It’s Not All Gold for De La Hoya : Boxing: Through all the legalese, charismatic fighter simply may be trying to take total control of his career.

Somewhere, in a hospital room nearby, Joe De La Hoya’s son was having his left hand examined, but he did not know where it was taking place or exactly when his son might return home.

Oscar De La Hoya’s father just stood in front of the new Montebello house he shares with his sons, shrugged his shoulders and told anyone who asked that he was sorry, but he had no answers.

“I can’t say anything,” Joe De La Hoya said Tuesday afternoon as the confusion over his son’s legal wranglings continued.

“I don’t see any problems, but only Oscar can talk--or his lawyer. To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything. The only person who knows is Oscar, and Oscar is not here.”

Even with the tape recorders off, Joe De La Hoya said he did not know the precise details of his son’s decision to fire his co-managers, Steve Nelson and Bob Mittleman, and did not know what course his son’s carefully charted career would take.

De La Hoya’s closest friends shook their heads, and did not want to talk on the record, but said they hoped it worked out.

His attorney, Michael Norris, said De La Hoya is believed to be suffering from a ligament tear in his left hand. The injury and the mental strain of his separation from his managers are the reasons why he canceled his Thursday fight in New York.

Only Oscar knows for sure, and, five days after the controversy began, Oscar was not talking.

With many questions left unanswered, it is difficult to know who is managing De La Hoya. But here is a look at some of the main characters and issues involved:

THE OBJECT OF DESIRE

Oscar De La Hoya, if managed properly, could be the first fighter since Sugar Ray Leonard to succeed inside the ring and outside of it.

He has a multifight offer from HBO worth about $7.5 million. HBO is giving no indication the current troubles have lessened its appreciation of his talents.

He has a title fight scheduled for March 5 at the Olympic Auditorium. He, at least until now, has been considered a bright, young light in a sport filled with darkness, a fighter corporations wanted to be associated with.

Although he can be furious in the ring, he has never been known to relish personal confrontations. Although he was trying to disassociate with Mittleman and Nelson, he never told them he was unhappy.

If he is not suspended for pulling out of Thursday’s fight--and it appears that he probably will not be--De La Hoya could make a lot of money quickly in the coming months. Though Mittleman and Nelson speak of high-powered men offering suitcases of money, De La Hoya, according to some close to him, believes he can be his own manager. He has grand plans beyond boxing--including an acting career.

Some close to him say he has decided to dump Mittleman and Nelson on his own, with some legal advice, and will have the total control of his career that he has long sought.

“There’s no hidden agenda here, there’s no secret money man,” said Michael Norris, De La Hoya’s attorney and sole spokesman at this point. “Everything I’ve been doing is on the direct wishes of Oscar.”

But if it’s De La Hoya acting alone, who brought him and Norris, who didn’t know De La Hoya before Saturday, together? And who is going to pay for the settlement with Mittleman and Nelson that could be more than $1 million?

THE MANAGERS

Mittleman and Nelson were not the first in line to sign De La Hoya after his gold-medal performance at the 1992 Olympics. Shelly Finkel had supported De La Hoya through much of his amateur career, paid some of the funeral bills for his mother’s death, and generally assumed he had an oral agreement with De La Hoya.

But Mittleman and Nelson jumped in with a five-year, $1-million offer, which knocked Finkel out of the picture.

“We heard stories that he could turn on you any second, all that matters is money,” Nelson said. “In the year that we’ve been with him, there’s no question he likes the good life.

“But at the same time, he seems happy with his progression, happy with his life and he was going to make a lot more money.”

Mittleman and Nelson are both New Yorkers without Latino ties. They hired Joe De La Hoya, paying him about $50,000, in order to make sure they had a clear line of communication to Oscar. Still, they never completely won over the fighter.

After some squabbles, Mittleman decided to move to Montebello to be closer to Oscar, and Nelson joined the camp whenever De La Hoya was in training at Big Bear.

THE CONFLICTS

There have long been rumors that De La Hoya was chafing under Mittleman and Nelson’s management, and in October, when the two were late on a $47,000 bonus payment, the rumbles grew louder.

Mittleman and Nelson say they would not have been late if the fighter and his father hadn’t signed a bad motion-picture deal that delayed a lucrative movie deal the two managers had already made. They say that as of Dec. 1, they had paid De La Hoya everything they owed.

But, in October, fueled by the late bonus payments, De La Hoya began telling friends that he hoped to leave Mittleman and Nelson. He began getting advice from Raynaldo Garza, a businessman friend of Gerardo (Jerry) Salas, a cousin of Joe De La Hoya.

Then, last week, Mittleman and Nelson, with the approval of Joe De La Hoya, hired Carlos Ortiz to assist longtime friend and trainer Robert Alcazar. Instead of assisting, Ortiz, a very strong-willed man, took control of the sparring sessions.

After four days of tension, Oscar asked that Ortiz be fired, and he was. It is not clear whether that is when the fighter decided to go through with the separation, but the camp was never the same after that.

The next day, Mittleman and Nelson were given a notice of termination and papers seeking them to be restrained from the fighter’s presence. They have not spoken with him since.

“We’ve given him a year of our time, our lives, our soul, our guts, we’ve given everything to this kid, and to have this happen makes you feel terrible,” Nelson said.

THE NEW ADVISERS

Though Salas on Tuesday called reports that he was the insider who delivered De La Hoya into the hands of his new moneymen “a fantasy,” Mittleman and Nelson insist Salas and Garza began the process.

Salas was outside the De La Hoya house Tuesday, denying that he knew what was going on and laughing about the $10-million lawsuit Mittleman and Nelson filed against him and Garza. Other than that, he had no comment.

THE OLDEST ADVISERS

There is no question that Alcazar was unhappy with the way Mittleman and Nelson ran roughshod over him with Ortiz. But it is unclear whether he insisted--or even supported--the decision to terminate the contract.

He remains De La Hoya’s trainer, but he apparently is on the outside as the fighter maneuvers to replace Mittleman and Nelson.

“He’s out of the loop,” Mittleman said of Alcazar. “He’s confused.”

Meanwhile, the father also apparently is out of the loop. Though rumors of a break in the relationship with his son appear exaggerated--Oscar stayed at the house with him Monday night and was expected back Tuesday night--it is clear he does not know who is advising his son.

“I don’t know anything about new managers,” Joe De La Hoya said. “These are a surprise for me.”

Mittleman and Nelson believe Joe De La Hoya advised his son not to bolt from their management, and say he has told them so.

“I told Joe, ‘If your son doesn’t show honor to you , then I sure as hell guess I can’t expect him to show honor to me,’ ” Mittleman said.