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Jack Welsh On Boxing
OSCAR HAS SURPRISE TRAP READY FOR SHANE
Just two weeks from now, the super fight that was three
years in the making will take America’s avid boxing buffs
to a new high as Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Shane Mosley deliver
the richest non -heavyweight pay-per-view fight in the sport’s
history.
When the bell rings Sept.13 at the MGM Grand Garden,
the house will have been sold out for nearly two months on a scale
of $1,200 to $100 as De La Hoya defends his WBC/WBA super welterweight
crown.
The live audience is a guaranteed 16,500 for this keenly-anticipated
12-round rematch, but the creme de la creme arrives with HBO’s
PPV which Top Rank promoter Bob Arum ambitiously predicts will exceed
well over one million domestic buys at $49.95 a copy.
Arum’s enthusiasm has been known to sometimes take
him into the category of exaggeration but not this trip. Advance
PPV sales across the country have strongly hinted De La Hoya-Mosley
will exceed the record 1.3 million buys when Felix “Tito’
Trinidad won a highly-controversial majority decision over the Golden
Boy Sept.18,1999 in Las Vegas.
Top Rank’s indicated De La Hoya and Mosley could
possibly generate the largest purses of their championship careers.
“Going in, Oscar is guaranteed $17 million, and
if the pay-per-view sales continue as we expect, De la Hoya’s
total purse could reach $24 million. For Shane, the guarantee is
$4.5 million and if he wins, he will collect $500,000 from De La
Hoya’s purse. And if the HBO sales are strong enough, Mosley’s
total could reach $9 million Arum disclosed.
Top Rank had a doubleheader media day Aug.19-20 at Big
Bear, Calif., with both millionaire fighters greeting their interviewers
with high spirits and deep confidence.
Neither athlete sparred on their respective afternoon
but De La Hoya had a better reason.
“I seemed to hurt my left hand sparring Friday
(Aug.15). It was painful but it definitely won’t cause the
fight to be postponed. No way. It will be a 100 percent by fight
time. We will take necessary action so I won’t feel any pain.
I have trained too hard to postpone this fight. The only one who
can postpone this fight is me, and that’s not going to happen,”
De la Hoya advised.
“I’m doing everything I do in training except
throw the left. We’ll let the jab rest for a few days but
I’ve been throwing a lot of right hands. And everything else
continues like running, chopping wood, and shadow boxing. When I
hit the heavy bag and speed bag, I only throw the right but I’ll
continue to do all the things that are necessary to keep my rhythm
and timing sharp.”
De La Hoya complained about pain in his left hand after
the Trinidad fight and Mosley when the latter took his WBC welterweight
crown June 17,2000 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Oscar also
had to permanently cancel a match with Russian Roman Karmazin in
December, 2001 to have a torn cartilage
removed from his left wrist.
De La Hoya re-injured the hand early last year and had
to postpone knocking out Fernando Vargas in 11 rounds until last
Sept.24 to win the WBA 154-pound crown.
“When I hit something hard with my left hand, there
is a pinching feeling. When I punch hard it’s always there.
i can’t do anything about it. It doesn’t go away and
I don’t think it will ever go away,” said the dual champion.
On deadline, De La Hoya said he was waiting to have the
hand X-rayed upon the return of his orthopedic surgeon, Tony Daly
of Los Angles, who has been in Puerto Rico attending the U.S. basketball
team in the Pan-American Games.
Arum, reminding that Dr. Daly is well-versed in the fighter’s
hand surgery, reminded that the specialist suggested De La Hoya
wear cortisone pads on his hands.
Anthony Garcia, camp physical therapist, said the swelling
was just minimal and basically only a flare-up of a chronic condition.
All things considered, De La Hoya was extremely upbeat
on how he will handle Mosley, the only adversary he considers earned
a decision over him.
“I’m extremely motivated for this fight,
far more than any other since I won the gold medal at the Barcelona
Olympics and turned pro. I thought I was in good shape for our first
fight, but in retrospect, I was only about 60 percent of myself,”
De La Hoya admitted.
“This fight would be even better if Mosley hadn’t
lost to Vernon Forrest and was coming in undefeated. I’d love
that but it really won’t make any difference. I think Shane
will bring everything he’s got to the table. He’s a
very good fighter but it won’t make any difference.”
De La Hoya, now with a 36-2, 29 KOs resume, is well aware
of his major mistakes against the 31-year power puncher from Pomona,
Calf., with credentials of 38-2-1 ND, 35 KOs.
“With my height and reach, I won’t fight
him short like I did in the first fight. I’m going to let
him come. If Shane wants my titles, he will have and come to get
them. I’ll be throwing a lot of jabs and I’ll triple
it up. I’ll be throwing a lot of right hands which he didn’t
see from me in the first fight. “Mosley will be surprised
when I kill the body,” Oscar projected.
“In our first fight, my mentality was to knock
him out and that was very wrong. I should have stayed with my normal
natural style. I gave up some of my natural skills trying to become
a power puncher. I kept trying to knock Mosley out and I couldn’t
do it. If I didn’t get him in one round, I’d get in
the next one. Well, the rounds went by and I was desperate. It’s
no secret. Suddenly, it was the 12th round and I had run out of
time.”
The Golden Boy wants to be golden again and in this revenge
roundup, Oscar won’t even have a knockout on his mind...just
going out and winning each round...one at a time.
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