He plays with his matches safely

In the discussions that helped script Oscar De La Hoya’s path from the star of the 1992 Olympic Games to his current role as the greatest draw in boxing pay-per-view history, one voice was listened to most of all.

Matchmaker Bruce Trampler was the one who determined when the “Golden Boy” was prepared to vanquish young, skilled fighters such as Rafael Ruelas and when he could handle veterans such as Mexican warrior Julio Cesar Chavez in 1996 and polished southpaw Pernell Whitaker a year later.

“Any fighter, no matter how talented, must either be matched correctly, or they will be destroyed,” said Trampler’s boss, Bob Arum of Top Rank promotions. “The art of matchmaking is to take a young prospect and put him against guys he can beat and learn something from. . . . You protect the kid somewhat, but you want him to learn. Bruce has that ability; I don’t.

“He deserves complete credit for Oscar. Without him, there would be no Oscar De La Hoya as he stands today. It was a masterful job.”

But De La Hoya now runs his own promotional company and Trampler remains at Top Rank, which promotes De La Hoya’s opponent tonight, Manny Pacquiao.

Trampler has done for Pacquiao what he once did for De La Hoya: huddle with him often to ensure the correct fight strategy is in place.

Trampler, 59, was been sent by Arum six times this fall to confer with Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, at their Hollywood gym. The idea: Have the man who was such an influential player in De La Hoya’s career supervise the strategy that could end it.

“I don’t think I told them anything they didn’t know and it’d be much less than truthful if I said I gave them a secret, but I did speak my piece and I found we’re all on the same page about how to win this fight,” Trampler said.

Roach said he appreciated the guidance. Arum says that instruction is part of the reason why he believes Pacquiao will win by knockout. “Manny is our fighter now; I’d feel good if he wins,” Arum said. “It has nothing to do with history. I’d still exult if Oscar is knocked out. I wouldn’t feel bad at all, because it’s my guy ending the era.”

Trampler’s career dates to 1968, when he made his first match for a fighter, Bill Douglas, best known as the father of future heavyweight champion James “Buster” Douglas.

Trampler quit a career in journalism after studying at Ohio University and worked with famed trainer Angelo Dundee and his publicist brother, Chris. Trampler calls this time “Dundee finishing school,” and he later landed under Madison Square Garden’s Teddy Brenner, whom boxing historians consider the greatest matchmaker ever.

“This job is not exactly rocket science and it can be hard to choreograph. You may think a guy is a test for your prospect, and then your guy knocks him out early, so you just say, ‘He passed that test,’ and move on,” Trampler said. “Generally, you want your guy to get better every fight and you want to continually test him -- no tomato cans. And if there’s a fight that’s not beneficial, I won’t take it.”

Longtime matchmaker and California-based promoter Don Chargin calls Trampler’s handling of former featherweight champion Erik Morales his most masterful development, but he also helped Michael Carbajal become the first flyweight to claim a $1-million purse.

Recent welterweight champ Miguel Cotto and current middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik are also Trampler-orchestrated talents.

“Bruce knows exactly how to set his fighters up,” said Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez. “He may take some criticism for being too slow with some guys, but he’s taking care of his guys until they’re ready, and then, boom! They get big fight after big fight.”

Still, his handling of De La Hoya trumps all, even if Trampler jokes that part of his success was ensuring “we didn’t screw this up. Right away with Oscar, it was very clear to all of us he had this special talent. The charisma, the physical attributes. . . . I didn’t look at him as a project but as a kid who would become the fighter of his generation.”

The pair parted ways for good after De La Hoya’s 2006 loss to Bernard Hopkins.

As he celebrated the unveiling of a statue of his likeness at Staples Center this week, De La Hoya described Trampler as “very instrumental” to his career. “He knew when to throw me in with the dogs and when to throw me in with the cats,” De La Hoya cracked.

So how does De La Hoya feel about Trampler’s new union with Pacquiao?

“At this point, he’s the enemy, and all that’s on my mind now is how to beat the enemy,” De La Hoya said.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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Tale of the tape

*--* DE LA HOYA PACQUIAO 39-5 Record 47-3-2 30 KOs 35 Feb. 4, 1973 Born Dec. 17, 1978 145 Weight 142 5’ 10 1/2 “ Height 5’6 1/2 “ 72” Reach 67” 13 3/4 “ Biceps 13” 31 3/4 Waist 28” 21” Thigh 20’ 13 1/2 “ Calf 15” 15 1/2 Neck 16” 7” Wrist 8” 9” Fist 10” *--*

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Online poll

There were 3,475 responses to the question: Who will win Saturday’s fight? The results:

Oscar De La Hoya: 33.5%

Manny Pacquiao: 66.5%

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To take part in the next online poll, go to latimes.com/sports