Boxing: De La Hoya: ''I Can Beat Hopkins''

In one of the most anticipated fights in years, the bout that fight fans thought would never happen, is only a few months away from being a reality, Oscar De La Hoya vs. Bernard Hopkins. September 18th, 2004 is the date and the countdown has begun.

BoxingScene caught up with Oscar to get his take on the biggest fight of his career.

BoxingScene: Your performance in your fight against Felix Sturm was not the type of performance that boxing fans are accustomed to seeing from you. Did you at anytime after the fight want to go ahead and cancel your fight with Bernard Hopkins?

De La Hoya: The thought never entered in my head. No one is unbeatable. I still think that I’m catching him (Hopkins) at the right time. I know that I can beat Bernard Hopkins. I would never sign my name to a fight where I felt in my heart that I could not win. As far as Sturm, I had a bad night, I focused too much on my power and not enough on boxing. I had problems for a few rounds adjusting to his style. It was a very close fight, a very competitive fight, but I did not feel like he beat me. For the fight with Hopkins, I’m not even thinking about a knockout, I’m just thinking about winning the fight, round by round.

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I caught the first half of the Sturm fight. Oscar's defence was nonexistant. If he fights Hopkins the same way, he won't see the end of the fight, he'll be asleep.

De La Hoya can win easily if he fights smart. His only problem is like truenorth said, he doesn't block as often as he should. He has to take it easy and pick his spots to attack better