Oscar De La Hoya: Hopkins vs. Kovalev is a 50-50 Fight

By Edward Chaykovsky

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is giving each fighter an equal chance to win next Saturday's fight at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev will fight for the WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight titles in an HBO televised headliner.

"When you take a look at Hopkins being 49-years-old, almost 50, you have basically a kid in the other corner who punches like a man. It's a 50-50 fight," De La Hoya said.

Hopkins knocked De La Hoya out in the ninth round of their middleweight unification in 2004. De La Hoya later brought in Hopkins as an equity partner in Golden Boy. He wonders how Kovalev will deal with Hopkins' experience in the later rounds.

"I haven't counted Hopkins out since he beat me, even before that. Hopkins is a master at what he does. The question is how will Kovalev react psychologically to an 'alien?' He's never fought an athlete like Hopkins. How will he react when he hits the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds," De La Hoya said.