De La Hoya Can Still Fight the Good Fight

So much for the fears of rust, the doubts about focus and resolve, the concern over a year and a half of soft living.

So much for the idea that, at 33, Oscar De La Hoya belonged in a board room, on a putting green or in his baby’s nursery. Anywhere but the ring.

De La Hoya answered all the questions about his 20-month layoff Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in front of 13,076 with his trademark left hook, an unexpectedly potent right hand, a stinging jab, an occasional uppercut and unwavering focus as he dominated and ultimately stopped Ricardo Mayorga.

If anything, De La Hoya returned as an even better fighter than he was when he left in winning Mayorga’s World Boxing Council super-welterweight title.

And De La Hoya was never better than at the end, when he unleashed a 12-punch flurry that sent Mayorga to the canvas. When Mayorga wearily rose to his feet, De La Hoya came back with 17 more unanswered punches, causing referee Jay Nady to stop the fight at the 1:25 mark of the sixth round.

“I knew I had the power to knock him out,” De La Hoya said.

Asked if it was his best performance, De La Hoya (38-4, 30 knockouts) said, “It has to rank right up there.”

De La Hoya also revealed afterward that he had a slight tear in his left rotator cuff, an injury he aggravated several weeks ago. But he made the decision to go ahead with the fight anyway and said he fought through the pain.

Mayorga, known for his trash talking and his lack of respect for opponents, could say little at the end other than: “Oscar is a very hard puncher. I am not hurt. I am just heartbroken.”

After the fight, Mayorga, in his corner, told De La Hoya, “You are a great fighter, a great champion. I apologize for everything I said to you.”

Replied De La Hoya: “I forgive you.”

Mayorga (28-6-1, 22), who has been known to poke his chin out in defiance at opponents, run a constant stream of trash talk and resort to fighting dirty when necessary, never got a chance to go into his act Saturday.

De La Hoya, who was expected to box and move and stay out of range of Mayorga’s punching power, instead waded in from the beginning.

And was quickly rewarded.

A little over a minute into the first round, De La Hoya landed a solid right hand followed by a left to Mayorga’s right temple, sending the fighter crashing to the canvas.

As he pulled himself up, Mayorga looked stunned. This wasn’t the De La Hoya he had expected.

“My message was, I was going to stand up to the bully,” De La Hoya said. “I let him know I was here to fight. He fought recklessly, but I stood my ground. He saw I wouldn’t back down.

“The fact that he was talking so much motivated me. There was a plan five months ago to pick him because we knew he was going to talk dirty. He talked about my wife [Millie] and my son [Gabriel] and that was the motivation I needed for the fight. I haven’t been this motivated since I fought Fernando Vargas.”

Mayorga never seemed to recover from the early onslaught, though he did win one round on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

That De La Hoya has a brutal left hand was to be expected. But Saturday night, he also did a lot of damage with his right.

“I was hitting him with my right hand and he felt the power,” De La Hoya said. “I could tell by the way he was wincing that I was hurting him.

“My trainer [Floyd Mayweather Sr.] and my brother [Joel] kept telling me to stay on my toes.”

Instead, he stayed in Mayorga’s face.

While De La Hoya connected on 44% of his punches, Mayorga, unable to stop the onrushing De La Hoya, connected on only 17% of his.

“We have been working for the last three or four years on blocking punches,” De La Hoya said of his gym work with Mayweather, “and tonight it all clicked.”

The only punch that was working consistently for Mayorga was an illegal blow, a chopping right to the back of De La Hoya’s head that he would go to time and again, backing off only when Nady warned him.

As Mayorga pulled himself up to one knee after the sixth-round knockdown, he looked over at De La Hoya standing in the neutral corner and gave him a nod that seemed to indicate respect.

Gone was all the fire and arrogance Mayorga had demonstrated since the first news conference for this match.

When the fight ended, De La Hoya was back on the canvas, as he had been 20 months ago when Bernard Hopkins stopped him with a body shot. But this time, De La Hoya lay there in sheer exhaustion as exhilaration washed over him. Then, he stood, ran to one corner, stepped on the ropes and bathed in the cheers of the crowd.

It was good to be back.

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In the semi-main event, super welterweight Kassim Ouma (24-2-1, 15) of Uganda successfully defended his North American Boxing Organization title against Marco Rubio (32-3-1, 29) of Mexico, but it wasn’t easy. Ouma won a split decision after going down in the first round.

In a 10-round preliminary match, lightweight Joan Guzman of the Dominican Republic maintained his perfect record (25-0, 17) by winning a unanimous decision over Javier Jauregui (51-13-2, 35) of Mexico.

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The career

Fight-by-fight career of Oscar De La Hoya 38-4 (30 knockouts):

*--* 2006 Ricardo Mayorga WBC SW Title W TKO 6 2004 Bernard Hopkins WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO Middleweight Title L KO 9 Felix Sturm WBO Middleweight Title W UD 12 2003 Shane Mosley WBC/WBA/IBA JM Title L UD 12 Yory Boy Campas WBC/WBA JM Title W TKO 7 2002 Fernando Vargas WBC/WBA/IBA JM Title W TKO 11 2001 Javier Castillejo WBC JM Title W UD 12 Arturo Gatti W TKO 5 2000 Shane Mosley WBC/IBA W Title L SD 12 Derrell Coley Vacant IBA W Title WBC W Title W KO 7 Eliminator 1999 Felix Trinidad WBC/IBF W Title L MD 12 Oba Carr WBC W Title W TKO 11 Ike Quartey WBC W Title W SD 12 1998 Julio Cesar WBC W Title W TKO 8 Chavez Patrick WBC W Title W TKO 3 Charpentier 1997 Wilfredo Rivera WBC W Title W TKO 8 Hector Camacho Sr WBC W Title W UD 12 David Kamau WBC W Title W KO 2 Pernell Whitaker WBC W Title W UD 12 M. Angel Gonzalez WBC JW Title W UD 12 1996 Julio Cesar WBC JW Title W TKO 4 Chavez Darryl Tyson W KO 2 1995 Jesse James Leija WBO JW Title W TKO 2 Genaro Hernandez WBO JW Title W TKO 6 Rafael Ruelas IBF/WBO JW Title W TKO 2 Juan Molina WBO JW Title W UD 12 1994 John Avila WBO JW Title W TKO 9 Carl Griffith WBO JW Title W KO 3 Jorge Paez Vacant WBO JW Title W KO 2 Giorgio WBO SF Title W TKO 3 Campanella Jimmy Bredahl WBO SF Title W TKO 10 1993 Narciso W KO 1 Valenzuela Angelo Nunez W TKO 4 Renaldo Carter W TKO 6 Troy Dorsey W TKO 1 Frank Avelar W TKO 4 Mike Grable W UD 8 Jeff Mayweather W TKO 4 Curtis Strong W TKO 4 Paris Alexander W TKO 2 1992 Cliff Hicks W KO 1 Lamar Williams W KO 1

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