De La Hoya Foe Finally Lasts to Second Round : Boxing: Lightweight scores a technical knockout against Alexander. Zavala knocks out Coffee in fifth round.

Oscar De La Hoya stopped another outclassed opponent Sunday night, his third in a row since turning pro last November, as his fans become eager for him to face someone who will challenge him.

De La Hoya knocked Paris Alexander down three times before being awarded a technical knockout at the Hollywood Palladium.

De La Hoya now has gone one round twice, and Sunday’s fight ended at 1:52 of the second. Once again, De La Hoya finished with boos ringing in his ears, boos directed at his opponent, who presented little challenge.

“If Oscar was a heavyweight everyone would be ooohing and ahhhing over these knockouts, but we tend not to do that for lightweights,” promoter Bob Arum said.

“The kid’s like Tyson. Everyone he hits is going to go. The lightweights have never seen anyone like this.”

De La Hoya stalked the speedy Alexander (15-7-2) for about a minute and a half of the first round and then rocked him with a left-right combination on the ropes.

Then, seconds later and on the other side of the ring, he decked him with a left-right combination. Alexander took a standing eight-count from Hassett, and finished the round seemingly clear-headed. But early in the second, De La Hoya bounced a left hook off Alexander’s head. The San Francisco fighter dropped to his left knee, then rolled over on his left side.

A minute later, De La Hoya landed a right to the temple at close range, and Alexander dropped to a knee, after a delayed reaction. Hassett took a long look at Alexander, and stopped the fight. Meekly, Alexander protested the stoppage.

Also Sunday, Costa Mesa junior-featherweight Rudy Zavala (20-1-1) won one of boxing’s meaningless titles, a USBA belt, with a fifth-round knockout of Jerome Coffee (35-8-1) of Las Vegas. Zavala will meet Tracy Harris Patterson in New York on Feb. 27 for the WBC junior-featherweight championship.

U.S. Olympic team super-heavyweight Larry Donald of Cincinnati made his pro debut with a two-round technical knockout of Craig Brinson of Los Angeles.

Donald, who didn’t medal in Spain, earned $1,000. De La Hoya, the only U.S. gold medalist, earned $10,000.

The best action fight of the night was a six-round draw between Frank Pena of Aurora, Colo., and Ben Lopez of Upland.

In a fight that finished to a standing ovation from the crowd of 1,505, Pena recovered from being knocked flat on his back in the second, but a point-deduction later in the match cost him victory.

Pena had a serious cut on the bridge of his nose and because his handlers took too long getting his mouthpiece back in their fighter’s mouth after the fifth, referee Lou Morett took a point away from him. Next for De La Hoya, who grew up in East Los Angeles but who now lives in Montebello, is a Feb. 6 match in San Diego against Curtis Strong of Chicago (15-6-2). On March 13, Arum said, De La Hoya will face Jeff Mayweather (23-2-1) in his first 10-rounder. Alexander, who said he had been knocked down twice before during his career, praised De La Hoya.

“He’s a good fighter,” he said. “He hits good and he’s fast. And he was adept at going over the top of my jab with his right hand.”