Oscar Puts Brakes to Carr

It was only one of 249 jabs thrown by Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday night.

But it totally changed the nature of his World Boxing Council welterweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

And it threw a shadow over the anticipated blockbuster matchup against Felix Trinidad on Sept. 18.

De La Hoya sprained a ligament at the base of the index finger on his left hand, according to physician Tony Daly, with a jab thrown in the second round.

After knocking down Oba Carr and dominating his opponent in the first round, De La Hoya struggled at times from the second round on before going on to score an 11-round TKO over Carr, putting him down with a short left hook to end the fight.

Afterward, De La Hoya mysteriously referred to “a personal problem,” before disappearing to get the hand looked at and a cut under his left eye sewn up.

When trainer Gil Clancy was questioned further about the injury, he responded with agitation in his voice, “He hurt his left hand. If you don’t believe it, I can’t help you.”

Some of the confusion stemmed from the fact that De La Hoya continued to use his left hand after suffering the injury to score repeatedly with hooks.

“Certain punches bothered him and certain punches didn’t,” Daly said. “I asked him, ‘How were you able to knock him out with your left hand?’ He said, ‘It didn’t bother me to throw the hook.’ ”

De La Hoya had promised before the fight that he would be throwing hooks, jabs, straight right hands and everything else in his arsenal, showing the world the “new Oscar,” the Oscar that came out in the 12th and final round against Ike Quartey in February and dominated his opponent after fighting cautiously and hesitantly for much of the previous 11 rounds.

And indeed, De La Hoya delivered on his promise in the first round Saturday night. He came out swinging, looking as if he had only taken three-minute break after the last round against Quartey, rather than three months.

With the “Let’s get ready to rumble” by ring announcer Michael Buffer still ringing in his ears, De La Hoya was more than ready.

With 1:40 remaining in the first round, De La Hoya delivered a stinging left jab that rocked Carr, putting him on unsteady feet.

With 1:27 to go, De La Hoya floored Carr with a left uppercut.

When the round ended, De La Hoya stared at his opponent with disdain before heading to his corner.

The end didn’t seem far off for Carr (48-3-1, 28 knockouts), whose only previous losses had come at the hands of Trinidad and Quartey.

But then, in the second round, the new Oscar turned into the old Oscar. He backed off and let Carr steady his shaky legs, get back into the fight and actually win the round, according to all three judges.

Daly, who said the injury is not uncommon among fighters, believes it occurred when De La Hoya dipped his left hand too much on a jab, stretching the ligament.

Whatever happened, it took De La Hoya several rounds to adjust.

In the sixth round, De La Hoya again rocked Carr.

And in the seventh, Carr’s chances of victory seemed to be reduced to only the unlikely chance of a knockout when referee Richard Steele deducted two points from Carr’s score, a rare occurrence. One point was taken away because of an obvious head butt that opened the gash under De La Hoya’s left eye. The other point was subtracted because of a low blow. Although Carr had already been warned twice, it seemed a curious decision because the blow didn’t do any obvious damage to De La Hoya.

By the ninth round, the crowd of 11,528, unaware of De La Hoya’s injury, but dissatisfied by the lack of action, began to rain boos on the heavy favorite.

But in the 11th, those boos changed to cheers when De La Hoya ended the fight suddenly and dramatically.

Avoiding a left by Carr, De La Hoya answered with a left of his own that caught Carr on the lower right side of his face at the base of the neck, sending him to the canvas.

Carr barely beat the count to get to his feet, but when Steele motioned for the Detroit native to come forward, Carr didn’t respond.

Again Steele motioned. Again Carr didn’t respond, ending the fight at the 55-second mark.

De La Hoya was ahead on all three scorecards at the time the fight was stopped, by a margin ranging from three to seven points.

“I dropped my right hand,” Carr said. “It was a good punch. I just kept moving my feet. I was disappointed when the ref stopped the fight, but he’s the boss. I think I felt well enough. I could have fought on.

“I was gaining confidence as the fight went on. My confidence or strength wasn’t the issue. He just got me with the right shot. That was the issue.”

So was Carr surprised to learn that De La Hoya had fought with a damaged left hand?

“Obviously there wasn’t a shortage with the left hand,” Carr said. “That’s what he knocked me out with.”

And Carr was the first to admit a rematch wouldn’t be much different.

“This is the best I think I could do,” he said.

The best was enough to impress De La Hoya.

“He can really take a punch,” De La Hoya said. “He was rough.”

Before he left for medical treatment, De La Hoya (31-0 with 25 knockouts) made a quick segue to turn from fighter to promoter.

“I want the Felix Trinidad fight,” he said. “The fans want the Felix Trinidad fight. It will be the fight of the century.”

But a few things have to happen first.

Not the least of which is the healing of a ligament in De La Hoya’s left hand.