THE SHOWDOWN / BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE DE LA HOYA-RUELAS FIGHT : OSCAR DE LA HOYA : The Inside Story on His New Ring Styles

Oscar De La Hoya’s workouts at Big Bear have been, for the most part, closed to outsiders, partly because trainer Robert Alcazar says his fighter is working on new styles to showcase against Rafael Ruelas on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Is a 1 1/2-month training camp enough time to revamp a boxer’s style before his most important bout?

“Yes, because he’s a natural talent,” Alcazar said. “So as soon as you just tell him what to do, he’s got that ability to do it. He’s bringing it to the sparring partners, and he’s showing it to me in this training camp.”

Alcazar has hired an assistant, called “the Professor” by camp insiders, to help him with the workouts, and has brought in four veteran sparring partners, including Narciso Valenzuela, who has lost to both De La Hoya and Ruelas.

The point, according to Alcazar, is to get De La Hoya, who often fights too straight up and mechanically, moving from side to side and in and out against the brawling Ruelas.

“He’s fighting inside, he’s using the ropes and he’s doing real good,” Alcazar said. “That surprised me, the way he’s been doing it so quick.”

Alcazar also is using a middleweight to simulate Ruelas’ power and relentlessness, and in Andres Sandoval, a fighter who duplicates Ruelas’ stalking, all-or-nothing style.

“We’ve never practiced the inside fight,” Alcazar said. “But this time, I’ve got one sparring partner especially to spar with him on the inside, for five rounds every single day. So he’s learning quick.”

With the heavy work coming to an end, De La Hoya said he will have sparred about 150 rounds during this camp.