Sweet V for De La Hoya

By TIM KAWAKAMI

April 13, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAS VEGAS —

Oscar De La Hoya could not blast his way out of this one, or waltz in and wait for the postfight celebration.

He hunted and pecked, he sought but could not destroy. He fell in the ninth round, and was ruled to have been knocked down. He was frustrated for long periods, and angry for others.

And after it was over, De La Hoya spent an anxious couple of minutes after this battle of intention, waiting to see if the judges would appreciate his occasional piercing power punches--or Pernell Whitaker’s continuous, crashing flashes and feints.

In a controversial, unanimous-decision victory, De La Hoya won Whitaker’s World Boxing Council welterweight title before about 12,200 at the Thomas & Mack Center by receiving the blessings of the judges, but not the respect of Whitaker.

“I didn’t think I had to knock him out,” said Whitaker, whose much-clearer dominance of Julio Cesar Chavez four years ago in San Antonio was ruled a draw. “I put enough punishment on him, and that speaks for itself. That was the old Pernell Whitaker you saw out there. You guys all said I was 33 years old. And I wanted to come out and prove I had the legs of a 22-year-old.

“It’s sad that we’re going to have to do this again and I’m going to have to knock him out. I wasn’t expecting anything would happen here what happened in San Antonio.”

Whitaker’s pumping right jab was the most effective punch of the fight, and according to CompuBox Inc. statistics, Whitaker landed 160--many of them blistering shots to De La Hoya’s face.

De La Hoya, who landed only 34% of his punches overall, landed only 45 jabs.

But De La Hoya also was the aggressor for most of this fight--and landed 146 of his 363 power shots (40%). Whitaker threw only 192 power shots, and scored on only 72 of them (38%).

“I was frustrated but not hurt,” said De La Hoya, who raised his record to 24-0 but went his second consecutive bout without a knockout. “His style confused me. I give him a lot of credit. He had a great jab.”

Whitaker (40-2-1), who said he thought he won 10 of the 12 rounds, immediately called for a rematch, which looks probable.

“I said it all along his style is the most difficult style in boxing,” De La Hoya said. “He has different moves. [But] I felt I did enough to win the fight, no problem.

“If he feels he wants a rematch, I would love a rematch.”

For such a tight bout, the scoring was surprisingly lopsided: Judges Dalby Shirley and Jerry Roth scored it 116-110 for De La Hoya; and Chuck Giampa scored it 115-111.

The Times scored it as a draw, 113-113.

“If Oscar had beaten me, I would be the first to say he is the best fighter in the world,” Whitaker said. “But it’s a little sour right now. He can have the ‘BC title, but we know who’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

“He didn’t come close to hurting me. He couldn’t do the things he wanted to do because I was giving him different angles.”

Said Whitaker’s promoter, Dino Duva: “I just have to say the scoring was ridiculous. There’s no way Oscar won this fight by six points. I don’t want to take away anything from Oscar’s performance, but having Pernell Whitaker winning only three rounds is ridiculous.”

This was a fight that included an early head butt by Whitaker that opened a small cut below De La Hoya’s right eye, several mocking gestures by both fighters and handfuls of body-to-body charges that resulted in few scoring blows but plenty of angry shoves and elbows.

From the beginning, Whitaker made the fight’s pace his own by moving in and out on De La Hoya, pouncing in with the heavy right jab and flying away quickly before the challenger could counter.

De La Hoya fired hard overhand rights, but missed often, and did not seem to rock Whitaker when he landed.

“Whether you like it or not, you can’t hit what your eyes can’t see,” Whitaker said.

The third round might have been the most fascinating of De La Hoya’s career, beginning with some early Whitaker scoring, continuing with De La Hoya firing a hard left hook off a clinch, several De La Hoya taunts and De La Hoya flopping to the canvas after Whitaker crashed him with a head butt. Referee Mills Lane ruled an illegal butt, and penalized Whitaker a point.

De La Hoya ended the round with a sizzling right hand to Whitaker’s chin, eliciting a broad smile from the champion.

“Every time I would feint him to the body and throw the right, it would land,” De La Hoya said.

By the sixth, Whitaker’s pattern of quick circling and jamming jab was clearly frustrating De La Hoya, who switched to a left-handed stance several times in the middle rounds.

After the seventh-round bell, De La Hoya pumped his right arm in mocking gesture as Whitaker retreated to his corner.

De La Hoya’s glove hit the canvas in the ninth when he was charging forward, lost his balance and got winged by a Whitaker left. Lane ruled it a knockdown, the third of De La Hoya’s career, but it clearly looked like a slip.

“I expected Pernell Whitaker to be stronger and faster,” De La Hoya said. “But that knockdown, let’s be real. I went down because I was out of balance, and while I was going down he happened to get a shot in.”

By the 11th, De La Hoya’s nose was bloodied, but he still was the obvious aggressor, chopping in tough left hooks along with hard rights--missing more than scoring but stopping Whitaker when he landed.

