Rematch Could Be a Repeat

By STEVE SPRINGER

Sept. 18, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAS VEGAS —

It has been two years since Oscar De La Hoya stopped Julio Cesar Chavez in the fourth round of their showdown match.

Tonight, Chavez steps back into the ring for the rematch, two years slower, two years farther over the hill, two more years of wear and tear heaped on a body that has been abused outside the ring and pounded within the ropes.

De La Hoya is two years further into his prime with two years of additional experience to draw on and two more years of intense training to perfect his ever-increasing arsenal.

So what’s the point of tonight’s WBC welterweight championship fight at the Thomas & Mack Center?

Money, of course. What is always the point in boxing?

De La Hoya-Chavez I was stopped because of a cut over Chavez’s left eye, a cut Chavez suffered before the match.

For two years, Chavez has portrayed that cut as a red badge of courage, refusing to acknowledge that he was beaten by De La Hoya. He has tried to convince all who would listen that he bravely stayed in there as long as he could wipe the blood away because, without question, he, not De La Hoya, would have had a hand raised in victory had not fate intervened.

And Chavez has found a receptive audience among his faithful, in Mexico and in the Latino community in this country.

And that made Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter, listen as well because Arum could hear the sound of television sets clicking on all over North America. If people felt strongly enough about a rematch to buy the fight on a pay-per-view basis, then Arum would be more than happy to give Chavez another chance.

Arum’s business sense was correct. Tonight’s fight is a sellout at the Thomas & Mack Center, which will hold 18,500 for the bout.

The response has been so overwhelming that there are also eight closed-circuit sites showing the fight in Las Vegas. And the number of pay-per-view homes may exceed 750,000, which would be a record for a non-heavyweight bout.

But beyond Arum and all of Chavez’s fans, someone else was listening to Chavez’s campaign as well. And fuming.

De La Hoya said that Chavez did with his mouth what he could not do with his fists. He got through to De La Hoya and hurt him. Hurt his feelings.

“I wanted this fight,” De La Hoya said. “This is very personal. He has not shown me any respect. It’s sad that he can’t accept a loss. A true champion admits a loss. He doesn’t know how to take anything like a man.”

De La Hoya insists his anger is real and not merely a justification for staging this rematch. Does he feel so strongly that he would deliberately carry Chavez in order to inflict additional damage?

“If I had him wobbly and hurt,” De La Hoya said, “I sometimes find myself thinking that I would let him get good again and start all over so that I could make him suffer.

“It depends how I feel that night. I am going to make this guy pay for it, but he can be dangerous. You have to get him right out of there if you get the opportunity. You have to play it smart.”

But if he doesn’t, De La Hoya could leave himself open for a monumental upset. His anger might be the only thing that can do him in.

De La Hoya has always been an intelligent fighter, always stressing defense, always aware of his opponent’s weak points. He is a master at wearing down an opponent, at slicing him up. If the knockout comes, it comes. If not, he has been content with the victory.

But not this time.

“I want a knockout,” De La Hoya said, “and that is my only satisfaction. If I am not able to knock him out, it would disappoint me.”

But what if Chavez (101-2-2, 84 knockouts), who has never been knocked out, digs in his heels and weathers the blows? What if De La Hoya (28-0, 23 knockouts), clearly ahead on points, nevertheless abandons the style that has gotten him this far and uncharacteristically exposes himself in search of that elusive knockout punch?

Probably only then would Chavez have a chance, were he to land a series of punches that could beat the odds and bring about a shocking turn of events.

Far more likely, however, is that De La Hoya slices up Chavez and forces the fight to be stopped because of cuts by the eighth round.

Far more likely, it ends just as it did two years ago.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Facts

Who: De La Hoya vs. Chavez

When: Tonight, 6

Where: Las Vegas

TV: Pay-per-view

Tale of the Tape

Chavez

Age: 36

Weight: 144 1/2