BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Young Fighters Ready to Step In

They are overshadowed on undercards, fight at fairgrounds for meager purses, and watch as the television networks gobble up the rights to every 40-something fighter still able to wobble toward the middle of a ring.

But as the Olympic Auditorium joins the Forum as one of Los Angeles’ major boxing venues, young area fighters such as Shane Mosley and Robert Garcia appear to be ready for major recognition exactly when the demand is growing.

Oscar De La Hoya and the Ruelas brothers, Rafael and Gabriel, are also young and talented and figure to dominate the local scene for years. But they have already received more exposure than Mosley, Garcia, Carlos Hernandez and Juan Lazcano can dream of--and De La Hoya and the Ruelas are being considered as Las Vegas headliners, anyway.

So besides the Mexican fighters the Forum features regularly, who will headline the 40 to 50 shows a year scheduled at the Olympic and Forum?

“These are all great young fighters, all coming up at the same time,” said veteran trainer Art Miles, who is working with Lazcano, an 18-year-old junior lightweight.

Here’s a quick look at four of the local fighters mostly likely to succeed:

Shane Mosley--He more than held his own in the amateurs with De La Hoya and the Ruelas brothers, and great things have been expected from him ever since. But while De La Hoya has won a gold medal and earned more than $2 million, Gabriel Ruelas is a No. 1 contender and Rafael Ruelas has an International Boxing Federation title, Mosley, 21, has been quietly biding his time.

It might take an impressive victory in his scheduled 10-rounder with Oscar Lopez Saturday at the Fairplex in Pomona for Mosley to emerge as a legitimate lightweight title contender.

“Mosley, he’s definitely the best prospect,” said De La Hoya’s trainer, Robert Alcazar.

It’s a homecoming fight for Mosley, who is from Pomona and has won all nine of his pro fights on knockouts. But Lopez is easily the toughest opponent he will have faced. Lopez, also 21, is 20-6, but has faced a slew of top-10 lightweight contenders and is known for his Hector Camacho-like agility.

“I’ve taken my time a little bit,” Mosley said. “I think it’s time for me to fight somebody people recognize--like Oscar Lopez. I know this is a step up in class for me, but I feel I can handle it.”

Mosley, who is trained by his father, Jack, had been sparring with Zachary Padilla, the World Boxing Organization’s junior-welterweight champion, before Padilla’s bout March 12 at the Olympic.

There are tentative plans to get Mosley a date at the Olympic sometime this spring, and perhaps a spot on George Foreman’s undercard this summer. But first, he must beat Lopez.

Robert Garcia--The Oxnard native is establishing himself as one of the bigger hitters in the featherweight division with nine knockouts in 11 fights.

Garcia, 19, part of the De La Hoya-Alcazar stable, won a six-round decision March 12 at the Olympic on Padilla’s undercard, and is scheduled to be on Gabriel Ruelas’ undercard April 16 at the Olympic.

“Basically, he’s a puncher,” said Alcazar, who doesn’t like to compare Garcia to De La Hoya, but says he expects Garcia to fight for a title before the end of 1995. “I want him to use the ring, learn how to box. Because he’s got the power, everybody knows that already. He’s just 19, but he’s got 11 fights, almost as much as Oscar.”

Carlos Hernandez--Hernandez’s pro debut ended in a draw, but he has won 14 in a row since.

Hernandez, 23, a 5-foot-6 junior-lightweight based in Bellflower, headlines Thursday’s Irvine Marriott show.

“I don’t see much missing in him except experience,” veteran trainer Jackie McCoy said. “He has a good chin. He’s very strong, he’s very quick. I think he gets another five or six fights under his belt, he can fight anybody.”

Juan Lazcano--He could have waited and been a candidate for the U.S. team in the 1996 Olympics, but Miles says, “Why wait that long?”

Lazcano, originally from El Paso but now based in Los Angeles, is a straight-ahead fighter in the Julio Cesar Chavez mold. He already is 6-0 and is scheduled for a four-rounder on the Mosley-Lopez undercard Saturday.

“We want to knock out De La Hoya in the Olympic Auditorium in December of this year,” Miles said. “We’d like to fight (World Boxing Council junior-welterweight champion) Frankie Randall in El Paso probably by next June.

“I think we’ll stop De La Hoya in three rounds. He’s got no defense . . . nobody has ever backed him up. Lazcano will back him up. He’s a true Mexican gladiator.”

Said Lazcano: “My time is about to come.”