Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.
The storybook life that Oscar De La Hoya has lived is filled with achievements of tremendous magnitude.
The Olympic gold medal ... the world championships as a professional ... the flirtations with Hollywood and the music industry. Each of those and more, such as De La Hoya's good looks, personality and natural composure, have helped turned him into a multimillionaire many times over.
He is a big star, easily the biggest star in boxing.
Yet with every success story, no matter how fascinating, there tends to be an occasional moment of distress. And De La Hoya has had those, too.
He may have another one if he loses Saturday to Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden in a pay-per-view bout that has captivated the public and is likely to bring him in excess of $17 million.
He said he will retire from boxing if he's beaten.
"I'm using that as motivation," De La Hoya said this week. "I don't want to retire and I don't see myself losing this fight after training so hard for it.
"I like the big fights and I'm comfortable here. This is awesome. I love it. It's why I'm still fighting.
"And there are things in boxing I still want to accomplish. But if I can't do them, it won't be the end of the world."
He has plenty to fall back on: TV, films, a second CD, a boxing promotional firm. But his first choice, at the age of 30, is to follow the boxing script that is, as always, very much laid out for him.
"He has all the money in the world and it's not an easy life being a professional fighter," promoter Bob Arum said of De La Hoya. "It wouldn't surprise me a bit if Oscar retires if he loses."
Yet Arum expects De La Hoya to avenge his earlier loss to Mosley and be ready to fight again next spring. He's already considering future opponents, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricardo Mayorga or a rematch with Fernando Vargas.
By their joint game plan, if De La Hoya continues to win and the bout can be arranged, he would then face undisputed middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins -- or former nemesis Felix Trinidad, if they can lure him out of retirement -- a year from now before stepping away from the game while still very much on the throne.
But Mosley can't be slighted.
"By contrast to Yory Boy (Campas, De La Hoya's most recent opponent), Mosley looks like Superman," Arum admitted.
De La Hoya beat Campas, an aging junior middleweight, by seventh-round TKO in May and immediately announced his intention of settling his score with Mosley. When they fought three years ago in Los Angeles, Mosley won that fight by split decision in a result that De La Hoya doesn't dispute or excuse.
"He did win the fight," De La Hoya said. "This is the guy who beat me and who wants to beat me again."
Mosley is 38-2 but hasn't won a fight in 25 months.
De La Hoya is 36-2 and confident of his abilities after so many years of meeting or exceeding expectations.
"I can control myself," he said of the emotional factor that comes into play in fights at this level. "I've been in this situation before."
He has been in awkward ones, too.
Pushed into boxing at 4 years old by his father, Joel, De La Hoya speaks with a certain grief about being a kid who was forced to go to the gym every day. When he says "I didn't have a childhood" there's a forlorn look in his eyes.
He was closer to his mother, Cecilia, who died during his march toward an Olympic gold medal in 1992. "Winning a gold medal was my mother's dream for me," De La Hoya says. "Turning pro and winning professional championships was my dream for me."
Always matched wisely and against "name" opponents even as he was adjusting to the pro game, De La Hoya won world titles at 130, 135, 140 and 147 pounds before moving to 154 in 2001. He presently owns the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association belts at that weight.
"I never put him in a fight that (Top Rank matchmaker) Bruce Trampler didn't approve," Arum said. "Every step of the way, he made sure Oscar was ready for tougher and tougher competition."
Strong and able to hold a brisk pace, De La Hoya has turned back the challenges of a number of great fighters, including Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, Julio Cesar Chavez (twice), Pernell Whitaker, Hector Camacho, Ike Quartey and Vargas. Interspersed were difficult fights against more than able competitors such as Jorge Paez, John John Molina, James Leija, Miguel Gonzalez, Wilfredo Rivera, Oba Carr, Arturo Gatti, Javier Castillejo and Campas.
Almost without fail, De La Hoya evaded the upset attempts and continually emerged more powerful and more popular than ever.
"He's certainly at the height of his popularity right now," Arum said and De La Hoya agreed, both men believing the win over Vargas a year ago at Mandalay Bay removed all doubts about him and further endeared him to the Mexican-American fan base that so actively supports the sport.
"After every fight I have gained more fans," De La Hoya said. "Especially after the Vargas fight."
That fan base didn't erode and maybe wasn't even affected as De La Hoya suffered the occasional personal mishap. He is, after all, the father of two children born out of wedlock and he has been involved in at least two financial disputes with women.
One, who remains unidentified, filed a civil suit against him that sought $10 million for an alleged sexual assault that happened in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 1996. De La Hoya settled for an unspecified amount out of court five years later.
He was also involved in a palimony suit with Shana Moekler before meeting and later marrying singer Millie Corretjer in 2001.
Factor in a suit against Arum and Top Rank, which De La Hoya later said he regretted and which today is very much behind them, and the Golden Boy's image was at risk of being tarnished. But he offset if not overcame the setbacks with his fists and heart, taking on all challengers in the ring and demonstrating skills and determination that are rarely seen.
"People realize that I go out there and fight hard," De La Hoya said. "I can dig down if I have to."
It's a pleasing style from a man who readily makes himself available to media and fans and who unfailingly tries to please. His "people skills" assure a lifetime in the spotlight, if he so chooses.
Should the chapter of his life that is his boxing career be brought to a sudden close, most who follow the sport will see it with regret.
They're in no hurry to lose such a valuable asset.
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