Career Day

No middleweight, not Sugar Ray Robinson or Jake LaMotta, Emile Griffith or Marvin Hagler, equaled Bernard Hopkins’ 18 successful defenses of the 160-pound title.

No fighter outside the heavyweight division has ever had the earning power of Oscar De La Hoya. Through six weight classes, he has left each with a championship belt, although not always one from a major sanctioning body.

Each man has left his mark. Yet the legacy of each figures to hang on tonight’s main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, where De La Hoya (37-3, 29 knockouts) and Hopkins (44-2-1, 31) will fight for the undisputed middleweight title.

For all his success, De La Hoya has lost his three biggest fights, to Felix Trinidad in 1999 and twice to Shane Mosley, in 2000 and 2003. Many dispute the majority decision given to Trinidad, but there is no disputing the loss in the record book.

A win tonight for De La Hoya, in only his second fight at middleweight against the division’s long dominant figure, would overshadow those losses and elevate De La Hoya in boxing history. A loss would make him 0-4 in big matches.

“I’ve learned over the years that you are only as good as your last fight,” De La Hoya said. “This will make my legacy, beating Bernard in the fight of my life.”

Said Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter: “If Oscar wants to have a legacy of true greatness, he has to beat Hopkins. If he loses, people will recognize him as an extremely good fighter, certainly a Hall of Fame guy, and certainly the biggest attraction of our time.”

What does Hopkins have to prove? That he can beat a big-name fighter. Until he defeated Trinidad in 2001, Hopkins, despite all his triumphs, was best known for losing to Roy Jones in 1993. Much like Jones himself, Hopkins has been in a division bereft of great talent. There has been no Sugar Ray Leonard or Thomas Hearns to grant legitimacy to Hopkins’ dominance.

Where others see a negative, however, Hopkins sees a positive.

“Bernard Hopkins has his own era,” he said, speaking of himself, as usual, in the third person. “Leonard, Hagler, Hearns had their own era, but they shared the glory and the spotlight. Their era wasn’t complete without each other. For today’s middleweight division, I feel I don’t have to share. History will consider this the Bernard Hopkins era.”

Only if he wins.

WHAT HOPKINS MUST DO TO WIN

Just be Hopkins.

Use his superior power, his superior size -- three inches in height, three inches in reach -- and, based on the performances of both men, his superior endurance.

De La Hoya’s power has dropped appreciably as he has moved up in weight, from the low 130s to 160 pounds. In his debut at 160 in June against Felix Sturm, De La Hoya, while winning a sloppy decision, was unable to hurt his opponent.

If De La Hoya couldn’t hurt Sturm, how can he stop, or even slow, Hopkins?

Sometime in the first or second round, De La Hoya will land one of his trademark left hooks. If Hopkins shakes it off with a smile, the fight might be over.

When one fighter knows the other can’t hurt him, that he can wade in without fear, it can be an overwhelming and, ultimately, deciding factor.

“I hope, on fight night, someone in the De La Hoya corner has the sense to stop this fight after five, six rounds,” Hopkins said.

WHAT DE LA HOYA MUST DO TO WIN

Earlier, when De La Hoya fought only lesser talents or big names over the hill, he was called Chicken De La Hoya.

Now that he has chosen to challenge the bigger, stronger Hopkins, instead of pressing for a rematch with Trinidad or a third fight against Mosley, a better nickname might be El Pollo Loco.

Endurance has been a problem for De La Hoya in big fights. In the prefight news conference, he always announces he is in the best shape of his life. But afterward, he often concedes he didn’t train as hard he should have. Against Sturm, De La Hoya was carrying flab around the middle.

Once again, he is proclaiming to be in the best shape ever. He can point to a disciplined training camp and a refusal to take weekends off at his Big Bear training site, as he did previously.

Then, De La Hoya would come down from Big Bear at the start of fight week, make a traditional appearance on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show,” then make his way to Las Vegas. This time, there was no Leno, and he arrived at fight headquarters just before Wednesday’s final news conference.

Will all that make a difference? Only if De La Hoya uses his superior speed to box, to move, to stay off the ropes and out of range of the dangerous Hopkins while piling up points.

The number on the tale of the tape that stirs the most hope in De La Hoya supporters is age. De La Hoya is 31, Hopkins 39.

Fighters have gotten old overnight before. It’s a slim hope in the case of Hopkins, who is never out of shape. But it might be De La Hoya’s best hope.

PREDICTION

Felix Trinidad, a savage puncher, didn’t knock out De La Hoya. Neither did Fernando Vargas or Ike Quartey, each of whom had him in trouble. So don’t look for Hopkins to do it, either. De La Hoya is much tougher than he is sometimes portrayed. He is also a superior boxer who will build up an early lead. But ultimately, in the late rounds, when endurance has been a problem for De La Hoya, look for the bigger, stronger, more durable Hopkins to turn a close fight into a unanimous decision in his favor.

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DE LA HOYA VS. HOPKINS Tonight at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Card begins at 6, HBO pay-per-view