De La Hoya stops Carr in 11th round

The fight De La Hoya wanted so badly with Felix Trinidad was already assured. But it was the knockout that he needed to boost his confidence.

De La Hoya ended up with both Saturday night, despite an injury to his left hand early in the fight that sent him to the hospital for what doctors said was probably a sprain.

"Let's get it on," De La Hoya said of the planned Sept. 18 welterweight showdown with Trinidad. "It will be the fight of the century."

De La Hoya's injured left hand was still good enough to stop Carr, who didn't offer a protest when referee Richard Steele moved in to stop the fight with 55 seconds left in the 11th round.

Carr had gotten up at the count of three, but was still dazed when Steele waved the fight to a close.

"When you get hit with a shot like that your head can't do nothing but be shaky," Carr said.

It was De La Hoya's ninth successful defense of the WBC welterweight title he won from Julio Cesar Chavez and his 31st win in as many pro fights.

But it was not as easy as it appeared it was going to be when De La Hoya stunned Carr early in the first round with a left jab and then knocked him down midway through the round. And, for a time, it did not look like De La Hoya would fulfill his promise to return to form as a knockout fighter.

De La Hoya hurt his left hand in the second round, and his handlers said it bothered him when he threw jabs but not left hooks. He threw only a few jabs the remainder of the fight but was winning easily on the scorecards when he stopped Carr.

"After the second round I couldn't do the things I wanted to do," he said. "I had to use my legs more."

De La Hoya appeared on his way to winning an unimpressive decision when he dodged a left hand and then landed a left hook that sent the challenger sprawling on the canvas early in the 11th round.

When Carr got up he was wobbly and Steele moved in to stop the fight.

De La Hoya had knocked down Carr in the first round, but did little over the next nine rounds to sell the fight with Trinidad that will make him $15 million.

Trinidad must beat Hugo Pineda next week in his IBF welterweight title defense to secure the fight between the two undefeated champions.

"They're both astronomical fighters but the tougher warrior will prevail," said Carr, who has lost to both. "I think Oscar takes a tougher punch."

Trinidad's promoter, Don King, has agreed to the fight, for which Trinidad will receive $8 million. However, the fighter himself has yet to sign the contract, although promoter Bob Arum said he is positive he wiill.

It was the 19th time De La Hoya has left the ring with a championship belt around his waist. Yet it was not the kind of performance that he anticipated - at least until he landed the punch that ended the bout.

Though the scoring was lopsided - partly because of two points taken from Carr for butting and low blows in the seventh round - Carr was competitive most of the fight.

At the time the fight was stopped, De La Hoya led by seven points on one card, five on a second and three on a third. The Associated Press had De La Hoya ahead by seven points.

De La Hoya had gone into the fight promising to revert to the style that had gotten him 18 knockouts in his first 22 fights. Since then, he has gone the distance in four of his last eight fights.

It looked like it would be a short night for Carr when De La Hoya hurt him with a left jab with 1:40 left in the first round, then knocked him down with a left hook with 1:27 left.

Carr got up, however, and lasted the round.

"He can really take a punch," De La Hoya said. "He was rough, he was ready. I felt strong. I put all the pressure on."

Carr (48-3-1), whose only previous losses were to Ike Quartey and Trinidad, said he tried to press the fight but could not get his punches off quickly enough.

"He was very quick. I was in good shape but I got tired," he said.

Ringside punching statistics showed De La Hoya connecting on 240 punches to 157 for Carr, though Carr threw 759 punches to 518 for De La Hoya.

Carr, the fourth-ranked contender, was a 10-1 underdog in the fight, which both boxers weighed the class limit of 147 pounds.

De La Hoya earned $5 million for the fight, which drew a crowd thaat roared for the champion. Carr was paid $350,000.

In another title fight, Floyd Mayweather needed nine rounds to stop last minute substitute Justin Juuko and retain his WBC super featherweight title.

Mayweather dominated the uneventful fight but never knocked Juuko down until the ninth round, when he landed two rights and seemed to push Juuko to the canvas.

Juuko, who found out only Wednesday that he would be fighting, struggled up at the count of nine, but referee Mitch Halpern counted him out at 1:20 of the round.

It was the third defense of the title for Mayweather, the 1996 Olympian who is 21-0 as a pro with 16 knockouts.

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