Pound for Pound, Oscar Has an Edge

Oscar De La Hoya, scheduled to fight Derrell Coley tonight in a welterweight match at Madison Square Garden, was a pound over the 147-pound limit at the Friday weigh-in, according to Coley and his handlers.

“He weighed 148 and he knows it,” Coley said.

That was disputed by Melville Southard, chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.

“As far as I know, there was air between the 147 [mark] and the top [of the scale],” Southard said. “There is no controversy in my mind, no favoritism. The only favoritism is that we got this great fight for New York.”

Said Barry Linde, Coley’s manager, “What in the hell can I do? [The commissioners] don’t seem to want to deal with it. Hopefully, this is the last bonus Oscar gets.”

Coley weighed an even, undisputed 147 pounds.

WEIGHTY NEGOTIATIONS

Promoters Bob Arum and Don King met here Thursday night to work on a Felix Trinidad-De La Hoya rematch, agreeing on a 50-50 split of around $40 million for the fighters. Trinidad defeated De La Hoya on a decision last September.

Still to be resolved is the weight of the fighters and the site.

But even if those details can be settled, even if Trinidad’s father, Felix Sr., his manager-trainer, signs on, there is no guarantee the fight will happen.

“The final decision will be made by Oscar,” Arum said. “There is some interest on his part and those around him to fight Shane Mosley at the Staples Center instead.”

If details of a De La Hoya-Mosley fight could be worked out, it would be tremendous for L.A. But it might not be so good for De La Hoya, since it would almost certainly revive cries of “Chicken De La Hoya.”

After making a big deal of fighting Trinidad again, after calling The Times to publicly challenge Trinidad, De La Hoya would lose face if he turned down a second fight with everything in place.

According to the plan under discussion, De La Hoya and Trinidad would fight June 10 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, with a third fight, if necessary, at Mandalay Bay.

With Trinidad refusing to fight at 147 pounds and De La Hoya refusing to move up, the fight might be held at a neutral weight of 151 pounds. But if Trinidad defeats David Reid Friday at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace for Reid’s 154-pound World Boxing Assn., super-welterweight title, Trinidad’s fight against De La Hoya could be for the 154-pound title, even if both men come in three pounds under.

ARUM-KING OR EINSTEIN-FREUD?

Seth Abraham, president of Time Warner Sports, sat in on the Arum-King talks Thursday night, coming away with great admiration for the sports’ promoting giants.

“To see how their minds work was like watching [Albert] Einstein and [Sigmund] Freud,” Abraham said.

Those who feel more comfortable substituting P.T. Barnum and Attila the Hun, feel free to do so.

“They have such nimble minds,” said Abraham of Arum and King, “that it is amazing to see them work without calculators. When they are not wasting their time insulting each other, they can be so productive in the fights that can be made.”

LINE OF THE WEEK

Linde is still incensed at Coley’s promoter, Dan Goossen, believing Goossen failed to pursue tonight’s match against De La Hoya until he was forced to by the entry of Arum into the negotiations. Linde thinks Goossen was following King’s advice. Goossen insists he was acting in his fighter’s best interest.

So when Linde was introduced at Wednesday’s news conference at Madison Square Garden, he said, “I wish to thank my promoter, Dan King.”

A NEW GENERATION

HBO is inaugurating a new boxing series, to be shown on Saturday afternoons and geared to those 18-24.

According to Abraham, only 3% of males that age watch boxing.

With De La Hoya as the analyst, Ed Lover of L.A. station KKBT-FM serving as host and New York sports anchor Fran Charles doing the blow-by-blow, HBO hopes to attract a younger crowd with the series, to be called “KO Nation.”

The telecasts, six this year and six next year, will emanate from college campuses with lower ticket prices to accommodate the anticipated audience.

De La Hoya has not only committed to the telecasts, which he says he can balance with his fight schedule, but also has agreed to put on boxing clinics on campuses the morning of the fights.

“If we don’t find ways to appeal to this audience, we won’t have an audience in the future,” Abraham said. “Those percentages are ghastly.

“These fights will be for younger fighters, for the fighters coming out of this year’s Olympics and for fighters who lose and need a comeback.”

SHORT JABS

The semi-main event on tonight’s card at Madison Square Garden will be a 10-round junior-welterweight match between Arturo Gatti (30-4, 25 knockouts) and Joey Gamache (55-3, 38 knockouts). It figures to be a brawl. Also on the card will be a pair of L.A. fighters. Local heavyweight Lamon Brewster (22-0, 20 knockouts) will fight Richard Mason (23-8-1, 16 knockouts) in a 10-round match. And Mia St. John (15-0, nine knockouts) will fight Kristen Allan (3-0, three knockouts) in a four-round women’s match.

Out again: If Julio Cesar Chavez could move as craftily in the ring at 37 as he does outside it, he might still be competitive. Chavez, scheduled to fight on the undercard of the Trinidad-Reid bout, has withdrawn for the second time, citing an ankle injury. The real reason, say those handling the fight, is the same as the first time he pulled out a week ago: He wants more money.

Reid, Chavez, WBA middleweight champion William Joppy and Christy Martin will have a public workout Monday at 11:30 a.m. at the L.A. Boxing Club, 333 W. Washington Blvd., next to the Olympic Auditorium.