His Recipe Book Includes Rematch

Oscar De La Hoya has it all figured out. In about a month, he will invite his old rival and new neighbor, Felix Trinidad, over for dinner. It will be a short walk for Trinidad, from his gated community in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, to the next one over.

Food and drinks will be served. There will be time to reminisce about their historic match at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center in 1999, the richest non-heavyweight match in boxing history.

Trinidad, recently retired from boxing, may flash his boyish smile and remind De La Hoya that it was Trinidad who won by a majority decision. De La Hoya may talk about his regrets over running for the last three rounds.

Millie Corretjer, De La Hoya’s Puerto Rican wife, will be there to be sure nothing is lost in the conversation between her husband, a Mexican American, and Trinidad, a native Puerto Rican.

“The difference between our Spanish and their Spanish is slang,” De La Hoya says. “And they talk faster.”

And then, perhaps after dessert, it will be time to talk of the future.

“How are you doing, financially?” De La Hoya will ask him. “And how will you be doing in 10 years? I see you have several homes and a bunch of cars. You know, another $10-15 million would mean that you would definitely be secure for the future.

“You are 29. You will probably come back at some point. Why not come back now? And if you do, why not fight me?”

De La Hoya outlined his plan Friday at a West Los Angeles hotel, his eyes sparkling at the prospect of facing the man who handed him his first defeat.

“I am going to work my magic on him,” De La Hoya said. “But I don’t want to rush it. He is still in the mentality that he is on vacation. This is all new to him. He is still thinking like someone who is retired. I want to leave it alone and wait for the next few weeks.

“By then, I am hoping he will be getting the itch. All these fights are happening, [Marco Antonio] Barrera-[Johnny] Tapia last week and [Erik] Morales-[Paulie] Ayala next week. I am hoping that when he sees these fights, he’ll start to feel that itch.... I think he wants to fight. I think it’s his father [manager-trainer Felix Trinidad Sr.] who doesn’t want him to come back.”

That could be a problem because Trinidad has always let his father make his career decisions.

Another obstacle to Trinidad-De La Hoya II would be weight. They fought at 147 pounds the last time. De La Hoya is now a 154-pound champion and Trinidad fought last year at 160. De La Hoya thinks he and Trinidad could agree on a catch weight somewhere between 154 and 160.

“I hear he’s walking around at 195,” De La Hoya said.

On second thought, better forget dessert.

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And If Not Trinidad?

It has been generally assumed that if Trinidad does not return, De La Hoya’s next opponent will be Shane Mosley, the other man who has beaten him.

Not necessarily, says De La Hoya.

He says he will give Trinidad until Jan. 1 to consider a rematch. If the answer is still no, De La Hoya is considering fighting Winky Wright in a bout that would give De La Hoya the opportunity to unify the 154-pound division, or Vernon Forrest, who has twice beaten Mosley.

De La Hoya holds the World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council 154-pound titles. Wright is the International Boxing Federation champion.

“I know I could make the most fighting Mosley,” De La Hoya said. “But I’m not looking at that. I’m looking at making history. Winky says that if I could beat him, I would be an undisputed champion for the first time and he’s right.”

Is De La Hoya acting uninterested just to give himself leverage in negotiations with Mosley? As much as he wants to avenge his defeat to Trinidad, doesn’t he also want to do the same with Mosley?

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L.A. Also in His Future

Whatever happens with Trinidad, or Mosley or Wright or Forrest, De La Hoya will be back in the ring in Los Angeles next year. Not to fight, but to promote.

De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions will stage a fight show Jan. 16 at the Olympic Auditorium, where De La Hoya, his father and grandfather all fought.

It’s one of 50 proposed shows next year for De La Hoya’s promotional company.

A dozen of those will be televised on HBO with perhaps 15 others televised as well.

De La Hoya says he has been approached about staging one of his shows at the sports complex being built in Carson by Philip Anschutz.