Campas must continue winning to stay on golden road

It's a road paved with gold and Yory Boy Campas is on it.

The trick, however, is keeping his balance and staying on it long enough to financially capitalize and face Oscar De La Hoya at 154 pounds -- a prospect that is now a year away.

Once mentioned as a possible opponent for De La Hoya this November at 147 pounds, Campas, instead, will stay at 154 and await the Golden Boy. The difficulty for Campas is that he has to keep winning and that means not only beating Larry Barnes Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center but handling an even tougher opponent, Fernando Vargas, in what will be a mandatory title defense for the IBF junior middleweight champion later this year.

There is also the possibility of having to face Raul Marquez before a fight with De La Hoya becomes reality.

"I've got to go step by step," Campas said through his translator, and trainer, Miguel Diaz. "These are good opportunities for me to show what I can do.

"Besides, I'd rather wait for De La Hoya to get to 154."

If he would actually rather wait, it's because the prospect of dropping down to 147 is too daunting for him after two years at 154.

"No question," Diaz said. "Making 147 would be very hard for him now."

But Campas isn't just biding his time. Barnes could provide a decent challenge and Vargas definitely will.

"When they asked us to fight Barnes, I said 'take him,'" Diaz said. "It's a good fight for Yory Boy because Barnes comes straight in. He's not a mover and he's not a dancer. He's a good warrior and that's perfect for us because the stronger man will win."

There's no questioning Campas' power. The 27-year-old Mexican is 71-2 with 61 knockouts in a career that dates from 1987. He defeated Marquez for the IBF title last December and has successfully defended it twice.

"I expect Barnes to be tough," Campas said. "He's very strong and he likes to come in. But I've had intense preparation and hopefully I'll win."

Promoter Bob Arum, who picked up Campas after the Marquez fight, said he will "wait and see how it sorts out" when determining Campas' immediate future. If Campas has little trouble with Barnes, he could be on the De La Hoya vs. Ike Quartey undercard Nov. 21 in Las Vegas.

Barnes is 44-2 with 17 knockouts but many of those wins came as a welterweight against mediocre competition.

Vargas is 14-0 and looking like a potential champion. His mandatory with Campas is due in December. (Campas will defend the title and not relinquish it, as he needs the championship to attract De La Hoya.)

"That's a nice fight," Diaz said of Campas vs. Vargas, although there will be nothing nice about it. "The sooner the better is what I'd say."

Obviously, the Campas camp is feeling confident these days.

"We're fighting good guys as we wait for Oscar," said Diaz. "Everything is fine. Yory Boy's life has changed 360 degrees in the last year and we expect to keep winning."

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