Arum Waits for De La Hoya to Make Right Call

Bob Arum sits by his phone.

But Oscar De La Hoya never calls.

Arum checks his phone messages daily.

But no De La Hoya.

Arum looks at his e-mail.

But no De La Hoya.

It’s beginning to look like these two, once like father and son, are never going to speak again.

Which means Arum never will get the apology De La Hoya promised for an ill-advised ethnic slur De La Hoya made last month in La Opinion, a Spanish-language newspaper.

And De La Hoya won’t get back the Olympic gold medal he won in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics until he retires.

GIVE THE MAN HIS APOLOGY

After winning the legal right to break his contract with Arum, his longtime promoter, De La Hoya told La Opinion that Arum had tried to hinder his growth as a fighter because he is of Mexican heritage. De La Hoya also bragged he had “defeated one of the biggest Jews to come out of Harvard.”

An apology statement was subsequently released from De La Hoya’s office. In it, De La Hoya, his Golden Boy image tarnished, said he personally had expressed his regrets to Arum.

In fact, De La Hoya called Arum’s Top Rank office but was told the promoter was out of town. No further effort was made to reach Arum.

GIVE THE KID HIS MEDAL

In happier times, nearly five years ago, De La Hoya showed up at Arum’s 65th birthday party in Reno and presented his gift, the precious medal he had dedicated to his mother, Cecilia, who died of cancer.

Unknown to Arum, the medal he was presented was a duplicate. Arum’s wife, Lovee, later learned of the bogus medal and arranged for a switch to be made without her husband’s knowledge.

It only was last month, when De La Hoya publicly asked Arum to return the medal, that the promoter learned from his wife the real story of how he got the genuine item.

Arum, who keeps the medal in a display case in his house, says he will stick to his statement on the night he received the gift, that he will give the medal back when De La Hoya retires.

But after De La Hoya’s comments in La Opinion, Arum is no longer willing to say he would give up the medal now even if De La Hoya calls.

Don’t believe it. If De La Hoya asked, he would receive.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Arum says he is finished talking publicly about De La Hoya.

Honest.

“We will proceed with our appeal of our case in court,” Arum said, “and if we win, we will receive substantial damages.

“But we are not going to be involved in discussing De La Hoya. It’s over, finished. We do not have time for that. We have too much on our plate with fighters like Roy Jones, Floyd Mayweather [Jr.] and Erik Morales. Oscar can fight anybody he wants and it’s none of our business.

“And if anybody from my organization says anything about Oscar, you let me know.”

How long will Arum’s vow of silence last?

About as long as it takes De La Hoya to make another dumb remark.

SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE

Floyd Mayweather Sr., who has taken over as De La Hoya’s trainer, is about to find himself in the middle of the Arum-De La Hoya feud.

Mayweather’s influence was obvious in De La Hoya’s first fight with the new trainer in his corner. Against Arturo Gatti last month, De La Hoya showed none of the rust to be expected after nine months away from the ring. He was lean, mean, used his right hand more than in the past and even showed some new defensive moves.

Arum now has hired Mayweather to work with Morales, the World Boxing Council featherweight champion who will defend his title July 28 at Staples Center.

Will De La Hoya agree to share his trainer with an Arum fighter?

He always could call Arum to complain.

SITE FIGHT

De La Hoya is scheduled to move up to 154 pounds to fight WBC champion Javier Castillejo on June 9.

Although Las Vegas appears to be the front-runner in terms of a site, De La Hoya’s handlers also are talking to Staples Center.

The L.A. arena’s officials are holding that date for the Kings in the unlikely event they still are in the NHL playoffs in two months.

But even if the Kings are eliminated, it seems doubtful Staples Center officials, already committed to a Jones fight July 28, would enter a bidding war with the Vegas casinos for another fight in the same period.

Staples Center officials also had talks with handlers for Mike Tyson, who is scheduled to fight David Izon next month, but that match appears headed for Washington.

“We remain active,” Staples Center spokesman Michael Roth said, “looking for important boxing matches.”

De La Hoya’s handlers also talked to New York’s Madison Square Garden, but Garden officials weren’t interested because they have to hold the date in case the New York Knicks still are in postseason play, and because they didn’t want to detract from the May 12 Felix Trinidad-William Joppy middleweight match.

QUICK JABS

Don King’s middleweight tournament begins tonight at Madison Square Garden with Bernard Hopkins facing Keith Holmes. The winner will fight in September against the winner of Trinidad-Joppy. . . . The Golden State Boxing Assn. will honor referee Richard Steele, Olympic gold medal winner Paul Gonzales, fighter/trainer Freddie Roche and actor Robert Conrad with a noon luncheon at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Hollywood next Saturday. Information: (818) 764-2903.