On June 5, 2004 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas WBO middleweight champion Felix Sturm made his second title defense, this time against Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya prevailed winning a close 12 round unanimous decision and the title.
Harold Lederman of HBO scored the bout 115-113 for Sturm. Sturm's promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl, filed a protest with the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding the scoring of the fight. Marc Ratner, the commission's executive director, turned the protest down – stating there was no basis for such a protest. The fight generated 380,000 pay-per-view buys and $19 million in pay-per-view revenue. HBO commentators Jim Lampley and Roy Jones, Jr. both felt Sturm had clearly won, while unofficial scorer Harold Lederman also had Sturm the winner with the score of 115–113, scoring six of the last seven rounds for Sturm. Though the winner, De La Hoya expressed disappointment, saying of his performance, "Everything went wrong tonight". Sturm, who felt that De La Hoya had been gifted the decision due to his popularity and to preserve the lucrative De La Hoya–Hopkins fight, said "I know Oscar is a big name here and a great champion, but tonight, I think the whole world saw who was the better fighter." Also on the show world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins successfully defended his titles winning a 12 round unanimous decision over Robert Allen. Offered here is a scarce, original, official program for this event which is signed on cover by Bernard Hopkins.
FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, official program which pictures Hopkins and De La Hoya on the cover. Boldly signed in silver pen by Bernard Hopkins. 60 pages complete including covers. Tight binding. Not scored or written on. Minor corner wear. Not creased or torn. Clean inside and out. 9" x 12."
