s hardware, in a sixth weight class.

De La Hoya, who improved his record to 37-3, acknowledged that his effort could have been better.

“Everything went wrong tonight,” he said. “I tried as hard as I can.... I know in my heart I can do better, people have seen me do better. I don’t know what it was. I didn’t pick it up like I did in the gym.”

About the only thing De La Hoya picked up were constant Sturm jabs to the face -- De La Hoya bled from the left nostril from the first round on and later suffered a cut to the bridge of his nose -- as De La Hoya curiously stayed in front of the bigger, stronger and younger Sturm.

“Everyone knows I win,” said the German-born Sturm, who lost his first fight (20-1) in his first bout in the United States. “I am the true champion. He’s a good fighter, but tonight, it was my night.

“He got the win because he’s a big name.”

De La Hoya won two of the last three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to ensure the decision.

It also ensured the biggest payday for Hopkins, the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation champion.

Still, Hopkins showed more passion in his fight to have Joe Cortez removed as the referee for his 18th title defense, than he did against Robert Allen.

Looking as disinterested as the crowd was with its constant booing, Hopkins (44-2-1) won a lopsided unanimous decision -- 119-107, 119-107, 117-109 -- against Allen (36-5).

The crowd took a break from hissing in the seventh round when Hopkins dropped Allen with a straight lead right.

“Even when I had him hurt,” Hopkins said, “I still wanted to be careful.

“In this fight, I was out of character and more nervous because there was so much on the line. I think I just wanted everything to be perfect.

“I’ve never been in this situation before where I’ve had to win because I’ve had $10 million waiting for me.”

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Earlier on the card, Jose Luis Castillo regained the vacant WBC lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Juan Lazcano, 117-111, 116-112, 115-113. Castillo improved his record to 50-6-1. Lazcano fell to 33-3-1.

Castillo held the belt from June 17, 2000 until April 20, 2002, when Floyd Mayweather Jr. took it with a controversial unanimous decision.

Lazcano, who had his 18-fight winning streak come to an end, had Castillo in trouble in the ninth round when a combination sent Castillo bounding off the ropes but not to the canvas.

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IBF 130-pound champion Carlos Hernandez (40-3-1, 24 knockouts) of Bellflower will meet WBC champion Erik Morales (46-1, 34) of Tijuana in a unification bout July 31 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, it was announced Saturday. Also on the card, WBO 105-pound champion Ivan Calderon will defend his title against Daniel Reyes (34-1-1, 29).

Top Rank Promotions also hopes to add IBF 118-pound champion Rafael Marquez (31-3, 28) to the card.