Jack Welsh
www.ringsports.com

Oscar De La Hoya, the WBA/ WBC super welterweight champion, also prides himself in being extremely knowledgeable about the business side of his profession but may draw some unfair criticism for talking about two title fights at the same time.

Originally, De La Hoya was hoping Felix “Tito” Trinidad would unretire for a mega HBO pay-per-view rematch Sept.13 with Sugar Shane Mosley in the wings for May 3, both at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

When it became obvious Trinidad had other fish to fry in Puerto Rico, De La Hoya pressed Top Rank promoter to get Mosley for the fall date.

Arum guaranteed De La Hoya $12 million with Mosley assured $4.25 million. Mosley was vocally dissatisfied, feeling like a stepchild, having earned $4.5 million when he took De La Hoya’s welterweight
Title on a split decision June17, 2000 in Los Angeles.

There were 18,000 people in Staples Center when Mosley closed strongly to earn an arguable controversial nod and there was no way he was going to settle for less than an increased purse.

Neither Arum nor De La Hoya would make a move to alter the original offer, the promoter giving Mosley a Feb.17 deadline to sign or else. The else being Top Rank’s chief would start negotiations with Fernando Vargas, who lost his WBA 154-pound crown to De La Hoya on a spectacular 11th round TKO last Sept.14.

Mosley, despite urgings of his advisors, let the deadline expire, taking his wife on a trip to visit her family in New Jersey. However, De La Hoya was determined to get a return against Mosley despite the latter’s heady reputation being tarnished when he lost twice to Vernon Forrest last year, first the WBC crown and then the rematch, both on decisions.

And the power puncher from Pomona, Ca., didn’t enhance his position to get more money for a
repeat when his Feb.8 bout ended as a three-round no-contest when Raul Marquez suffered eye cuts from
accidental head butts and could not continue.

“What puzzled me, it was the first time it looked like I didn’t have an opponent. I felt if we didn’t fight Shane now, we might lose him because I think he is losing some of his speed and he could go downhill. As for his right hand, I figure I can block it and come back with my right to knock him out.,” said De La Hoya.

De La Hoya wanted to fight somebody on May 3 and the date was saved for Mandalay Bay when Arum signed veteran Luis “Yory Boy” Campas, the former IBF junior middleweight champion from Navojoa, MX., for this 12-round pay-per-view challenge.

Mandalay Bay executives threw a gala press conference on stage, replete with a Hispanic theme of Mariachi bands and dazzling dancing girls to announce the May 3 fight as official but De La Hoya still had Mosley on his mind.

Before the media matinee was over, De La Hoya eagerly talked about Mosley and Campas.

“I had talked with Mosley several times before but the last time I talked with him, I said, ‘You’re
confident and I know you want the fight, so why don’t we do it this way. I’ll take $11.5 million with $500,000 coming out of my purse and going to the winner.’ If Mosley believes he can beat me, then this is a compromise and the way he can get the money he wants. There would also be another major fight for the
winner with HBO.”

Though boxing keeps shooting it self in the foot, De La Hoya-Mosley is a done deal but it won’t be announced until the dual champion (35-2, 28 K0s), East Los Angeles, disposes of Campas.

De La Hoya isn’t looking past Campas because he doesn’t want any snag to spoil his bid to avenge his second career loss, especially since it appears certain Trinidad is going to stay retired as the first rival to upset the Golden Boy on a disputed decision Sept.18,1999 in Las Vegas.

Although Campas, 31, is past his prime, he still has that considerable power that enabled him to
register 65 knockouts on an 80-5 record reaching back to 1991. And De La Hoya, with his superior speed, power and guile, is aware of it.

“No way I’m looking past Yory Boy because I know sooner or later, he’s going to come out and fight. It will be putting a lot of pressure on me. I know he will come straight at me with that big right hand. But there is no way he can beat me. This is a tune-up fight, so I’ll go out there and knock him out,” De La Hoya said.

“I’ll admit I was thinking about fighting just once this year because I’m in the late part of my career. I thought I’d be smart and play it safe. But without a doubt, the love and passion I have for the sport wouldn’t let me stay too inactive for long. I love fighting, it’s what I do best. I’ll let my wife do the singing and I’ll do the fighting.”

De La Hoya will earn $11 million for this exercise with Campas, managed by Fernando Beltran and trained by Romolo Quirate, collecting near $1 million with both fighters having a P-P-V percentage.

Campas, a former Mexican champion, won the IBF154-pound crown Dec.6, 1997 when he stopped Raul Marquez on an eight-round TKO in Atlantic City.

The popular Hispanic used his potent right hand in 1998 to post three TKO defenses, which included Anthony Stephen’s (3), Pedro Ortega (11), and Larry Barnes (3).

The roll came to an end Dec.12,1998 in Atlantic City when the younger, undefeated Fernando Vargas took the crown on a seven-round TKO.

In a bruising bid to regain a title, Campas challenged Daniel Santos for the WBO junior middleweight crown Mar.16, 2002 at Bally’s in Las Vegas, losing on cuts in an 11th round stoppage.

“I want to thank Bob Arum and Oscar for this opportunity. I guess you could say I’m like a longshot racehorse. A lot of people probably have their doubts about me, but I also have a lot of people behind me who feel I can pull off a miracle upset,” Campas said through translator Richie Sandoval of Top Rank.

“Oscar De La Hoya is a great fighter and I know the majority of the fans feel I’m well over- shadowed. But with good preparation, anything is possible. We could have done this four years ago. I just had to be patient and wait. it’s a logical fight for both of us.”

On the assumption 2004 will be De La Hoya’s last in competition, he seems to have a solid format on who he will fight before retiring.

“If I faced everybody mentioned to me, I’d be fighting until I was 50. It is a short list that could include Trinidad if he unretires which I doubt, Mosley. Fernando Vargas, Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest, and
maybe Bernard Hopkins. I definitely will not be fighting welterweights Ricardo Mayorga (WBC champion) and Antonio Margarito (WBO champion).”

Since HBO pay-per-view is reportedly $49.95, Arum felt the public deserved more than the main event, which includes WBC featherweight champion Erik Morales defending his laurels against Bobby Boy
Valardez.

Morales, out of Tijuana, MX., has a 42-1, 31 KOs resume, losing only to Marco Antonio Barrera (53-3) for the title June 22, 2002 in a bruising match-up at the Mandalay Bay. Morales,26, won the vacant title back Nov.16, 2002 at the same venue with a unanimous decision over former WBA bantamweight champion Paulie Ayala.

Velardez, 22, of San Bernardino, Ca., is the former WBC Youth World super bantamweight king with a 26-4-1, 6 K0s ledger since turning pro in 1999. Velardez has won 13 straight since losing a close 10-round decision to Jose Cotto.

“Though Oscar’s fandom overshadows Morales, Erik’s great skills have made him the most popular fighter throughout Mexico right now and he is a tremendous draw at the box office on both sides of the border,” Arum reflected.

“Erik won a split decision over Barrera when he first had the crown three years ago. Before the year is out maybe Barrera and Morales will get together in a rubber match. It could be a classic.”

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas.)