GARDEN PATH

The last time he fought in New York City, Oscar De La Hoya, disenchanted with boxing and what he saw as a lack of acceptance in his Los Angeles Latino community, was mulling retirement.

But a smashing performance on Broadway re-energized De La Hoya, who stopped Jesse James Leija in two rounds before a crowd of 16,027 in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 15, 1995.

Now, in the wake of his first professional loss, De La Hoya has returned to Gotham, intent on recapturing some of that Golden Boy magic. And De La Hoya, who takes great pride in his Mexican American heritage, hopes to do that in the backyard of the fighter who tagged him with the defeat five months ago--Puerto Rican icon Felix Trinidad.

De La Hoya, who fights Derrel Coley (34-1-2, 24 knockouts) Saturday night for the International Boxing Assn. welterweight title at the Garden, admitted that he was wondering what type of reception he would receive from New York’s Latino fight fans. New York’s Latino population is made up mainly of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Cubans.

But just because a boxing fan is Puerto Rican does not mean that he’s automatically in Trinidad’s corner. Besides, De La Hoya is fighting Coley, not Trinidad, in Manhattan.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” said De La Hoya, 31-1 with 25 knockouts. “Especially with there being so many Puerto Ricans there, it’s a big concern. But there’s a lot of Mexicans there too. And a lot of Puerto Ricans I speak to are on my side. They say I won that fight [against Trinidad]. Hopefully, this fight is going to convert a lot of fans.”

One he won’t have to convert is Julio Pabon, owner and president of Latino Sports, a themed merchandise store and web site in the South Bronx.

“If there is such a thing as Trinidad territory, this is it,” Pabon said. “New York City is considered Puerto Rico’s second-biggest city. As Puerto Ricans, we respect people who respect us. Oscar respects us as Latinos, whether he’s Chicano or not.”

De La Hoya may never be as beloved by the Puerto Rican communities in the South Bronx and Spanish Harlem as Trinidad, who created a stir in Brooklyn when he attended a Three Kings Day parade there in January, but he is respected nonetheless.

“He’s fighting to vindicate himself and he chose to do so here,” Pabon said. “He could have fought anywhere in the Southwest. To fight here, that shows us respect.

“What’s unfortunate, though, is that his promoters minimized his impact at a grass-roots level with the Latinos here,” he added. “There’s not a lot of commotion in the streets like there could be. There’s really nothing going on here in the community. They just know that Oscar is going to fight here by reading the papers or seeing him on TV. If he came up here and talked to the kids, or just hit the streets, Oscar would see that the South Bronx is a lot like East L.A.”

Yet the madness that is Manhattan is awash in De La Hoya hype. Tuesday, he stopped by and talked up the fight and his mariachi music career with Star Jones and Lisa Ling on “The View”--he was the morning talk show’s second guest, behind Monica Lewinsky--and was scheduled to join a returning David Letterman later in the day.

They were the only public appearances scheduled for De La Hoya in the Big Apple.

“It was a good opportunity for him, choosing to fight in New York,” Pabon said. “But they squandered a great opportunity by not bringing him out to the streets at a grass-roots level. He is respected here.”

Surely, if Cuban dictator Fidel Castro could press the flesh in the South Bronx when he was in New York, then the Golden Boy could hop on the No. 2, 4 or 5 train, get off at the Hostos Community College stop and meet the masses, no?

Well, no, according to De La Hoya’s promoter, Bob Arum, who said that his fighter’s tight schedule didn’t allow for such appearances this time around. De La Hoya took a more private and serious approach for the fight against Coley, whose only loss was to Oba Carr on a 12-round decision on August 12, 1995. De La Hoya beat Carr on an 11th-round TKO on May 22, 1999.

“He visited a few schools a couple of years ago when he last fought here,” Arum said. “This close to a fight, you just can’t do it.”

De La Hoya agreed, though he wished he could have broken some stereotypes of his being aloof by hitting the neighborhoods.

“One day I will,” De La Hoya said, minutes after appearing on “The View.” “You just get bombarded by so many different people and things. But I just feel that there will be a time for everything, in time.”

Still, the South Bronx will be dotted with fight parties as De La Hoya’s Puerto Rican fans watch him try to redeem himself in their city, said Pabon, who will be at the fight.

“I feel at home here,” De La Hoya said. “I think I have a lot of Puerto Rican fans and it’s fun. They support me. It’s going to be an excellent crowd and it’s a different crowd here, a different vibe.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA

(31-1, 25 Kos Age 27)

vs.

DERREL COLEY

(34-1-2, 24 KOs, Age 29)

Saturday, Telecast begins 6 p.m.

HBO

Madison Square Garden, New York