Hopkins may make R80 million

BERNARD Hopkins, who has never earned more than R17 million for one bout, could take home more than R80 million for fighting Oscar de la Hoya on Saturday night.

Their meeting in Las Vegas, scheduled for 12 rounds, earns just over R310 on pay-per-view. The promoters are talking about surpassing the previous non-heavyweight record of 1,4 million pay-per-view buys, set before De la Hoya’s 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad.At the gate, the fight is already a sellout, with nearly R80 million of tickets sold.If the fight sells as well as expected, the 39-year-old Hopkins could pocket more than R80 million.It is not known how much De la Hoya will make if he adds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles held by Hopkins to his own WBO belt.De la Hoya remains the biggest draw in boxing, with his fights shown on pay-per-view taking in over R2 000 million.At a press conference this week, De la Hoya stared straight ahead, eyes unwavering under his baseball cap while Hopkins was telling everyone what he would do to the Golden Boy on Saturday night.For once, De la Hoya didn’t have much to say.When he finally did talk, the words came out with the same kind of intensity he plans to bring into the ring against the undisputed middleweight champion.”I’m not thinking of anything else because all I want is those belts,” De la Hoya said.”Believe me when I tell you, those belts are mine.”To get the belts, De la Hoya will have to confound the oddsmakers and beat a champion who is not only bigger and stronger but also has not lost in 11 years.- SupersoccerThe promoters are talking about surpassing the previous non-heavyweight record of 1,4 million pay-per-view buys, set before De la Hoya’s 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad.At the gate, the fight is already a sellout, with nearly R80 million of tickets sold.If the fight sells as well as expected, the 39-year-old Hopkins could pocket more than R80 million.It is not known how much De la Hoya will make if he adds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles held by Hopkins to his own WBO belt.De la Hoya remains the biggest draw in boxing, with his fights shown on pay-per-view taking in over R2 000 million.At a press conference this week, De la Hoya stared straight ahead, eyes unwavering under his baseball cap while Hopkins was telling everyone what he would do to the Golden Boy on Saturday night.For once, De la Hoya didn’t have much to say.When he finally did talk, the words came out with the same kind of intensity he plans to bring into the ring against the undisputed middleweight champion.”I’m not thinking of anything else because all I want is those belts,” De la Hoya said.”Believe me when I tell you, those belts are mine.”To get the belts, De la Hoya will have to confound the oddsmakers and beat a champion who is not only bigger and stronger but also has not lost in 11 years.- Supersoccer