Oscar’s Bad Body Language

Hunched over on his knees, his head buried in his gloves, Oscar De La Hoya kept pounding the canvas in a corner of the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night.

De La Hoya had overcome a slash on the inside of his left hand, an accidental gash caused by his cutman, Joe Chavez, earlier in the week when Chavez was cutting tape off De La Hoya’s hand.

De La Hoya had proven wrong the critics who said he couldn’t survive against Bernard Hopkins, the undisputed middleweight champion who figured to be too physical for him.

De La Hoya hadn’t been knocked down, he hadn’t been cut and he hadn’t been hurt even though he chose to stand in front of the man who was defending his 160-pound title for a record 19th time.

De La Hoya had been competitive for eight rounds, although he was behind on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

And then it came, midway through the ninth, a quick, solid, vicious shot by Hopkins to De La Hoya’s right side. There was a delayed reaction as Hopkins landed a second, softer blow.

But then reality caught up to De La Hoya, in front of 16,112.

He crumpled to the canvas and rolled partly under the ropes, his face a picture of pain.

Referee Kenny Bayless began the count, but then, looking at De La Hoya struggling in agony, thought better of it and signaled that the fight was over at the 1:38 mark of the round.

As was De La Hoya’s dream of a career-defining victory, as he was stopped for the first time as a pro.

Once again, Hopkins (45-2-1, one no-contest, 32 knockouts) had retained his title.

“He was a crafty son of a gun,” Hopkins said. “He was moving on me. He fought a smart fight up until the end.

“I set him up with the jab and leaned to the left and hit him in the liver. The left hook really made him say ‘Ugghh.’ I heard the wind come out of him.”

De La Hoya was quick to praise Hopkins.

“He threw a good body shot and caught me,” De La Hoya said. “He got me right on the button. Believe me, I tried getting up. I have what it takes to get up.”

Judges Dave Moretti (79-73) and Paul Smith (78-74) had Hopkins ahead through eight rounds. The third judge, Keith Macdonald, had De La Hoya winning, 77-75.

For The Times, Steve Springer had the fight even, 76-76, and Bill Plaschke had Hopkins ahead, 78-74.

With a three-inch height advantage over the 5-11 De La Hoya, a three-inch reach advantage at 75 inches and an overall larger body structure, Hopkins, an 11-5 favorite, was expected to be the aggressor while De La Hoya, eight years younger than Hopkins at 31, was expected to box and run and try to stay out of range.

De La Hoya had said, however, that he was going to fool the prognosticators with his strategy. He not only did that, but he fooled Hopkins as well.

“He surprised me,” Hopkins said, “by coming out to fight me straight up. Her didn’t run or look for a gift from the judges. He came to fight.

“I think it was me going harder in the second half of the fight. I was trying to get inside and rough him up and put my weight on him. It was hard to get inside because Oscar fought a great fight. I felt the urgency.”

Did Hopkins feel he was winning the fight?

“Heck no, I wasn’t sure,” Hopkins said.

During the days leading up to the fight, the biggest question in the De La Hoya camp was whether he could fight at all because of his cut hand.

The injury occurred on Wednesday evening after a light workout as Chavez attempted to cut off the tape wrapped around De La Hoya’s hands. It was the most routine of activities, one Chavez and De La Hoya have engaged in hundreds of times over the last three years.

But this time was different. This time, Chavez inadvertently cut into the skin on the inside of De La Hoya’s left hand at the base of two fingers. De La Hoya flinched as blood began to flow.

As the blood was momentarily wiped away, a deep, v-shaped gash was left on De La Hoya’s hand.

Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya’s business manager, was hastily summoned, as was Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter, who was at a nearby synagogue where he was celebrating the Jewish New Year.

De La Hoya was taken to plastic surgeon Biff McCain, who injected his injured left hand with a painkiller, and then closed the wound with 11 stitches.

“Oscar was very calm, very collected,” Schaefer said. “Not once did he say, ‘I can’t fight.’ ”

By Thursday morning, De La Hoya’s left hand, his primary weapon throughout his career, was so swollen, he couldn’t close his fist.

But De La Hoya kept the injury secret, determined not to postpone the match for which he earned a minimum of $30 million. Hopkins got $10 million.

And afterward, he said the injury wasn’t a factor.

“It was perfectly fine,” said De La Hoya (37-4, 29). “I was popping him with my jab. He just caught me with the right punch. That was it. What can I say?

“He’s the middleweight champion of the world. I tried to do the impossible on paper, beat the middleweight champ coming up from 130 pounds,” the weight at which De La Hoya turned professional after winning an gold medal at the 1992 Olympics.

“I am very proud of what I tried to accomplish,” De La Hoya said. “I give him all the respect in the world. It just didn’t work out.”

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In the semi-main event, Juan Manuel Marquez (43-2-1, 33 knockouts) defended his World Boxing Assn and International Boxing Federation featherweight titles with a unanimous decision over Orlando Salido (23-9-1, 15).