De La Hoya has everything going for him right now

NO FIGHTER IN the world grants as many interviews and is as gracious as Oscar De La Hoya.

No fighter in the world is making his kind of money either.

There is a connection, a relationship between those two points. De La Hoya has people skills and he has boxing skills, and, factoring in his unbeaten record and widespread public appeal, he truly is the Golden Boy.

"There's nobody like him," said a beaming Bob Arum, who promotes De La Hoya and who has him facing Julio Cesar Chavez Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. "He would have been successful in whatever field he chose. He has a presence about him that's God-given, right down to perfectly timing his remarks on something like the Jay Leno Show.

"When it comes to saying the right thing, he's better than I am."

Naturally animated and blessed with good looks, De La Hoya has the complete public-relations package. He's accessible and he has something to say.

"I can speak a little Japanese if you want," he replied to a television reporter from Japan who was taping a segment with De La Hoya before Tuesday's final prefight press conference at Caesars Palace.

As he customarily will do, De La Hoya moved patiently from one satellite feed and one on-air reporter to another. While he wasn't called on to speak Japanese he shifted easily between English and Spanish for a series of interviews that left him smiling and seemingly indefatigable.

It was an impressive run.

"It's my responsibility to be a positive role model," he said. "I believe boxing's gaining respect and I'm honored to be a part of that, but I also feel I'm carrying the sport on my shoulders.

"Everything I do will be very positive."

He's an anomaly, a gifted speaker who is also good with his fists. That's why he's being paid $9 million for this rematch with Chavez, and it's why he was paid $38 million for five fights in 1997.

He also has another $9 million coming when he takes on Ike Quartey Nov. 21 at the T&M.

"I really believe that as (pay-per-view) technology improves and as Oscar improves, in a couple of years he's going to be getting $50 million for a single fight," Arum said. "As we get past a point where only one-third of the homes in America are (PPV) addressable, he's going to make money that will have today's purses looking paltry in comparison."

Arum is predicting in excess of 800,000 homes purchasing De La Hoya's fight with Chavez, plus he has the 18,500-seat arena sold out and some 20,000 closed-circuit seats available in Las Vegas. The money is flowing.

"I'm just trying to be the person I've always been," De La Hoya said. "I have a positive view of things and I stay clean. I feel like I can make history in boxing and I don't want to mess it up."

He's 28-0 with 23 knockouts as a professional, and was a gold medal winner in the 1992 Olympics. In the sports book at Caesars he's currently a minus 950 favorite over the 36-year-old Chavez, who is a plus 700 underdog in spite of his 101-2-2 record and legendary status.

De La Hoya is predicting a hard-fought but quick victory, one that will enable him to slide into the Quartey fight without any misgivings.

"This will be real fighting, tough and grueling," he said of taking on Chavez, who actually looked sleek and strong Tuesday. "It'll be a difficult fight for both of us, but I plan on retiring him.

"The only way to do that is to beat him with a devastating knockout, and that's what I intend to do."

De La Hoya remains perturbed that Chavez failed to accept the result of their June 7, 1996, fight in Las Vegas which was stopped in the fourth round with Chavez bleeding badly. The victory, a technical knockout, was hollow for De La Hoya when Chavez later complained that he came into the fight unprepared.

He looks prepared this time and that's fine with De La Hoya.

"I'm in a difficult situation because I'm telling everybody I have to knock him out," he said. "I've put some pressure on myself by doing this, but that's how I feel.

"If the fight goes to a decision, he'll feel like he won and I'll never hear the end of it. So I can't let that happen."

The over-under proposition bet at Caesars is minus 140 for over 5 1/2 rounds and plus 110 for the under. All of the betting numbers have been influenced in the past week by incoming money in Chavez's favor.

Nonetheless, it's De La Hoya on the Tonight Show, as he was Monday, with a movie about his life in its preliminary stages and in a juicy feature in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine.

The magazine piece centered on his appeal to women, as in lots of women.

De La Hoya has a girlfriend in former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, and he has a 7-month-old son (Jacob) from a relationship with another woman. At 25 years old he's a hot commodity who enjoys his freedoms and luxuries.

"It's not time yet," he said of marriage and its restrictions. "Some day I will though."

If he juggles his date book as well as he does his public-relations responsibilities, it's hard to imagine anyone being dissatisfied.

"He's unique in boxing," Arum said. "Sugar Ray Leonard was very good at dealing with people, but he was programmed to some extent. Muhammad Ali was good, but a little undisciplined.

"Oscar isn't programmed and he isn't a guy I ever have to worry about."

Of course De La Hoya has to keep winning to keep the gravy train on its wheels. A loss anywhere along the line and he loses a little of his all-American luster.

"I know there are still tons of fans, especially Mexican fans, who feel he can beat me," he said of facing Chavez. "But I've felt his power, his speed and I know his style.

"I also know he'll be motivated because this is his last big, big event. But I've got my own motivation and it's to make him admit he lost."

The message was clear, regardless of the language De La Hoya used to impart it.

archive