Weight Gain Looks Great

Cancel the retirement dinner.

Oscar De La Hoya, who vowed to quit boxing if he lost to Javier Castillejo, was never in danger of having to fulfill that promise, pounding out a solid unanimous decision over the tough Spaniard on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in front of 12,480.

In his first appearance at 154 pounds, De La Hoya captured Castillejo’s World Boxing Council super-welterweight title, giving De La Hoya championships in five weight divisions, a total previously reached only by Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.

Using his superior speed, footwork and newly discovered defensive skills, De La Hoya battered Castillejo all over the ring, finally putting him down in the closing seconds of the fight. Castillejo, who had never before been knocked off his feet, got up.

But by then, time had expired.

“It’s an honor to be included with Hearns and Leonard in history,” De La Hoya said, “But I want one more [title].”

Even in victory, De La Hoya sees room for improvement under trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who was working De La Hoya’s corner for only the second time.

“I think I improved a lot from my first fight for Mayweather,” De La Hoya said, “but you can’t build Rome in a day. We are only at the second level.”

He is certainly at a higher level than Castillejo, who displayed a fighting heart but not much in the way of fighting skill.

All three judges--Anek Hongtongkam, John Keane and Chuck Giampa--scored the fight 119-108. The Times had De La Hoya winning, 118-109.

Castillejo (51-5, 34 knockouts), making his U.S. debut, appeared tentative and tight at the start.

He had said before the fight that he wasn’t going to hold De La Hoya in awe, but it certainly appeared that he did in the early rounds after seeing De La Hoya’s blinding speed.

“I have seen quick, fast boxers,” Castillejo said, “but he is extremely fast. I wasn’t aggressive because I wanted to counterpunch. I didn’t want to get caught up in his quickness, leaving myself vulnerable.”

Counterpuncher or not, Castillejo was extremely vulnerable in many of the rounds as De La Hoya (34-2, 27) put on a boxing clinic. He was so confident that he rarely went to his jab, once a staple of the De La Hoya style, and he often fought with his hands low, daring Castillejo to come in.

And there were the new wrinkles put in by Mayweather.

As he did against Arturo Gatti in his first fight under Mayweather, De La Hoya used his right hand often and effectively. Previously, he had been almost a one-armed puncher.

De La Hoya also got an opportunity to show some of his new defensive skills as he got into a crouch and let Castillejo fire away, hitting only air.

Of course, that might have had as much to do with Castillejo’s slowness as De La Hoya’s quickness.

Castillejo did connect on a couple of flurries and De La Hoya, who has had problems with his stamina in the late rounds, admitted he experienced a little of that again Saturday night.

“I felt good,” he said, “but, at one point, my legs went out from under me right after I threw a combination.

“Something was missing [in the middle rounds]. Something was not there. Maybe it was the energy level.”

De La Hoya, who weighed in Friday at 154 pounds, entered the ring at 156.

“Maybe that was the problem,” he said. “Maybe two pounds is not enough to gain. We’ll have to look into what I eat.”

The other big question about De La Hoya has been his power. Unlike Felix Trinidad, whose power has increased along with his weight, De La Hoya has had problems maintaining his power as he has moved up in weight.

At the end, with De La Hoya clearly the winner, he could have coasted out of harm’s way in the final round. Instead, he waded in, but he insisted it wasn’t to prove a point about his power.

“My corner was concerned that I was exchanging [punches] at the end,” he said, “but that’s just the instinct in me. I had to do it.”

The sequence that put Castillejo down began with a right hand from De La Hoya. As Castillejo backed away, De La Hoya landed another right and then a left hook, sending Castillejo tumbling into the ropes.

“I think,” Castillejo said when it was over, “I earned the respect of the people.”

De La Hoya hasn’t earned much respect in the camp of Shane Mosley, who captured De La Hoya’s WBC welterweight title a year ago.

De La Hoya reiterated after Saturday’s fight that his next match will be against one of The Big Three--Trinidad, Mosley or Fernando Vargas.

“I want to fight the best and be the best,” De La Hoya said.

But he continues to insist that, despite having lost to Trinidad and Mosley, he will decide the terms of any rematches because he has the greater drawing power, that Mosley and Trinidad have to come to him.

Mosley, who beat De La Hoya on a split decision, said earlier Saturday that he won’t fight for less than 50% of the total purse.

“This is not about money,” said Mosley. “This is about respect. I’ve got enough money so that I can retire today if I wanted to.

“The rematch with Trinidad didn’t happen because Oscar didn’t want Trinidad to get his share. It doesn’t matter. The last thing it will say in the history books is that Oscar lost to Shane Mosley and lost to Felix Trinidad. If he wants to erase that, he has to come to me. I’m the one in power.”

Mosley said that, if terms can be arranged, he would move up one weight division to fight De La Hoya at 154 pounds.

Jack Mosley, Shane’s father/manager/trainer, is just as vehement about standing firm in any negotiations with De La Hoya.

“Oscar is not dictating to anyone here,” the elder Mosley said. “If he tries to dictate to us, there just won’t be a fight. People keep trying to slap Shane’s face. I’m tired of that.

“I don’t care if Shane doesn’t fight De La Hoya. We already beat him up. Let’s get some new meat in there.”

Since Mosley beat De La Hoya, why is his father willing to accept a 50-50 split the second time around rather than demanding the greater share?

“We’re just showing what kind of people we are,” he said.

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