Betting Box Tipping Guide

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	2pts Bernard Hopkins to win in rounds 7-9 at 8/1 (Bet365).	Hopkins is a methodical pressure fighter who wins plenty of his fights after the halfway stage.
	2pts Bernard Hopkins to win in rounds 10-12 at 6/1 (Bet365).	'The Executioner' knows if this is anywhere near close late on he will have to go for broke.
	1pt Hopkins - De La Hoya to draw at 22/1 (UK Betting, Totalbet).	Two extremely marketable modern greats fighting in Las Vegas? Go figure.

Look in any dictionary worth its salt and beside the word Event you should find something similar to the following:

A significant occurrence or happening.

Something that takes place.

The final result, the outcome.

Saturday's middleweight unification clash between Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya is all of these things and more.

It has 'Fight Of The Year' stamped all over it and has had fight fans the world over licking their lips in anticipation all summer long.

The bout is the richest non-heavyweight title fight in history and sees two of the biggest names in the sport going head to head in an attempt to cement their own boxing legacy.

De La Hoya, a modern great who has won world titles at six different weights, will go into a professional bout as a betting underdog for the first time in his career.

It's not difficult to see why.

For Hopkins is easily the most impressive, efficient, ruthless middleweight champion since 'Marvellous' Marvin Hagler.

A barbarous, brutal practitioner from Philadelphia who learned to box while serving a stretch inside for armed robbery.

And despite turning pro in relative obscurity (he is one of a select group of world champions who actually lost their opening bout) Hopkins has worked tirelessly to become one of the most respected and feared protagonists in the fight game.

'The Executioner' is unbeaten since losing to Roy Jones back in 1993, and since winning the IBF title in 1995, he has made 18 successful title defences (liberating various other crowns along the way).

He is your archetypal 'throwback' fighter.

'Nard may be pushing 40, but he is inceasingly in shape, knows his price, and loves to fight.

Now happily reunited with vulpine trainer Bouie Fischer, there is little wonder Hopkins is seen as a 2/7 chance by the Las Vegas odds-compilers.

His career, demeanour and general lifestyle are in complete contrast to that of De La Hoya.

'The Golden Boy' turned pro amid a media frenzy after winning gold for the USA in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and after just 11 fights Oscar won his first world title after stopping one Jimmy Bredahl for the WBO super-featherweight crown.

De La Hoya, the most marketable boxer outside of the heavyweight division, has been winning titles ever since.

His performances though have never been as consistent as the cheques he has banked.

For De La Hoya's displays can range from breathtaking (Genaro Hernandez, Arturo Gatti, Fernando Vargas) to downright frustrating (Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Felix Sturm).

He has quick hands, great lateral movement and a sturdy chin.

Yet you have to ask yourself just how does a man in his financial situation find the motivation to put the boots on and do roadwork of a morning?

He looked shabby against Sturm last time out, bloated and in truth fairly lucky to receive a unanimous decision in his favour.

That will prey on the minds of Hopkins, a boxer notoriously paranoid about the politics of the industry.

His uneasy pre-fight mood can't have been helped after finding out Dave Moretti and Paul Smith (two of the three judges who scored for De La Hoya against Sturm), will be officiating again on Saturday.

He knows that the only sure way of winning the fight is to take all control away from the judges.

Indeed, when asked in the lead up to the bout if he could envisage himself winning against De La Hoya and then getting robbed, Hopkins' response was a little ominous.

"How are you gonna wake a dead man up and give him the fight?"

That quote should tell punters exactly how Hopkins is approaching this one i.e. to win inside schedule.

Yet anyone who has followed Hopkins' career will realise that he is no one-punch KO merchant.

He is more of a pugilistic tree surgeon, grinding and chipping away before his subject can take no more and eventually yields before him (a la Trinidad in 2001).

With this in mind, and given the fact that De La Hoya has a fair chin, I don't see the fight ending early.

However,given his skinny outright odds, the 8/1 on Hopkins to win in rounds 7-9 at 8/1 seem fair enough.

Similarly, a small interest Hopkins to win in rounds 10-12 may also prove worthwhile.

Yet while common logic points to a Hopkins win, big fights such as these are seldom straightforward.

For this is the boxing business, and as William Hazlitt once put it: 'When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest'.

So while I expect Hopkins to win and win well, De La Hoya hearing the final bell is not totally beyond the realms of possibility (he has never been stopped in a 12 year pro career after all).

And something inside me tells me if this fight does go to the scorecards, high-drama could be just around the corner.

Without putting too fine a point on it, Las Vegas is not called 'Sin City' for nothing, and given the vast sum of money involved, few will be left unhappy if this is a competitive fight that needs doing again.

Therefore, a speculative punt on the draw at 22/1 could also prove a worthy saver.