Looking Good

It was an image problem seemingly beyond damage control.

Here was Oscar De La Hoya, supposedly the pride of East Los Angeles, starting an international tour to promote his biggest fight, his match against Julio Cesar Chavez in 1996.

And in the heart of his hometown, in the Olympic Auditorium, the cradle of boxing in L.A., De La Hoya was being greeted by boos, largely from the Mexican Americans in the audience.

The conquering hero had come home to a rebellion.

Even that master spin doctor, promoter Bob Arum, couldn’t put a positive twist on that reception.

Chavez smirked.

“That wouldn’t happen to me,” he said, referring to his own countrymen back in Mexico.

On the surface, the resentment seemed illogical. In one corner was De La Hoya, a good-looking, articulate role model with the talent to be a dominant figure in boxing. In the other was Chavez, apparently a far better fighter than he was a human being. A legendary figure in the ring, Chavez reportedly was something far less outside, where stories of domestic and alcohol abuse and tax problems had left him with the kind of image sponsors run from.

But Chavez, not De La Hoya, was the favorite on both sides of the border.

Arum thinks the problem was that De La Hoya spent the early part of his career knocking one Mexican American boxing hero after another off his pedestal.

“It was something Oscar had to work through,” Arum said. “He couldn’t avoid it. The fact is, all of his significant opponents in the early years were Mexican Americans or Mexicans who had a big fan base. Fighters like Chavez and [Rafael] Ruelas were big in the L.A. market. But I knew that the Hispanics would rally to Oscar, once he defeated those fighters and fought non-Mexican Americans.”

De La Hoya had his own explanations for the hostility.

“I don’t look like a fighter,” he said, referring to his smooth, scar-free face. “And I don’t think many of the men liked the fact that the women liked me so much.”

Fast-forward three years.

Chavez, Ruelas and another L.A. favorite, Genaro Hernandez, are notches on De La Hoya’s gun. The only place De La Hoya is booed now is in Puerto Rico. And that’s because the native son of that commonwealth, Felix Trinidad, will be fighting De La Hoya on Saturday in the richest non-heavyweight bout in history, a welterweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Everywhere else, De La Hoya seems to have won over most of his critics. He is a champion in the ring and the undisputed boxing champion in terms of endorsements. He will earn a guaranteed $21 million in Saturday’s fight, believed to be a record, and the fight is expected to get, according to some projections, a million pay-per-view buys, which would be a record for non-heavyweights.

So how did De La Hoya become the hottest property in boxing? How did he put the boos and barbs behind him and turn on boxing fans who had been turned off by the outrages of Mike Tyson and the charges of corruption against Don King?

“Arum has done a brilliant job with Oscar,” said Larry Merchant, HBO boxing analyst. “He took a kid with the name De La Hoya, a kid with an obvious Mexican heritage, and made sure everybody knew that he was American. Arum spoke openly that [De La Hoya] was a crossover talent, the implication being that this is an ethnic sport where people follow the athletes in their own group.

“When the perception was that Mexican fans didn’t love Oscar, Arum started to promote him in an ethnic way, to appeal to his ethnicity.

“Then, when Arum had done as much as he thought he could in that area, he went back to the middle ground, back to where Oscar had really been all along as a Mexican American. Arum had to go back to sell Oscar to American sponsors. You can’t make him too ethnic if you want to do that.”

Just as De La Hoya’s timing in the ring is a key to his success, his timing in arriving on the national scene was a key to his commercial success. With a growing population coupled with a growing awareness of their economic power, Latinos have finally become a force. A force in need of heroes.

Enter De La Hoya.

“I wasn’t knowledgeable about the Hispanics,” Arum conceded, referring to the months after the ’92 Olympics when he became involved with De La Hoya. “I didn’t realize how vast they were. I didn’t appreciate it until I got rolling. I didn’t appreciate the added benefit of being Hispanic. I looked at [Oscar] as just another fighter.”

The light went on over Arum’s head less than a year into his relationship with De La Hoya.

“I realized the way to extend the market was to make inroads into the Hispanic community,” Arum said. “It was extremely difficult to get the commercial endorsements at first. The first deals were made with the Hispanic departments of major companies. Then, as Oscar’s career continued, they realized how popular he was and he moved into general endorsements as no other fighter has.”

And peaking at the perfect moment.

“This is the right time to be successful for a Latino,” said HBO Vice President Lou DiBella. “Oscar is good-looking, well-spoken, polite and a good kid. He’s also a heartthrob. He’s got a lot going for him.”

And he plans to use it.

“I want to make a name for us Hispanics all over the world,” De La Hoya said.

And for the opportunity to do so, he thanks Arum.

“No promoter is better at marketing, promoting and exposing a fighter to the world,” De La Hoya said. “Let’s take Felix Trinidad, who hasn’t had anywhere near the marketing success I have. Why? Because he is not with Bob Arum. Arum has lifted my career to a higher level.”

But De La Hoya also understands how to make friends and influence people. DiBella remembers one occasion when, after waiting and waiting for De La Hoya to finish signing autographs, the television executive finally told De La Hoya he had done enough.

“You, of all people, should know this is really my job,” De La Hoya said. “This is what my job is all about.”

Arum’s strategy for his fighter was two-pronged. Expose De La Hoya to the public as much as possible, but don’t expose him to any danger in the ring.

“Once De La Hoya became a popular TV attraction, he could call the shots,” Merchant said. “Both Hernandez and [James] Leija had to agree to come up in weight to fight De La Hoya, which was, of course, more advantageous to him.”

Arum let De La Hoya fight the likes of Chavez and Pernell Whitaker only when they were on the downside of their careers. Under Arum, the 26-year-old De La Hoya, 31-0 with 25 knockouts, has earned nearly $100 million without having had to fight a major talent in his prime until he met, and beat, Ike Quartey in February on a split decision.

“With such a golden goose, Arum delayed the process as long as possible,” Merchant said. “If it was up to Arum, De La Hoya would not have fought anybody more dangerous than Oba Carr and an old Chavez. From a business point of view, why take risks? That’s the way a businessman thinks. To Oscar’s credit, he stepped in and said, ‘I want to fight these guys.’ ”

DiBella thinks that Arum, who has promoted some of the biggest names in boxing in his Hall of Fame career, has done his most memorable work with De La Hoya.

“When people remember Don King as a promoter, they will think of Mike Tyson,” DiBella said. “When they remember Arum, they will think of Oscar De La Hoya.”

Common Ground

How Oscar De La Hoya (31-0, 25 knockouts) and Felix Trinidad (35-0, 30 knockouts) have fared against common opponents:

OBA CARR

* De La Hoya: Stopped Carr in 11th round on May 22, 1999, to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* Trinidad: Stopped Carr in eighth round on Dec. 10, 1994.

HECTOR CAMACHO

* De La Hoya: Won 12-round unanimous decision on Sept. 13, 1994, to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

* Trinidad: Won 12-round decision on Jan. 29, 1994.

PERNELL WHITAKER

* De La Hoya: Won 12-round unanimous decision on April 12, 1997, to take the WBC welterweight championship.

* Trinidad: Won 12-round unanimous decision on Feb. 20, 1999, to retain IBF welterweight championship.