De La Hoya’s Hand Injury Not Serious

Tests on Oscar De La Hoya’s left hand late Saturday night revealed nothing more than the sprained ligament initially diagnosed, an injury which is not expected to keep him from facing Felix Trinidad in their blockbuster showdown Sept. 18.

While Dr. Tony Daly was able to rule out a fracture after conducting an examination, he said he might put a cast on De La Hoya’s left hand Tuesday after the swelling subsides.

“The cast would be on for three weeks,” Daly said, “and then there would be three weeks of rehabilitation. That should still give him more than two months to prepare for the fight.”

De La Hoya suffered the injury in the second round of his World Boxing Council welterweight title defense against Oba Carr on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. An awkwardly thrown jab sprained a ligament at the base of De La Hoya’s left index finger.

However, the motion he uses to throw a left hook was not affected. It was a left hook that ended the fight, stopping Carr in the 11th round.