Columnist Dean Juipe: Pride at stake for chavez in De La Hoya rematch

DEAN JUIPE is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. His office phone number 259-4084. He can be reached on the Internet at [email protected]

Aside from his never-ending desire for money, Julio Cesar Chavez has a singular motivation for getting back in the ring with Oscar De La Hoya.

"It's pride," he says through translator Alberto Gonzales.

But given Chavez is apt to be overwhelmed by De La Hoya just as he was when they fought in 1996, here's his real motivation: "He wants to go out on his shield."

That's how a member of his entourage put it when Chavez and De La Hoya passed through Las Vegas to promote their Sept. 18 WBC welterweight title fight at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The feeling is, Chavez may very well lose again but this time he's looking for a more acceptable outcome than having the fight stopped due to a cut over his left eye. He is, of course, also looking for revenge.

"That cut made a big difference in the first fight," he said. "I thought I deserved a rematch."

But did he think he would really get one?

"Yes," he replied. "I bring people."

Those people have 18,000 seats available at the T&M and might also contribute to the fight's success via pay per view. Chavez said he'll reward them with a better showing than his '96 fight with De La Hoya at Caesars Palace, which was called after four blood-splattered rounds.

"All the pressure is on him this time," Chavez said. "There's no pressure on me but I'm going to force the fight. I'm going to keep coming forward."

He did a lot of retreating in their first fight, just as he did when confronted with fellow ex-champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez last March in Mexico City. That bout ended in a disputed draw, the dispute arising when the judges' scorecards were recalculated later and it was determined Chavez was the beneficiary of a mathematical snafu.

"I was only 50 percent that night," he said of the Gonzalez fight. "My (left) elbow wasn't well enough to be fighting but I went ahead with the fight anyhow."

His elbow and his eye repaired, Chavez, 101-2-2, will train for De La Hoya in Breckenridge, Colo.

De La Hoya, 28-0, will train at his home in Big Bear, Calif.

As for recasting Chavez with De La Hoya in the face of largely East Coast-driven complaints that the champion is sidestepping more worthy opponents like Felix Trinidad and Ike Quartey, promoter Bob Arum says he had no choice.

"You can't fight somebody if they won't fight," he said. "I offered Quartey $4.5 million and I offered Trinidad a firm $8 million and yet I still haven't been able to make those fights for Oscar.

"There's nothing I can do if they won't take the money."

Arum said Quartey remains a possibility for De La Hoya's Nov. 21 date in Las Vegas, although a Quartey vs. Trinidad fight also is being discussed back East.

"Oscar's the only one who means anything in that division in terms of pay per view," Arum said. "He's the attraction. The other guys are just being held hostage by people like HBO.

"(Pernell Whitaker's manager) Shelly Finkel calls me and says he wants to put together a De La Hoya-Whitaker rematch and I said 'let's do it.' But I haven't heard a word from him since that day because I think HBO wants to keep Whitaker in reserve in case they need him for some other fight."

Resigned to Chavez, Arum trusts the legendary six-time former world champion will rise to the occasion.

"He's still very dangerous," Arum said. "If he can get into a situation where he keeps coming and coming, he's tough. We'll see if he can do it but he certainly lets on that he thinks he can."

Behind the numbers

At Caesars Palace, which is serving as the host hotel for De La Hoya vs. Chavez, sports book director Vinnie Magliulo has De La Hoya a minus 1000 favorite and Chavez a plus 800 underdog. Initially, the line was De La Hoya minus 800 and Chavez plus 600.

"I don't anticipate it changing a whole lot, at least until the weekend of the fight," Magliulo said. "I'd say Chavez is guaranteed a lot of support, but I like Oscar because he's been more active and he's getting bigger and stronger."

When they fought in 1996, the line at Caesars closed with De La Hoya a 3-1 favorite.

Another betting line of some interest is at the Las Vegas Hilton, where WBC junior lightweight champ Genaro Hernandez will take on Floyd Mayweather Oct. 3. Art Manteris at the Hilton has the fight up as a pick 'em, with both men a minus 120.

"I was in a real dilemma here," he said. "It's a classic matchup between a great long-term champion and a great prospect. Pick 'em seemed the best way to go and it's a number that at least is right in the ballpark."

Mayweather is 17-0, while Hernandez is 38-1-1.

Around the ring

Larry Barnes is in as the opponent for Yory Boy Campas on the De La Hoya vs. Chavez undercard. ... If Campas wins, he'll meet Raul Marquez in November. Arum said a Campas vs. De La Hoya fight, once thought to be a possibility this year, has been pushed to 1999 and that it would be at Campas' natural weight of 154. ... A Terry Norris vs. Dana Rosenblatt fight may be added to that Sept. 18 card. ... A Johnny Tapia vs. Danny Romero rematch is being discussed for Albuquerque this fall, with an outdoor venue a possibility. ... Local junior lightweight Diego Corrales, 22-0, has been added to an Aug. 15 card in Los Angeles. ... Boxing judge Lou Tabat of Las Vegas is working Sunday's WBA junior lightweight title fight in Japan between Satoshi Iida and Julio Gamboa. It's Tabat's seventh trip to Japan and his 49th trip overseas to score a world-title fight. He has scored 132 championship fights in all. ... Lots of names being bandied about -- Montell Griffin, Mike McCallum, Rocky Gannon among them -- but nothing definite yet on a proposed Aug. 2 card at The Mirage. ... Up next locally is Justin Juuko, 32-1-1, vs. Hector Arroyo, 17-5, in the main event at The Orleans July 31.

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