With Oscar De La Hoya

At age 27, Oscar De La Hoya stands at a crossroads in his life.

There are paths to choose, decisions to make and battles to be fought, both in and out of the ring.

Yet for all the recent tarnish on his Golden Boy image, the four-time champion believes he is about to begin a new golden era in his life.

After a three-month hiatus from boxing following two losses in three fights, and with an ongoing court battle to change promoters, De La Hoya is also poised to switch trainers, return to the gym in November, fight a tuneup match in January and then sign for a rematch next May against Shane Mosley, who beat him in June.

And with all that, De La Hoya is also about to launch a singing career with the release of a 13-song CD, entitled simply “Oscar De La Hoya,” on Oct. 10.

On Wednesday, he sat down in East Los Angeles to talk about the frustrations of the past, including the bad oyster that may have cost him his title, and his hopes for the future.

Question: You announced last month that you were terminating your contract with promoter Bob Arum after eight years and announced this week that Jerry Perenchio, CEO of the Univision television network, would be your new promoter. Arum charges that Perenchio has been plotting this for the last six years. Is that true?

Answer: After I declared my free agency, we were exploring our options as to who we were going to choose as a promoter. That’s when Jerry Perenchio got involved. I never discussed anything with him prior to that. I don’t know how Bob got that idea. It just doesn’t make sense.

Q: In the eight years Arum was with you, he made you more than $125 million in the ring and millions more in endorsements. Shouldn’t you show some gratitude for that?

A: I recognize it and I am very grateful and thankful. I have nothing bad to say about Bob whatsoever. I have made him a lot of money and he’s made me a lot of money. Bob Arum has been great for me for eight years. I have never disrespected his family. I have never disrespected him.

All I want to do now is explore my options, see if I can take it to the next level. Whether it works or not, it’s just that, before I retire from boxing, I want to say I tried it on my own without Bob, just to satisfy myself.

Q: You say, try it without Bob. What was wrong with the arrangement you had with Arum?

A: There was nothing wrong with that arrangement. I just want to try to do my own promotion with a powerhouse like Perenchio. The relationship I have with Jerry Perenchio is really a special one. He is not doing it for the money because he doesn’t need the money. He promoted the [1971 Joe]Frazier-Muhammad Ali fight in [Madison Square] Garden which generated money unheard of in those days. He holds records in tennis for audiences that he brought into stadiums. But most importantly, there’s a great connection between us because every time I visit him in his office or go to his home, we talk about a lot of things beyond business or boxing. I’m looking forward to extending our relationship over the years, and hopefully for the rest of my life. This man, from what I feel, really cares. Jerry and I are going to show the world how boxing should be promoted.

Q: What role will Univision, a Spanish-language network, play?

A: Univision is a strong network here in the United States to target the Hispanic market and to make sure that every person in this nation and around the world knows that I’m fighting on a certain day. But I’m not fighting on Univision. I still have a contract with HBO which I’m honoring, of course.

Q: Could you give us an example of something different you would do with Perenchio?

A: Well, for example, the Super Bowl is always on a Sunday afternoon. Big events are on Sundays. Why are my fights always on Saturday night? Why not have one on a Sunday afternoon, make it an event and have families get together to watch? We are going to break away from tradition.

Q: Any other reason why you split from Arum?

A: When we ask for documents of pay-per-view numbers, of money from international rights that should be coming in, and we don’t get it until months and years later, then there is something wrong. It is not a straight business that Bob is running. A business that is run correctly should have the proper numbers available in legal form. That’s the way a business is run. My offices here in L.A. are run properly and very professional. I’m not saying that Bob is not professional, but it shouldn’t be taking years to receive documents on money I’m generating from my fights. Now I’m not saying he didn’t pay me enough money or that he was hiding money from me. I’m not saying that at all.

Q: You sued Arum to get out of the contract. Now, he has sued Perenchio. Did you anticipate this would wind up in court?

A: I didn’t want it to turn into a legal battle. I’m still hoping that it doesn’t. I have nothing against Bob. Right now in boxing, he’s the best promoter out there.

