Part of His Wish Has a Fighting Chance

Tim Leiweke, Anschutz Entertainment Group president and Staples Center boss, figures one of three is not bad.

“Three things we really wanted for this building,” he said at a news conference at Staples Center on Tuesday, “were an end to the NHL strike, a Beatles reunion and a relationship with Oscar De La Hoya.”

What Leiweke hopes will be a long relationship with De La Hoya was established with the announcement that Bernard Hopkins will fight Howard Eastman in a middleweight title fight Feb. 19 at Staples Center as the main event of a card promoted by De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

The event is being billed as “EXXecution Day” because, as De La Hoya explained, XX is the Roman numeral for 20 and, incredibly, this is the 20th title defense for Hopkins, who is nicknamed “the Executioner.”

No truth to the rumor Leiweke wanted the event to be billed as “A Hard Day’s Night.”

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Trivia time: When was the last middleweight title fight held in Los Angeles?

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Makes sense: New York Met executive Jeff Wilpon, asked if the team’s new regional sports network was a factor in signing Carlos Beltran, was quoted in the New York Times saying, “I think the biggest factor is we were tired of losing.”

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Perceptions vary: After TNT’s Kenny Smith said that the Indiana Pacers’ Jermaine O’Neal believes that he is the best forward in the league, Charles Barkley said, “Well, I think I am skinny, but that doesn’t mean I am.”

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Proving ground: “Most future NBA head coaches on one team?” asks Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Could be the 1983-84 Lakers with Magic Johnson, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott, Eddie Jordan and Michael Cooper.”

Added Ostler: “Wait, I just found another one: The 1960-61 Celtics with K.C. Jones, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy.”

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No magic man: Johnson, on TNT, said of Randy Moss: “It’s disappointing to hear him say, ‘Hey, $10,000 don’t mean nothing,’ when somebody fought to have you able to earn that type of money.”

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The real culprits: Don King has filed a $2.5-billion defamation suit against ESPN over a “SportsCentury” profile.

Wrote Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: “Actually, he should be suing Screamin’ A. Smith and Woody Paige for stealing his shtick.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1972, the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax became the youngest player elected to the baseball Hall of Fame at 36. Yogi Berra and Early Wynn also were elected.

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Trivia answer: On May 18, 1956, when Sugar Ray Robinson defended his title with a fourth-round knockout of Carl “Bobo” Olson at L.A.’s Wrigley Field.

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And finally: Reader Janice Hough asks, “Unhappiest people when Matt Leinart turned down the NFL? The 49ers. Next unhappiest people? The other potential No. 1 draft picks.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.