High Marks for De La Hoya

Now they can’t say he doesn’t have the face of a fighter.

Or the heart.

Oscar De La Hoya may have won a lopsided, unanimous decision over Miguel Angel Gonzalez Saturday night before a Thomas & Mack Center crowd of 11,417 to retain his World Boxing Council super-lightweight title, but it would be hard to tell from looking at the two men.

It was De La Hoya, known for his handsome, unmarked face, whose left eye was bruised and badly swollen from a right hand delivered midway through the fight. It was Gonzalez, on the receiving end of 212 jabs and 361 punches, who emerged unmarked.

For the first time, De La Hoya, the Golden Boy, was tarnished.

What began as a tuneup for De La Hoya’s showdown against Pernell Whitaker on April 12 turned into a tough, bruising fight against Gonzalez, a 6-1 underdog despite a 41-0 record and 31 knockouts. The outcome never seemed in doubt, but De La Hoya, refusing to use his right hand except on rare occasions, had to get a maximum performance out of his powerful left to keep the determined Gonzalez at bay.

“My jab felt so good,” De La Hoya said, “it felt like target practice.”

Until the target started firing back.

Over the first few rounds, De La Hoya (23-0, 20 knockouts) seemed intent on testing all his weapons after a seven-month layoff, caused by tendinitis in his left shoulder. In the first round, De La Hoya threw 10 consecutive jabs, each jerking back Gonzalez’s head, before he tried a left hook. In the second, De La Hoya tried a variation of the Ali shuffle. In the third, he appeared to work on his defense.

But by the later rounds, Gonzalez, a notoriously slow starter, gained some momentum and aggressiveness, although he never figured out how to break through De La Hoya’s defense to inflict very little damage other than the blow under the eye.

“He was the best man tonight,” Gonzalez said through an interpreter, “but there will be other nights. He is very fast. Not powerful, but he can hit you with two or three punches at a time.”

Ultimately, it was De La Hoya’s blinding hand speed, matched against the much slower delivery of Gonzalez, that made the difference.

Abel Sanchez, one of Gonzalez’s trainers, kept yelling, “First! First!” from the corner, meaning he wanted his fighter to beat De La Hoya’s jab by getting in the first punch.

But that just wasn’t possible for Gonzalez.

Said veteran trainer Emanuel Steward, who joined Sanchez in Gonzalez’s camp just six weeks ago, “I wish I had six more weeks to work with him. A lot of Oscar’s weaknesses were exposed.”

Why didn’t De La Hoya use his right hand more? After the fight, he didn’t have an answer. “I’ll have to look at the film,” he said.

De La Hoya won nine of the 12 rounds on all three judges’ cards. Further widening the margin was a pair of points subtracted from Gonzalez’s total by referee Mills Lane, one for hitting on the back of the head in the seventh round and one for hitting on the break in the final round.

Both men took something positive out of the ring Saturday night.

De La Hoya’s only critics in the past have been a segment of the Mexican-American community, especially in the Los Angeles area. De La Hoya has theorized that it was because his unmarked face was not the kind associated with a tough fighter. Those critics have now lost that argument.

And Gonzalez has complained that he couldn’t get any recognition in his native Mexico despite his unbeaten record. In defeat, the granite jaw and determination he showed in the face of De La Hoya’s devastating left may have won him the recognition he so desperately wanted.

The victorious De La Hoya got $5 million, Gonzalez $1 million.

This was De La Hoya’s second fight at 140 pounds, including his June victory over Julio Cesar Chavez. It was also his last.

De La Hoya is expected to relinquish his title and move up to 147 pounds to face Whitaker.

One title did change hands Saturday night.

International Boxing Federation light-flyweight champion Michael Carbajal (44-3, 29 knockouts) lost a split decision to Mauricio Pastrana (16-0, 13 knockouts) of Colombia. Judge Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 and judge Duane Ford 115-114 for Pastrana. Judge Chuck Giampa gave the decision to Carbajal, 116-112.

Pastrana staggered Carbajal with a right hand in the third, and, by the time the fight had ended, left him with a deep cut over the left eye and a bloody mouth

“I thought the fight was going to be harder than it was,” Pastrana said.

Carbajal did not dispute the decision.

“All I want is a rematch,” he said. “I’ll fight him anywhere, even Colombia.”

The night’s third title fight ended in a technical draw when IBF junior-welterweight champion Konstantin Tszyu (18-0-1, 14 knockouts) unintentionally hit Leonardo Mas (23-2-1, 15 knockouts) on a break at the end of the first round, causing a possibly dislocated jaw. Mas had already been knocked down twice in the round. Tszyu retained his title.

Preliminary fights

Vassili Jirov of Kazakhstan, 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the light-heavyweight division, won his pro debut via a TKO of fellow cruiserweight Vincent Brown (4-1, two knockouts) at 1:29 of the second round of a scheduled six-rounder. Lightweight Stevie Johnston improved to 20-0 with 13 knockouts by winning a unanimous 10-round decision over Joe Luis Baltazar (14-11, 11 knockouts). Super featherweight Floyd Mayweather, a silver medalist in the featherweight division in the ’92 games, remained unbeaten at 3-0 with two knockouts by getting a TKO victory 1:39 into the first round of a scheduled four-rounder against Jerry Cooper (6-4). And heavyweight Eric “Butterbean” Esch (26-1, 22 knockouts) beat Curt Allen (5-1-1, three knockouts), winning on a TKO when the fight was stopped at 2:56 of the third round of a scheduled four-rounder.

* SWEET REGRET: Sugar Ray Leonard had to get a lump of memory in his throat watching Oscar De La Hoya. C11