Dean Juipe: De La Hoya on textbook ride to top

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

IT MAY BE a great fight, or it may only be a good one.

It sounded exciting when it was announced, but part of the luster was lost when Caesars Palace backed off its original plan to build a temporary stadium on The Strip, one designed exclusively to host the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Pernell Whitaker fight that's scheduled for Saturday.

There were breathtaking possibilities with the bout on Las Vegas Boulevard. The atmosphere would have been scintillating.

But Caesars found the plan unworkable and went to its second option, the Thomas & Mack Center.

Pity. The Strip scenario had a built-in electricity to it. At the T&M, it'll be a bit more subdued.

Not that there's anything routine to it. It's a major fight between two stars, one that will generate a healthy dose of anticipation as fight time nears.

Yet it's De La Hoya in the commanding position.

He's the one on the rise, he's the one with discernible advantages in power, speed and maybe even quickness.

It could be that he'll win easily, or as easily as it's possible to defeat a man who is overloaded with elusiveness.

Remember this basic premise from previous De La Hoya advances: Take the Golden Boy until he proves to be beatable.

To date, no one has threatened to derail him. And, contrary to what some envious opponents and their handlers have said through the years, De La Hoya has fought a steady parade of solid fighters, contenders and champions.

He was on the fast track from the get go.

Now he's up to 23 successive wins, earning $10 million per fight, steadily adding to his endorsement portfolio and loosely scheduling other notable opponents for fights later in the year.

He's glib, poised and polished.

He's also a tremendous boxer with ever-expanding skills.

If ever a fighter saw a course and made every effort to stick to it, it's De La Hoya. The descriptive word that comes to mind: textbook.

He took the outline and made it work with his own concerted efforts, as well as those around him.

In all probability, he didn't come this far just to lose to Whitaker.

Not that Whitaker couldn't pull off the upset. After all, in 42 professional fights he has only one loss and one draw, and both are very much disputed as the result of questionable scoring.

He has made many a decent fighter look bad.

But De La Hoya is beyond decent. He already seems great and he has the desire to maximize his potential.

If he realizes that goal, he will become the finest fighter of this generation and maybe the greatest one of all.

It's not inconceivable that De La Hoya will reach that pinnacle.

And if he does, in retrospect this fight with Whitaker is apt to be only a blip on the screen, a momentary challenge resolved in the ring with something like a middle-round KO.

If he really is en route to the top, De La Hoya checks off Whitaker and turns his sights to the ladder's next rung.