DE LA HOYA vs. CHAVEZ : It’s Oscar Night : De La Hoya Goes With Flow, Stops Chavez in the Fourth

It was a self-coronation, a passing of the torch, and the answer to almost every doubt anyone has ever had. And it was strikingly, stunningly more.

It was the changing of an era, by dramatic force, stinging efficiency and sudden victory. It was brutal, bloody and, to those who have asked for a new superstar, beautiful to behold.

Fast and fearsome, with a savage fourth-round flurry, Oscar De La Hoya cut Julio Cesar Chavez into pieces Friday night, then broke him like brick.

“I was trying to stop him in his tracks,” De La Hoya said. “He’s so strong. . . . A mature fighter has to keep his calm and keep his exposure in the ring. Take your time, relax, and the knockout will come.”

De La Hoya ripped the 33-year-old Chavez’s face into a shroud of blood, leaving him crumpled and sagging with resignation as the ringside physician ruled he could no longer continue at 2:37 of the fourth round, giving De La Hoya a technical knockout victory and the World Boxing Council super-lightweight title.

Chavez (97-2-1) had never been stopped in 99 previous fights, but did not protest the decision by Flip Homansky and the mostly pro-Chavez crowd of 15,283 at the Caesars Palace outdoor arena accepted the ending quietly.

The end came after De La Hoya (22-0, 20 knockouts) lured Chavez forward early in the fourth, then caught him with a piercing left hook to the face that flung the champion backward.

Sensing that Chavez was wounded, with blood spraying into the air with every blast, De La Hoya charged at the backpedaling Chavez with manic energy, rocking Chavez with two four-punch combinations that almost sent him to the canvas, then finishing the flurry with a hard left jab and blasting overhand right.

“Once I’m in the ring, I have no mercy,” De La Hoya said.

With Chavez teetering against the ropes, Cortez stepped in and called timeout, and seconds later, when Homansky ended it, De La Hoya leaped into the desert air in celebration.

“The jab was the key to my success tonight,” De La Hoya said. “I felt the straight jab was going to open all the doors so I could throw my combinations.

“After I feinted to the body, when I threw that straight stiff jab, I saw the openings.”

This victory gave De La Hoya his third title in three weight classes, halfway toward his goal of a record six titles in six weight classes.

But De La Hoya, 23, who has only recently adopted an elusive fighting style, said he has more room to grow.

“Still, I need many more fights to learn, many more years, so hopefully I can become a great champion in the future,” De La Hoya said.

After De La Hoya took his time strolling to the ring, to an expected roar of disapproval, Chavez practically jogged in, leaving his entourage scrambling behind and giving his fans little time to explode in applause. As soon as he stepped into the ring, he headed toward De La Hoya’s corner, and gave the challenger a good-luck tap.

The fight began in 100-degree heat, and its fate was clear early. About 90 seconds into the bout, with Chavez backpedaling, De La Hoya opened a deep cut when two hard jabs crossed slashed across Chavez’s left eyebrow and immediately caused a strong flow of blood.

Chavez claimed after the fight that he suffered a cut in the same spot five days ago in training, which made this cut occur so quickly. Chavez also said that if it hadn’t been for the training camp injury, he wouldn’t have lost.

“I’m not finished,” Chavez said through an interpreter. “I did not feel Oscar’s punches. I did not want to cancel [the fight] because the promotion was too far on the way.

“I want to come back because I can’t lose this way. I really want the revenge.”

But a rematch is unlikely, not only because of the manner of the victory, but because De La Hoya has plans to fight former lightweight champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez and then welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker by next spring.

“I think I deserve a little of the credit,” De La Hoya said when he heard those comments. “Chavez does what he believes and that’s his opinion. But why do I have the belt and why am I the champion?”

Referee Joe Cortez called timeout for Homansky to take a look at the cut, but the doctor sent Chavez back out to fight.

The blood continued to stream down Chavez’s face, and into his eye, as De La Hoya cracked power shot after power shot--and peppered Chavez with a sharp left jab.

As De La Hoya landed and landed--he connected on 195 punches in the bout--Chavez winked at De La Hoya in the final seconds of the first, egging him forward but acknowledging the punishment.

Chavez charged at De La Hoya to start the second, and gestured with his arms in the first minute, trying to start the kind of brawl De La Hoya said he wanted to avoid.

But, apparently to stay away from De La Hoya’s harder shots, Chavez stayed away from his usual menu of digging body shots, instead, choosing to fire looping hooks at De La Hoya’s chin, which had been a question mark for much of his career.

Chavez landed one big left hook in the round, but finished it looking confused and frustrated, and wandered for a brief moment to the wrong corner after the bell.

By the third, Chavez was pawing at his eye, lunging at De La Hoya as the challenger bobbed and weaved in front of him.

“My plan was to slip punches, to move my body, move my head. Boxing is a cruel sport, but if you’re smart, you won’t get hit,” De La Hoya said. “I felt he was very strong, but he didn’t hurt me.”

Entering the final round, De La Hoya had been given every round by all three judges.

By the time it was over, it was time for the coronation.