BOXING Hopkins stops De La Hoya with knockout in ninth round

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Oscar De La Hoya predicted before he met Bernard Hopkins that the fight would define his career, and sadly it might.
Knocked out by a punch to the liver, De La Hoya must deal with the fact he has come up short in some of his biggest fights.
De La Hoya made at least $30 million to fight Hopkins, but the questions afterward weren't about money. At the age of 31, he has plenty of that, but he might be nearing the end.
"I really can't answer that now," De La Hoya said. "You know us fighters have a love-hate relationship with boxing. I really can't say yes or no. I was so focused on this fight that I just can't answer that."
Hopkins seems to have a much better future ahead, after doing nothing but win for 11 years but get little out of it until De La Hoya handed him a $10 million payday that he didn't have to work that hard to earn.
Devastating hook
A devastating hook to the body in the ninth round Saturday night ran Hopkins' streak of successful title defenses to 19.
Hopkins said he wants to make at least one more title defense to become the first fighter to defend his title 20 times, then perhaps take on light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver or Roy Jones Jr. in another huge money bout.
"Money you can make and money you can lose," Hopkins said. "But history you can never erase. That's important to Bernard Hopkins to go down in history and be talked about like Ray Robinson is talked about now."
Hopkins, who was criticized for not capitalizing on his knockout of Felix Trinidad three years ago, doesn't plan to make the same mistake again after suddenly stopping De La Hoya in a tactical fight that really didn't live up to its billing.
Cautious beginning
Both Hopkins and De La Hoya fought cautiously the first half of the fight before Hopkins began taking control in the seventh and eighth rounds behind his jab. De La Hoya was losing but still competitive before a devastating left hook to his liver left him writhing on the canvas in pain.
"It paralyzes you. You can't do anything about it, and you lose your breath," De La Hoya said. "I've never experienced that in my career. You're stuck. It's like you want to get up but you can't."
De La Hoya went down on his elbows and knees, his face contorted in pain before rolling over on his back as referee Kenny Bayless waved the fight to a close at 1:38 of the ninth round.
While Hopkins jumped on the ring posts and then did a flip in celebration, De La Hoya got back on his knees and buried his face in his gloves, pounding the canvas repeatedly in frustration at an opportunity lost.