Diego De La Hoya stops Arturo Badillo with fourth-round knockout

It’s in the De La Hoya blood to possess a destructive left hook.

Diego De La Hoya, the 21-year-old cousin of 10-time world boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya, showed off his pedigree Friday night, knocking out journeyman Arturo Badillo with a left hook to the gut in the fourth round.

“He’s got the goods,” Oscar De La Hoya said of the featherweight from Mexicali.

Badillo, less than five years from fighting for the World Boxing Assn. super-featherweight belt, dropped to his knees after the blow and couldn’t get up, and the fight was stopped 1 minute, 11 seconds into the fourth round at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

“I’m very happy to carry on the name,” Diego De La Hoya said. “It was a punch we worked on in camp, and I feel good that it ended the fight.”

De La Hoya (14-0, eight knockouts) used his hand speed to outclass Badillo from the start, delivering a combination to the face in the first round and later whipping a hard right to the head.

Badillo, who often has been served up to rising prospects, achieved a sliver of satisfaction by landing a second-round punch that nicked De La Hoya near the left eye.

De La Hoya’s power punches began to weaken Badillo in the third round and he battered the veteran against the ropes in the closing seconds of the third.

Asked what he proved to himself Friday, De La Hoya said, “Patience. Intelligence. That’s what every boxer should strive for.”

Badillo (21-10) has lost nine of 10 bouts since his title defeat, including six consecutive losses. Eight of the losses have been by stoppage.

De La Hoya is penciled in to fight next on the undercard of the May 7 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Amir Khan middleweight title fight at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Oscar De La Hoya said after his cousin’s victory that he’s also planning “A Night with the De La Hoyas” event later this year, possibly at the old Olympic Auditorium, that will include Diego De La Hoya and a bout featuring Oscar’s son, Devon, who is an amateur fighter.

Earlier Friday, Los Angeles’ Carlos Morales convincingly won the night’s co-main event, leaving Mexico’s Omar Tienda with swelling of both eyes after 10 rounds.

Morales (13-1-3) claimed the unanimous decision in the super-featherweight bout by scores of 100-90, 100-90, 99-91.

Super-featherweight Nick Arce of Los Angeles pleased the supportive throng he brought to the bout, landing the heavier blows in a six-round slugfest against Mexico’s Luis Lizarraga Jr.

Arce (6-0) rocked Lizarraga (5-8-1) in the third round and found him repeatedly with big punches in the fifth before setting up a vicious left uppercut in the sixth en route to a victory by unanimous decision. The scores were 60-54, 60-54, 59-55.