Now De La Hoya May Say ‘No Mas’

His golden imaged tarnished, his pride hurt, his status as L.A.’s best fighter gone, his humiliation at losing the richest fight staged in his hometown to Shane Mosley evident, his precious welterweight title belts on someone else’s waist, his right eye swollen half-shut, Oscar De La Hoya, bitterness and anger in his voice, said late Saturday night at Staples Center that he is seriously contemplating retirement.

He denigrated himself for not getting a knockout, expressed disgust at his sport in general, said he feels he can no longer depend on judges to give him a fair decision and lashed out at unnamed perpetrators of some mysterious plot to deny him a victory in order to set up a rematch.

“I’m going to rethink my career,” said De La Hoya, who has now lost two of his last three fights, “including retirement. I’m going to rethink my whole game plan of life.

“I’m still a very hungry fighter, but boxing turns me off right now. If I’m not getting a knockout, I’m not getting a win. That’s tough to live with. With what goes on in boxing, I don’t feel I can continue on like this.”

His promoter, Bob Arum, said that, if asked by De La Hoya, he will advise the fighter to walk away at age 27 from the sport that has made him a multimillionaire, the most popular fighter on the planet and the most visible role model for this nation’s Hispanic community.

Arum said that, as of Saturday night, it was better than 50-50 that De La Hoya would retire.

“He may never, ever, ever fight again,” Arum said. “If he asks my advice, I’ll tell him to quit, because he may never, ever be able to win a close decision again. He can become a singer, a actor. He doesn’t need this. This is not a nice sport.”

That’s right. Bob Arum, who has become a multimillionaire himself in boxing, now says it is “not a nice sport.”

But don’t schedule that retirement dinner for De La Hoya just yet. He has been known to change his mind. Sometimes in the same conversation.

He certainly underwent a dramatic change Saturday night.

After losing a split decision to Mosley for the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Assn. welterweight titles in a well-fought battle staged in front of an enthusiastic Staples Center sellout crowd of 20,744, De La Hoya seemed hungry for more.

“Every great fight has a rematch,” he said while still in the ring.

Indeed, a rematch was already guaranteed. Mosley had to agree to it before De La Hoya would agree to fight him in the first place.

As Arum and a roomful of reporters waited for De La Hoya to appear at a postfight news conference, Arum talked enthusiastically about the rematch. He expected it to be held in November, either in Las Vegas or back at Staples.

One source said that Mosley and his promoter, Cedric Kushner, had agreed to $12 million for the fight. De La Hoya would presumably get as much or more.

But then De La Hoya entered the room and all plans were put on hold.

“Something happened in that dressing room before he came in here,” Arum said after De La Hoya’s talk of retirement. “He was in there with family and friends and there was a feeling of disgust.”

Presumably that would mean his father, Joel De La Hoya Sr., was in favor of Oscar’s decision to consider retirement, because his father is the most dominant figure in Oscar’s life.

In the early stages of his professional career, after he had won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, De La Hoya talked about getting out of boxing by 26 or 27 and pursuing the dream of becoming an architect, or an actor. But such talk faded as De La Hoya became the biggest money maker among non-heavyweights in boxing history.

He was at the peak of his game last September when he took on Felix Trinidad in the first non-heavyweight match to exceed one million pay-per-view buys.

And even after losing on a majority decision to Trinidad, De La Hoya remained intense about continuing his career.

He publicly campaigned for a rematch with Trinidad and, when that didn’t happen, enthusiastically took on Mosley in what was labeled “The Battle of L.A.” because De La Hoya is from East L.A. and Mosley from Pomona.

It is ironic that De La Hoya, wanting only revenge after being robbed in the opinion of many against Trinidad, now talks about possible retirement after losing a fight to Mosley on a decision the majority of ringsiders agreed was fair.

De La Hoya tried to be gracious to Mosley.

“He deserved to win,” De La Hoya said. “He is a good champion. I have no problem with him winning.”

But he did have a problem, speaking in conspiratorial tones about a dark plot to guarantee a rematch.

“I feel I won by maybe one point,” De La Hoya said. “At least make it a draw. Don’t take it away from me like that. I don’t feel it’s justice.”

Trying to outbox Trinidad, De La Hoya had run from the Puerto Rican fighter over the final three rounds. So, he announced, he would go for a knockout this time. And he stuck to that strategy even when it became obvious the quicker Mosley couldn’t be caught.

“It was a no-win situation for me,” De La Hoya said. “What happened if I did box? I do not get the decisions, do I?”

Judges Lou Filippo (116-112) and Pat Russell (115-113) both gave Mosley the victory. Judge Marty Sammon (115-113) had De La Hoya winning.

The Associated Press scored it 116-112 for Mosley. Two of the three reporters scoring for The Times had Mosley winning with a third calling the fight a draw.

When Arum was asked the logic in theorizing that the judges somehow conspired to set up a rematch, since it would be the promoters, not the judges, who would benefit from a rematch, Arum angrily replied, “I don’t know. Ask Oscar. He said it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Corrected Scorecard

Judge Marty Sammon’s round-by-round scores were incorrect in Sunday’s editions. The correct scores:

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Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Mosley 10 9 9 10 9 9 9 10 9 10 9 10 113 De La Hoya 9 10 10 9 10 10 10 9 10 9 10 9 115

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