 Oscar de la Hoya's debut in the middleweight division ended in controversy when he clashed with Felix Sturm in Las Vegas. De la Hoya scored a questionable unanimous points decision to squeeze past the German and claim the WBO middleweight title, setting up a September showdown with fellow American Bernard Hopkins, who also won at the MGM Grand on points. Coming off a loss to Shane Mosley in his last fight, de la Hoya was hoping to make relatively easy work of little-known Sturm. But the 25-year-old, based in Leverkusen, left his mark on the much-loved American fighter with a stirring performance. But all three judges had the bout 115-113 in favour of de la Hoya to leave Sturm and many pundits, including former world lightweight champion Jim Watt, claiming the judges got it wrong. "Everyone knows I won this fight," said Sturm, fighting in America for the first time. "I am the true champion. He got the win because he is a big name." De La Hoya's victory means he has won world titles at six different weights. He is now expected to face Hopkins on September 18 after he retained his middleweight titles against Robert Allen, his 18th successful title defence. Hopkins won with a unanimous points decision after dominating the number one contender, dropping him in the seventh. The 39-year-old won by the scores of 119-107, 119-107 and 117-109 to end his American counterpart's 13 fight unbeaten streak. Hopkins improved to 44-2-1 and beat Allen for the second time in three fights. They had previously met in August 1998 in a bout that ended as a no-contest when Hopkins slipped and fell through the ropes, injuring an ankle. | 
