Hoya confident about chances with Hopkins

Las Vegas:

For once, Oscar De La Hoya is not the big favourite in an upcoming fight. That is because De La Hoya is stepping up to fight middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins and Hopkins has not lost a fight, in an amazing 11 years. It's only the second fight at middleweight for De La Hoya, and he is taking on a champion who has defended his titles 18 times and has not lost in 11 years. But boxing's 'golden boy' said he is prepared for an opponent who is clearly welcoming the challenge. Hopkins is a 2-to-1 favourite in the scheduled 12-round fight, which will be televised on pay-per-view by HBO from the MGM Grand Garden arena. Already a sellout with a $14 million gate, promoters are hoping the matchup is so intriguing that it will surpass the previous non-heavyweight record of 1.4 million pay-per-view buys set in De La Hoya's 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad. (AP)