OSCAR TESTS DEEP WATER, BIG SHOW STILL ON

Forty-eight hours before the first bell Oscar De La Hoya said he hoped Felix Sturm would give him a tough fight because he wanted to test the waters in the middleweight division.

It was De La Hoya’s debut at 160 and he almost drowned before hanging tough and winning Sturm’s WBO middleweight crown on a controversial 12-round decision Saturday before 13,031 spectators in the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

There were some shaky moments in what would be the Golden Boy’s newest title in six different divisions but De La Hoya, aggressive from the outset, had to win the last three minutes to dethrone the undefeated Sturm from Hamburg, Germany.

All three judges---Paul Smith and Dave Moretti, both of Las Vegas, and Michael Glienna, Chicago, voted 115-113 for De La Hoya, 30, whose resume went to 37-3, 29 K0s while earning $8 million. Sturm, 25, in his American debut, dipped to 20-1,9 K0s but collected the largest purse of his four-year career at $650,00.

Going into the 12th round, the judges had De La Hoya 105, Sturm 104.The talented German import needed at least two judges voting him the 12th round to create a majority draw at 114-114.

De La Hoya had been in this potential jeopardy
before, notably against another Felix named Trinidad in 1999 for a highly-controversial loss. Oscar wasn’t going to blow this magic moment even though Sturm fought well with his gloves up blocking head combinations.

Sturm landed a couple of rights in the final heat, but De La Hoya was still super quick, feinting and dipping with speed the German could not match. Boxing’s big money man lifted the house out of it seats with a six-punch salvo. Sturrn countered briefly but De La Hoya was back with triple conbinations high and low, and the fans went bananas when he shook Sturm with a snapping right that had the latter backing up with a strange jog as time ran out.

Perhaps the most nervous duo in the house watching De La Hoya and Sturm were Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and Bernard Hopkins, the undisputed world middleweight champion.

Hopkins, out of Philadelphia, did his part in an 18th record defense against Robert Allen with a 12-round near-shutout in the semi-final of the “Collision Course” previews where Saturday’s winners will meet Sept.18 in this same venue.

The “Collision Course” promotion looms as the richest non-heavyweight bout in history. Had the unsung Sturm come up with one of boxing’s biggest shockers, incredible millions in revenue would have gone down the tunes.

De La Hoya, with a bruised right eye, didn’t keep the deadline media waiting an hour like he did after that first loss to Sugar Shane Mosley in June,2000 in Los Angeles.

“It was a tough fight with Felix Sturm. I am very happy to have won another title But from this day on, I will be training very hard for Hopkins. Felix came to fight and he was like every opponent I have ever faced in being prepared to give their best performance,” said the the irritated champion, who has now won crowns at 130, 135, 140, 147, 154, and 160 since 1994.

Sturm, who trained in Las Vegas for six weeks, said in pre-fight hype he considered De La Hoya “an idol but once we’re in the ring, there will be no respect.”

“There is no question, after tonight’s fight the world has to know who the better fighter is. Oscar was my best fight and losses are part of boxing. In the last two rounds, I switched to southpaw but I really can’t fight southpaw. I’d like to come back to Vegas and have a middleweight fight for big money. I deserve a rematch but I can’t expect that,”

When Team Sturm returns to Germany, it seems certain it will be flaunting the punching stats of CompuBox although the latter has no bearing on the judges’ scoring.

In total punches thrown, Sturm landed 234 of 541 for 43 percent accuracy while De La Hoya’s tab was 24 percent, being on target with 188 of 792 shots. There’s a theory everything works off the jab and in that category, the defending champion posted 112 of 306 punches for 37 percent while De La Hoya surprisingly was only accurate with 58 of 398 for 15 percent.

It’s no secret Sturm isn’t in De La Hoya’s class as a heavier hitter but he threw strikes on 122 of 235 for 52 percent while the Golden Boy’s report was landing 130 of 394 for 33 percent.

“Sturm was a very good fighter who took me off my game plan and that’s why everything went wrong tonight. What can I do and what can I say about everything going wrong. I sparred with big guys in training and worked hard as possible. Some people might say we underrated Sturm but I don’t think so because he is a world champion. He’s young so naturally he’s hungry. Yes, I’m disappointed with my performance, but in my heart I know I can do much better,” De La Hoya insisted.

Arum said he felt De La Hoya “would be alright in the scoring, having won four of the first five rounds with the judges.

“I had it eight rounds to four, but that seven to five in rounds the judges had was okay. I know Oscar clearly won the 10th round and when the chips were on the line, he had to win the 12th and he did like the champion he is. Oscar was testing the waters but I don’t believe he will fight Bernard Hopkins like he fought Sturm.”

Hopkins, 39, was pleased with the close decision that assured he and De La Hoya would be cutting up at least $30 million in September but he didn’t think it was a gimme going into the 12th round.

“Oscar showed he could stay with the big boys but
Sturm really challenged De La Hoya. My blood pressure went up three notches in those late rounds but Oscar pulled it out with combinations and he was the aggressor on making the fight. I was safer tonight
than I have ever been because it can take just one shot to shatter your dream. When I hit Allen with that right hand in the seventh round I didn’t think he would get up. I give him credit for trying his best.”

Though Sturm lost his WBO belt in the United States, he is now a far better known fighter world-wide for having fought De La Hoya on HBO pay-per-view in Las Vegas.

Klaus Peter Kohl out of Dortmund, Germany is Sturm’s promoter. When Top Rank’s Bob Arum originally suggested the WBO middleweight champion come to the USA to fight De La Hoya, the astute European ring entrepreneur thought “those Yanks were really crazy.”

“When Bob Arum called me about this fight, I told him you must really think we are really crazy. He said it was a natural since the world knows Oscar is his idol. We started thinking about it for a while and then realized where in the world can Felix get this kind of exposure?” said the innovative promoter.

“And that’s the real reason why we agreed to take this fight. The reason I’m motivated for Felix is the big picture which puts him in a situation where he has everything to gain and nothing to lose. He made a good impression against Oscar and that large six-figure purse is just the start. Felix wants to fight again in the United States and he should be welcome.”

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and an exclusive contributor to Ringsports.Com.)