De La Hoya’s First Pro Fight Planned for Nov. 23 at Forum

Oscar De La Hoya, the Olympic boxing champion from East Los Angeles, will turn pro Nov. 23 at the Forum, his co-manager and the Forum boxing staff said Monday.

“We’ve reached verbal agreement on everything,” said Bob Mittleman, De La Hoya’s co-manager. “It’s just a matter now of putting everything down on paper.”

A Forum spokesman said that De La Hoya’s first pro match, a six-round bout, will be billed as the main event.

Mittleman said the 19-year-old De La Hoya’s first pro foe will be announced Thursday.

“We will not insult Oscar’s fans,” Mittleman said. “The kid he’s going to fight is a Philadelphia and Atlantic City fighter who is 9-3-1 and has never been stopped. We think Oscar is already a great fighter and he’s going to fight a tough kid right away.”

De La Hoya, the only American boxer who won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics, signed a pro management contract earlier this month with Mittleman and Steve Nelson, both of New York.