INSIDE THE ROPES WITH Sugar Ray

In 1987, Sugar Ray Leonard had the boxing world’s attention when he came back from a three-year retirement to fight Marvin Hagler for the World Boxing Council middleweight title. Leonard won a split decision in a memorable fight.

Saturday night, Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad, both unbeaten, will meet at Las Vegas in a blockbuster welterweight title fight. So who better to analyze the participants than Leonard, who won titles in five weight classes? His views on the fight, as told to The Times’ Steve Springer:

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This is going to be one of those fights where the palms are sweating and the heart rate is abnormal. And I’m not just talking about the fans at ringside or the guys in the corner. I’m talking about the fighters.

Oscar and Felix won’t show it because they are warriors and warriors don’t show what they are truly feeling. But it’s within. I know. I have been in those moments. Trust me, it’s unbelievable.

And it’s understandable. This is one of the most anticipated fights in a long time, in terms of two guys who have never met. It goes beyond [Mike] Tyson and [Evander] Holyfield because nobody considered Holyfield to be even a threat beforehand.

What you find here with Felix and Oscar are two guys who present to each othertheir most dangerous and formidable opponent. There is no question about that. This is one of those fights that comes along every 10 to 20 years, a fight, hopefully, people will still talk about five or 10 years from now.

If I was in Oscar’s corner before the first bell, I would tell him to keep his hands up, use lateral movement, make that jab work overtime, box Felix and pick his shots. The first round is always a dangerous round, and especially so with a fight of this significance.

I was on a plane with Oscar recently and he told me he wants to be aggressive and get it over quickly, but I can’t see that happening. Oscar always seems to need a round or two to find himself. But he has to stay relaxed while he does that.

Now if I was in Felix’s corner, I would also tell him to keep his hands up, not to reach and to use his jab. I would want to see him move ever closer to Oscar. I would want to see body shots. I would want to see him slow Oscar down with his left hook. That is a thing of destruction and I would want to see it working overtime. That’s the punch that most benefits Felix. It’s incredible.

Both guys may come out tight. A fighter can eliminate that if he is able to to nail his opponent in the first round. Then all his nerves go out the window and, all of a sudden, he’s King Kong.

The best way to look at this fight is to break it down by category.

* Speed: Oscar has the edge in hand speed, but what you also must understand is that accuracy is just as important as speed and that’s where Felix comes in. He gets through with very accurate punches. Watch him when he fights and you’ll see the way he goes to the body with conviction. Very few fighters do that.

* Power: Oscar’s punches are big time, but I think Felix gets a little more leverage with his punches, more torque, more twist.

* Defense: I would give the edge to Oscar. He can give you lateral movement, upper-body movement and can prove to be very elusive.

But Oscar is vulnerable when he gets into exchanges that aren’t necessary. He could neutralize the playing field with his defensive ability. But he didn’t do that against Ike Quartey. Oscar hit Quartey and stayed in there, instead of just hitting and getting away. I used to do the same thing. I was so fast that I would throw a series of combinations and then just stay there to observe my work. Learning to get out of there comes with experience.

* Mental toughness: I think there is more pressure on Oscar to win because he is the favorite. He has the marquee name and is expected to win. But Oscar wants to win so bad that he won’t let the pressure get in the way. I’ve played basketball and tennis with Oscar and I saw how badly he wanted to beat me in those sports. He didn’t, but he wanted to.

I also don’t see Felix choking by letting the pressure get to him because he is too poised a fighter to allow anything like that to enter into his head. He is aware that, if he upsets Oscar, he is the man in boxing, even without speaking English well enough to communicate with much of the media.

Just think of the big picture. This one is the fight that will take the winner to the next level. The fighters know there is nothing else out there like this. They know that a win will give them the stamp of approval from the world.

Both men also know that a loss would be horrendous. You cannot even come close to imagining what it would be like. A loss will mean suffering a huge loss of pride. But, with guys like this, they will not stay down mentally too long. Either of them will be able to handle defeat and come back up.

