Boxing champs prepare to defend titles

Las Vegas:

Oscar De La Hoya will take on the undefeated but untested Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins will defend his 160-pound (72.575-kilogram) titles against Robert Allen on Saturday (5 June) night in Las Vegas. De La Hoya wants to make history by winning titles in six different weight divisions. Both Hopkins and De La Hoya are overwhelming favourites to win on Saturday, setting up a September 18 fight between the two that will likely be the biggest middleweight title fight since Sugar Ray Leonard met Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1987. De La Hoya can call himself a middleweight champion of sorts if he beats Sturm on Saturday for the lightly regarded WBO version of the title. Hopkins maintains that De La Hoya must beat him to be considered a true middleweight champion. De La Hoya hopes to get that chance in September in a fight against Hopkins, who has reigned as a middleweight champion through 17 title defenses. The way things stand now, De La Hoya would be an underdog in a fight for the first time in his career should the two meet. But firstly, both must win on Saturday. De La Hoya gets the easier fight of the two, meeting Sturm, who is 20-0 and holds the WBO crown but has only fought twice outside of his native Germany - both times in Hungary. (AP)