The two hugged after the 12th-round bell, looking weary, but both raised their arms anticipating victory.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ROUND BY ROUND

* ROUND ONE: Little movement by either fighter in the first 30 seconds. Whitaker throws right jab and moves away. De La Hoya appears tentative but lands first punch more than a minute into round. Whitaker follows right jab with straight left to chest. De La Hoya left glances off Whitaker’s head. De La Hoya lands a pair of rights inside. Whitaker responds with right to body. Whitaker lands jab and another straight left. Round ends with de La Hoya coming up short on combination attempt.Round to Whitaker

* ROUND TWO: De La Hoya landed left-right combination high on Whitaker’s chest. De La Hoya digs left to body. Whitaker snaps jab to De La Hoya’s chin. De La Hoya counters Whitaker left with a solid right to the chin. Whitaker playfully dances away. De La Hoya lands a straight right. Whitaker counters De La Hoya with a left off side of his face. Whitaker and De La Hoya exchange jabs as bell sounds.Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND THREE: Whitaker again landed a right jab and De La Hoya countered with a left-right combination to the head. De La Hoya landed a hard right to the chin and Whitaker responded with an overhand left that connected. De La Hoya slapped a left and slapped Whitaker in the back twice while the fighters clinched. De La Hoya landed a stiff right uppercut on the break. Fighters appeared to butt heads with one minute to go. De La Hoya goes to the canvas with 45 seconds left in the round. Referee Mills Lane ruled it a slip. Blood flowed from De La Hoya’s head as a result of the butt. Whitaker landed a straight right jab in the final seconds. Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND FOUR: Blood trickled from beneath De La Hoya’s right eye. Whitaker showed more movement in the early portion of the round. De La Hoya landed a straight right to Whitaker’s right eye and followed with a body blow. Swelling appeared near Whitaker’s right eye. Whitaker continued to jab and move. De La Hoya landed a right to the body and a right lead to the chest. De La Hoya landed a three-punch combination to the head as the bell sounded. Whitaker shuffled his way to the corner. Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND FIVE: Lane deducted a point from Whitaker in the second round for accidental head butt. Whitaker landed a combination, snapping De La Hoya’s head. De La Hoya wrestled Whitaker to the ground. Whitaker pawed at left jab but De La Hoya continued to move ahead. De La Hoya missed with a left hook and missed again with a left-right combination. Whitaker dodged a De La Hoya left and used the ring to his advantage. De La Hoya switched to southpaw stance and landed a pair of rights. Whitaker began to clown and showboat in final seconds. Round to Whitaker.

* ROUND SIX: De La Hoya started the round as a southpaw and lands a left to the body. De La Hoya lands a straight left that backs Whitaker up. De La Hoya switched back to right-handed stance. Whitaker missed with right hand and De La Hoya countered with right to head. Whitaker missed wild left and was tagged with right to head. Lane separated the fighters after prolonged clinch. Whitaker landed a jab to the chin and De La Hoya countered with straight left hand. Whitaker landed a straight left and the round ended with an exchange of lefts. Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND SEVEN: Swelling appeared to get worse over right eye of Whitaker. Slow start to the round. Whitaker jabbed more effectively in the first minute of the round. Whitaker wrestled De La Hoya to the ground and landed on top of De La Hoya. Whitaker danced away as De La Hoya became more aggressive. De La Hoya landed a right cross to the head and Whitaker dug a left to the body. De La Hoya seemed content to stay outside and jab. De La Hoya gestured at Whitaker as the bell sounded.Round to Whitaker.

* ROUND EIGHT: De La Hoya jabbed to the body and then the head. De La Hoya blocked a Whitaker jab with his glove. De La Hoya left caught Whitaker off the side of the head. De La Hoya landed a solid right off Whitaker’s ear. Whitaker jabbed to the body. De La Hoya scored with a right lead to the head. Whitaker missed with a left hook and De La Hoya countered with a right to the chest. De La Hoya landed a left-right combination to Whitaker’s chin. Whitaker smiled and moved away.Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND NINE: De La Hoya landed a soft right to the chin and missed a left. Whitaker came inside and the fighters twice clinched. Whitaker snuck in a quick right. De La Hoya countered but Whitaker landed another right lead. Whitaker’s punches appeared to have no effect on De La Hoya. De La Hoya missed a wicked left uppercut. De La Hoya switched back to southpaw and landed a quick right but was dropped to one knee by a quick left. It’s ruled a knockdown. De La Hoya chased Whitaker across the ring and the fighters exchanged a series of blows.Round to Whitaker

* ROUND 10: De La Hoya opened the round with a quick left. Whitaker landed a pair of punches to the body as the fighters came together. Whitaker missed with a right jab but connected with a left off the shoulder. De La Hoya landed a right lead and connected with a left while backpedaling to the ropes. Whitaker missed with an overhand left and De La Hoya landed a short combination. Whitaker dug three left hooks to De La Hoya’s body. De La Hoya landed left and right hooks as the bell sounded. Round to De La Hoya.

* ROUND 11: De La Hoya moved left to right to start the round and fired a right into Whitaker’s chest. De La Hoya slipped as Whitaker leaned on his back. De La Hoya attacked Whitaker as the fighters broke from a clinch and landed a right to the body. Whitaker flicked a jab to De La Hoya’s chin. De La Hoya again switched to southpaw. De La Hoya landed a right to the side of the face. Whitaker landed a pair of lefts and counters a De La Hoya right with another crisp left. The fighters again brawl on the inside.Round to Whitaker.

* ROUND 12: Fighters touched gloves to start the final found. De La Hoya aggressively pursued Whitaker, landing a series of body punches. Neither fighter appears worn down. A pair of Whitaker jabs came up short. De La Hoya sent a glancing left off the side of Whitaker’s head. Whitaker landed a right jab and stepped back as De La Hoya landed a counter right. Whitaker pawed two more jabs and De La Hoya landed a right lead. De La Hoya landed a right-left combination. Lane separated the fighters as they leaned on the ropes.Round to De La Hoya.

Comments and scoring by Anthony Mormile of SportsTicker.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Times Cards

STEVE SPRINGER

1. Whitaker 10-9

2. De La Hoya 10-9

3. De La Hoya 10-8 (+penalty)

4. De La Hoya 10-9

5. Whitaker 10-9

6. De La Hoya 10-9

7. De La Hoya 10-9

8. De La Hoya 10-9