* Chin: They have both been down, but they get up. That’s all that matters. That’s what defines a great champion.

Next comes the question of what each guy must do to stop the other. Oscar must find a way to break Felix’s rhythm. It won’t be easy. One way might be to break his spirit. That’s what I tried to do throughout my career, frustrating the opposition by utilizing my hand speed and making the other guy miss.

Oscar has to try to outscore Felix, stick him, throw a lot of punches and not let Felix land the big blows. What Felix has to do is to not let Oscar get off. Felix does that one way. He goes right at you.

What have boxing fans seen Felix do differently? Nothing. He goes in and takes you out. What have they seen Oscar do? Box, punch and counterpunch. Felix will hop on Oscar in Round 1 and try to stop him from getting off his punches. If Oscar gets into an exchange with Felix, Felix will get what he wants. If that happens, I would suggest to Oscar to try to get a different flow.

So now, the ultimate question: Who will win?

These are two great young fighters, each of whom is certainly capable of beating the other. I think it could come down to the later rounds, maybe even the 10th and 11th, when they are both tired. Then it will be a matter of who wants it the most.

It won’t be a decision. Someone will be stopped. The victor will be the one who sticks to his game plan and doesn’t deviate from what has made him successful. Because both men are capable of knocking the other one out, it will come down to the mental, even spiritual. It will come down to what’s up in the head and what’s down in the heart.

The only time I pick a winner is when I’m fighting. This is a pick-’em fight, although I would give Oscar a little bit of an edge.

At this juncture, because of nerves, with the anticipation, with the reality that every day they get closer to the biggest fight of their lives, there is no way Oscar and Felix can even think about taking time to enjoy the greatest time in their lives.

I didn’t appreciate it at the time. I was in the forest. I couldn’t see the trees. I was busy keeping this machine, my body, going.

You can’t reflect until you are able to step back and hold a son or daughter or a grandchild 20 years later and say, “Wow!” That is perspective.

The beauty for me is where I am now [at 43]. I can see it. I see where these young men are going, or trying to go, having been there myself. I think about the company I was in. When you are in an event like this, not just a fight but an event, you are involved with a great warrior like yourself. You have joined an elite group.

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Oscar De La Hoya

Facts

* Born: Feb. 4, 1973

* Height: 5-10

* Reach: 73 inches

* Hometown: Montebello

* Record: 31-0

* Knockouts: 25

* Titles: WBC welterweight champion; former WBC super-lightweight champion; former IBF lightweight champion; Former WBO lightweight champion; 1992 Olympic gold medalist

* Trainers: Roberto Alcazar, Gil Clancy

LAST FIVE FIGHTS

* May 22, 1999: Stopped Oba Carr in the 11th round to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* Feb. 13, 1999: Won a 12-round split decision over Ike Quartey to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* Sept. 18, 1998: Stopped Julio Cesar Chavez after the eighth round to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* June 13, 1998: Stopped Patrick Charpentier in the third round to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* Dec. 6, 1997: stopped Wilfredo Rivera in the eighth round to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

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Felix Trinidad

Facts

* Born: Jan. 10, 1973

* Height: 5-11

* Reach: 70 inches

* Hometown: Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico

* Record: 35-0

* Knockouts: 30

* Division: Welterweight

* Titles: IBF welterweight

champion

* Trainer: Felix Trinidad Sr.

LAST FIVE FIGHTS

* May 29, 1999: Knocked out Hugo Pineda in the fourth round to retain the IBF welterweight championship.

* Feb. 20, 1999: Won a 12-round unanimous decision over Pernell Whitaker to retain the IBF welterweight championship.

* April 3, 1998: Knocked out Mahenge Zulu in the fourth round to retain the IBF welterweight championship.

* Aug. 23, 1997: Knocked out Troy Waters in the first round.

* Jan. 11, 1997: Stopped Kevin Lueshing in the third round.