One hit to the body.

That's all it took for Bernard Hopkins to retain his status of undisputed middleweight champion of the world and record his 19th defence of that title against Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday.

The fight, regardless of what you thought of it, failed to live up to the months of hype generated by fight scribes, Bob Arum and HBO. Entering the ring for the first time in his career as an underdog, Oscar De La Hoya looked focused but nervous as he walked out in a black and gold robe, his legion of fans erupting into a frenzied show of support for the 'Golden Boy'. Hopkins, out of consideration for the recent be-heading incidents in Iraq, chose not to enter the ring in his custom executioner mask and robe, but instead walked in to Frank Sinatra's "My Way", a perfect summation of how the 'Executioner' has handled his pro career.

De La Hoya, 37-4 (29), surprisingly, was the aggressor in round 1, his best round, by boxing well and using his hand speed and footwork. Hopkins, surprisingly, was passive and looked to be having difficulty finding DeLaHoya. The round was punctuated by De La Hoya landing a good clean jab flush to Hopkin's face.

After giving De La Hoya the first two rounds, I scored the next two for Hopkins as he seemed to come alive and started closing the distance on the challenger. The see-saw affair continued in the 5th and 6th as I scored them for De La Hoya, but the fight was becoming a closer tactical game with Hopkins getting more and more comfortable, aggressive and determined.

With chants of "Oscar, Oscar!" filling the air, Hopkins began the 7th round with a sense of urgency, stalking the 'Golden Boy', who at this point began retreating more, having resorted to the stick-and-move strategy employed by Ray Leonard in his fight with Marvin Hagler. It was Hopkin's round, as was the 8th. Then, in round 9, De La Hoya's dream of becoming middleweight champion came crashing to a halt when he found himself with his back near the ropes. Hopkins threw a jab, then faked a right, closing the distance on his prey. Then he landed a left hook to the liver, behind De La Hoya's right elbow, and a hook to the head, but it was the body shot that sent Oscar to the canvas, grimacing in pain and slamming his fist down in frustration.

It wasn't an emphatic, sensational knockout, but it didn't have to be. As De La Hoya said later, "I tried to get up, believe me, I have what it takes to get up ... but he hit me right on the button".

And so conventional wisdom prevails. The bigger, stronger Hopkins, 45-2-1 (32), gets the payday he's been longing for. But it's about more than just the money. As the 'Executioner' put it so eloquently, "Money you can make, and money you can lose. But history, history is something you can never erase."

On the undercard, Juan Manuel Marquez won a safe, boring decision against Orlando Salido. I scored the fight 118-110 for Marquez.