Q: Arum has had some harsh things to say about you in recent weeks. Has that surprised and hurt you?

A: It doesn’t hurt me, but it does surprise me. A man like Bob making these negative statements confuses me because we’ve been together a long time. We are good friends. Hearing this, it makes me wonder, did he really look out for me or was he out there just to use me and make a quick dollar?

I would have thought it would be a peaceful breakup. I would have thought Bob would say, “OK, if you want to explore your options and go a different route, that’s fine. No problem. If it doesn’t work, you can come back to me.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

Q: One of his charges is that you accepted a $230,000 Ferrari from him when you knew you were leaving. Is that accurate?

A: That was part of the negotiations (for the Mosley fight). It was part of the purse. Either he would pay me the total cash amount or you take away what the car was worth. It was either taking the cash or taking the car and I just wanted the car. It wasn’t a gift.

Q: If a judge were to rule that your contract with Arum was unbreakable, could you work with him again after all this?

A: First of all, we strongly feel the contract is not valid under certain laws in California and my team feels very strongly about that.

But if it was said I have to stay with Bob, I would honor that because I do want to step back into the ring. I am looking forward to having a rematch with Shane Mosley. And if Bob would have to be the promoter, I would have no problem with that because I have to obey a contract.

Q: However this ends, do you think your friendship with Arum will survive?

A: I hope so because I’ve had a good relationship with his family over the years and I’ve always tried to separate business from friendship and family. I hope five, 10 years down the road, we can still be family, spending time with each other.

Q: In your news conference after the loss to Mosley, you lashed out in all directions, even, it seemed, at Arum. What was going on in your mind?

A: I was angry, I was confused. But after a few weeks, I started analyzing what really went wrong and who I should be angry at and who I should blame. The bottom line is, I should be angry at myself. I should blame myself because it was me up in that ring and I didn’t do enough to control the fight.

Q: What could you have done?

A: Us fighters have great pride and my ego got in the way. I didn’t change my game plan because I wanted to go forward and knock him out, and that worked against me. Shane Mosley, the great fighter he is, adjusted to my style and, in the last round, he beat me.

Q: Your longtime trainer, Robert Alcazar, took a lot of blame for the defeat. Will he remain in your corner?

A: One thing about Robert is that he’s one of the best wrappers [taping the hands] in the business. Or maybe the best. For a fighter, your hands are very important.

My corner hasn’t been very solid for the last few fights. He understands that if something is wrong in the corner, we have to make adjustments because that is what is going to be best for my career. We have the type of relationship where we can talk about things. That makes me very comfortable because, let’s say I did have to get rid of Robert. He would be behind me 100%.

The best arrangement would be to have Robert wrap my hands and have someone else as the main trainer.

Q: What are you looking for in a trainer?

A: What I really need is somebody to push me. Robert has done a great job training me, but I need like a sergeant who is going to tell me, “You are going to do this or I am out of here.” Somebody who is going to throw a bucket of water in my face at 5 a.m. to wake me up to get me to go run. I need a Bob Knight in my training camp, someone who is going to be firm with me and push me to the next level.

You know, after I weighed in for the Mosley fight, I went out to eat oysters and I must have had a bad oyster. I was real sick just before the fight. When my father came in to see me, he said my eyes looked glassy and my skin was yellow. I was drinking Pepto-Bismol before I went in the ring. I was very sick, but those things happen in boxing. What I need is someone who will slap my hand and say, “Don’t eat oysters. Eat this. It’s better for you.”

Q: Who are the candidates to be your next trainer?

A: Everybody out there, including Manny (Emanuel Steward, a former De La Hoya trainer), has a possibility of coming on board if they can be that Bobby Knight that I need with a good strategy and a game plan.

Q: Looking back, are you glad you took the time off to pursue your musical career?

A: I think doing this music--something I know for a fact I will do for the next 50 years--made me realize boxing is also something I really love, something I miss.

Q: With all the controversy, is it still enjoyable being the Golden Boy?

A: It’s not all that great. I can tell you that. It looks so perfect on TV, but there’s a lot of stress. A lot of stress. I’m surprised I haven’t lost my hair yet.