L.A. Needs a Knockout Performance

There is nothing much riding on next Saturday’s Oscar De La Hoya-Shane Mosley welterweight megafight at Staples Center.

Other than perhaps the future of big-time boxing in Los Angeles.

Any hope that this upcoming boxing week--five Southern California shows in three days--can be a preview of the future as well as a brief reminder of the area’s glorious boxing past will ride on what happens when De La Hoya and Mosley finally meet somewhere between 8:15 and 8:45.

L.A. doesn’t just need a big fight, it needs a great fight. It has already suffered from the shortsightedness of the promoters, who chose to stage this fight this week despite the fact they knew the Lakers figured to be playing in the NBA finals. For those who don’t live in this city, it may be hard to imagine how all-encompassing the Lakers become in a week like this. Nothing else in the world of sports seems to matter locally.

But what the fight will lose in advance publicity, it can easily regain in the ring.

To do so, this fight needs to have furious action, dramatic knockdowns and a decisive, explosive finish.

It needs all that to lure back fans turned off by a series of mismatches, bad decisions and poor performances.

It also needs De La Hoya to follow up on his promise to go for a knockout in each of his four fights this year.

The last thing this fight needs is for De La Hoya to revert to the running, noncombative style he employed in the final three rounds of his last big fight, last September against Felix Trinidad, rounds that ultimately cost De La Hoya the decision.

But if the tarnished Golden Boy, De La Hoya, indeed comes to fight, and if Mosley can match De La Hoya’s speed and power, Saturday might prove to be the springboard for a new golden age of boxing in this city.

It has taken a long time to bring boxing on a big scale back to a wary public. Give them another poor performance, bad decision or controversial conclusion and they’ll be off to the myriad other entertainment venues in this town, wondering why in the world they allowed themselves to be sucked in once again.

GOLDEN BOY SPARKS REVIVAL OF A GOLDEN AGE

Half a century ago, boxing flourished in this town. There were weekly shows on Tuesdays at Ocean Park Arena, Thursdays at the Olympic Auditorium and Saturdays at Hollywood Legion Stadium.

For those who mourn the passing of that era, the week ahead offers an all-too-brief taste of those glory years.

De La Hoya-Mosley has become a magnet, drawing promoters, managers and fighters hoping to benefit from the spotlight.

The week ahead:

* Thursday night at the Universal Amphitheater, beginning at 7:15: Headlining this card will be Laila Ali (6-0, six knockouts), daughter of three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Her opponent, as if it matters, for a six-round fight will be Marjorie Jones (2-4-1, two KOs).

There will also be two quality fights on the card. Oba Carr (50-3-1, 30), a perennial welterweight contender, will take on Juan Soberanes (44-24-2, 32) in a 10-round bout. And Carlos Navarro (21-1, 16) will defend his International Boxing Assn. Continental junior-lightweight crown against Nestor Lopez (19-6-2, 15).

* Friday night at Fantasy Springs Casino, beginning at 7: IBA junior-welterweight titleholder Antonio Diaz (33-2, 24) will face challenger Omar Weiss (33-1, 16) of Argentina.

There will also be a battle for the vacant North American Boxing Organization welterweight title between David Kamau (30-3, 22) and Antonio Margarito (22-3, 14).

* Friday at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, beginning at 7: In the main event, junior middleweight Tito Mendoza (19-3, 15), coming off a knockout of James Coker, the World Boxing Council’s top-ranked middleweight, will take on Eduardo Gutierrez (29-8-2, 22) in a 10-round match.

* Saturday at the Bicycle Casino, beginning at noon: WBC lightweight champion Stevie Johnston (30-1, 15) will defend against Jose Luis Castillo (40-4, 37).

Also IBA bantamweight titleholder Jorge Lacierva (15-3-3, 10) will fight Carlos Hernandez (14-5-2, 5) in a 10-round non-title match.

And two highly regarded amateurs--junior lightweight Marshall Martinez (143-19) of Fontana and featherweight Steven Luevano (189-16) of La Puente--will make their pro debuts. Luevano has won 11 amateur titles, Martinez nine.

* Saturday night at Staples Center is the centerpiece, beginning at 5 p.m. with the pay-per-view on TKO starting at 6. Along with De La Hoya-Mosley, there will be a second title fight, matching IBA junior-lightweight champion Diego Corrales (31-0, 25) against Justin Juuko (34-3-1, 25) of Uganda.

Erik Morales (36-0, 28), moving up to featherweight, takes on Mike Juarez (22-8-1, 9) in a 10-round bout.

Also on the card will be welterweight Shannon Taylor (26-0, 17), a possible future opponent for the winner of De La Hoya-Mosley. Taylor will face Charles Whittaker (17-8, 11) in a 10-round match.

And of course, no big Top Rank show would be complete without Beauty and the Beast, Mia St. John and Butterbean, both of whom will be in action, such as it is.

QUICK JABS

Showtime’s “Heavy Hitters Month” took a heavy blow when former three-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield had to bow out of his scheduled match against John Ruiz tonight in Las Vegas because of an injured rib.

The cable network had hoped to offer four consecutive weeks of big-name heavyweights, beginning with David Tua’s victory over Obed Sullivan last week.

But the Showtime schedule will resume next Friday when Andrew Golota faces Orlin Norris at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay with the telecast to be shown delayed at 11 p.m.

Then, on June 24, the star of the Showtime stable, Mike Tyson, will take on Lou Savarese in Glasgow, Scotland, assuming Tyson can behave himself until then.