De La Hoya eyes challenge against against Ike Quartey

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. -- It doesn't take long to figure out boxer Oscar De La Hoya is well off.

His three-bedroom log cabin home, entrenched among the cool pines of this ski resort town, offers plenty of reminders De La Hoya can pretty much have whatever he wants.

Walking up the driveway one immediately notices the practice putting green and sand trap in the front yard. Three steps onto the porch and through the front door offers a better look.

The interior is as rustic as the outdoors. A chandelier made of antlers hangs from the ceiling. A small, flannel-covered bed rests before the fireplace.

But a wealthy 25-year-old from East Los Angeles with the nickname "Golden Boy" cannot get by on mere quaintness.

Lined up on the coffee table next to a copy of Architectural Digest are seven remote controls, all pointing toward a theatre-sized Sony and an elaborate audio system. Speakers are mounted around the room.

Despite all his fame, fortune and matinee-idol good looks, De La Hoya isn't satisfied.

The WBC welterweight champion is 29-0 with 24 knockouts. He has beaten the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Genaro Hernandez.

But those names aren't big enough. He wants larger challenges, and he hopes they start with Ike Quartey on Feb. 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"When I have an opponent like Ike Quartey in front of me, there's nothing that can take away my concentration," De La Hoya said Monday, sitting in the living room of the home he designed himself. He currently is plotting a 5,000-foot addition.

"That's what I keep telling (promoter) Bob Arum. I need these big fights. Fighters like Ike Quartey will bring out the best in me."

The Quartey fight was originally scheduled for Nov. 21, but was postponed when De La Hoya suffered a cut over his left eye. Quartey called the postponement a ruse, stating De La Hoya was scared.

But De La Hoya, with the purple scar tissue still healing, said there was no way he would run from the challenge.

"If you see a test as difficult and if you can see danger in front of you and feel this guy can beat you, you do everything it takes to win," De La Hoya said. "It's going to make me more of a complete fighter.

"Sometimes, getting ready for these fighters is easier than getting ready for Joe Schmoe."

De La Hoya's dream fight with IBF welterweight champ Felix Trinidad seems to be off. Arum claimed Wednesday that Trinidad's promoter, Don King, wants too much money. De La Hoya apparently had no clue.

"This year I plan on fighting four times," De La Hoya said. "Big, big fights. We're going to have the winner of Whitaker and Trinidad (Feb. 20 at Madison Square Garden). I'm hoping it's Trinidad."

De La Hoya was unavailable for comment Wednesday. It was uncertain if he was aware of the promotional development.

Regardless, it wouldn't do any good to worry about Trinidad or a lack thereof without beating Quartey. The former WBA welterweight champ is 34-0-1 with 29 knockouts and possesses one of the most lethal jabs in the division. He was stripped of his belt for failing to defend it.

"This guy, by far, presents the toughest test of my career," De La Hoya said. "I gotta stay focused for this.

"I have to be very careful with this guy. It's not going to be a tactical fight. This guys comes in and fights. I have to be smart, be more aware."

De La Hoya is most respectful of Quartey's power and knows he must demonstrate deft defense and footwork to stay away from the mistakes that befell Frans Botha in his one-punch loss to Mike Tyson last weekend.

"He does well against fighters who stay right in front of him," De La Hoya said of Quartey. "That's his game plan. That's the way he wants to fight. He's a very powerful, powerful hitter.

"But he has his weaknesses like anybody else. He doesn't have the best head movement and his defense is not very well. He's kind of a straight-up, stand-up fighter."

Quartey hasn't fought since October of 1997. Jose Luis Lopez knocked Quartey down and the bout ended in a draw.

"Lopez could have finished him if he took his time and put his punches together," De La Hoya said.

"But I'm not going to study one fight. I'm going to study his previous 20 fights and see what he did with those opponents.

"I have to play it really smart here. I can't go in there having confidence I'm going to knock him out. I have to be prepared like no other fight. This guy's dangerous."

De La Hoya has been surrounded by distractions lately. His star was tarnished when it was discovered he had a son out of wedlock last year.

He also has been accused of raping a woman in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a charge he denies. He insisted the allegation is not weighing on him or his new fiancee, actress Shanna Moakler from the television show "Pacific Blue." Moakler is not the mother of his son.

"I'm just hurt," De La Hoya said. "One hundred percent of the people are behind me because they know that's not me. I have no worry whatsoever. My fans don't have no worry. They believe in me.

"The only thing I've lost sleep about is Ike Quartey. I don't worry about something that's not true. And Ike Quartey is as true as it gets."

De La Hoya's next fight after Quartey is tentatively scheduled for May 22 on HBO. His opponent would be the winner of the Frankie Randall vs. Oba Carr bout, which is part of the Feb. 13 undercard.

If the details for Trinidad can't be worked out, De La Hoya is expected to move up to junior middleweight (154 pounds) and fight WBC champ Keith Mullings in September. IBF junior middleweight champ Fernando Vargas has been vocal in trying to land a bout with De La Hoya.

"Whoever is right for my career, whether it's Vargas or (contender) David Reid, I'll challenge," said De La Hoya, who stated his current weight at 153 pounds.

"There are so many guys who will come down from middleweight or come up from welterweight. So I can fight anybody there who has a name or a good record or is a champion. It's going to be an interesting weight class for me."

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