Oscar’s Night

Dean Juipe

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

Oscar De La Hoya has worked up a head of steam.

He tired of Pernell Whitaker's aloofness and superstar posing, losing a certain respect for his Saturday night opponent along the way.

And as the countdown toward the fight continued, De La Hoya became increasingly blunt in his assessment of the World Boxing Council welterweight champion.

Once prepared to deliver an accolade or two in Whitaker's direction, fight time arrives with De La Hoya feeling both challenged and confident.

"To me, this is just another fight," he said, countering his own earlier claims that the fight at the Thomas & Mack Center would be the biggest, the most dangerous of his life. "I mean, it will open more doors for me and it will be something I can use as a steppingstone.

"But this is the end for Whitaker."

As always, his comments were civil. But, somewhat out of the ordinary, he spoke with a forcefulness that implied he was approaching Whitaker with a previously untapped determination.

Belittling Whitaker became fair game.

"I don't think this fight is that big," De La Hoya said, when asked to compare this fight with the one he had last June against Julio Cesar Chavez. "There was more pressure with Chavez. This fight here isn't of the same magnitude."

That's debatable, of course, yet it may reflect De La Hoya's belief that he holds every physical advantage over his 33-year-old counterpart.

"The only way I could lose would be if I lost my focus," he said. "You lose your focus, things can go wrong.

"But I can't see that happening. We have four or five game plans ready for Whitaker and we've studied, detail by detail, everything he has ever done in the ring."

He doesn't think the old dog can uncover any new tricks.

"Whitaker has been fighting for so many years, I can't see him showing anything new or anything he's never done before," De La Hoya said. "I don't think he's going to do anything different. If he could do anything more than what he's shown, why didn't he show it sometime in the last 16 years?"

Sixteen years is precisely how long Whitaker has fought professionally, a detail not lost on the studious De La Hoya. While Whitaker's lone exercise in film study for this fight was a casual review of De La Hoya's January win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez at the T&M, De La Hoya built a film library of Whitaker fights through the years.

If preparation counts for anything, it's the 24-year-old De La Hoya getting the higher marks.

"That's no surprise," said promoter Bob Arum. "Oscar is always prepared. He has enhanced boxing by being a true champion.

"I think in time he'll prove to be the greatest fighter of all time."

Arum has a vested interest in De La Hoya's career, yet that forecast has a chance of reaching fruition. Not only is De La Hoya 23-0 with 20 knockouts since turning pro in 1992, he has marched through a succession of difficult opponents and has already won legitimate world titles at 135 and 140 pounds.

Now he's trying 147 pounds and the 40-1-1 Whitaker, himself a world champion in four weight divisions.

"I was a little concerned about gaining seven pounds at first," De La Hoya said. "But people will be surprised at the strength I've added. I feel stronger and faster than ever before.

"I've always been a fighter with decent power, but now I can take that to a higher level."

His ultimate goal is championships in six weight divisions, and he can argue he's halfway there if one accepts the lightly regarded WBO title he won at 130 pounds.

Should he defeat Whitaker as he's favored to do, he'd have two-thirds of his goal.

"I want to be the best fighter in the history of boxing," he said.

De La Hoya will receive $10 million for facing Whitaker and he may fight as many as three more times this year. Tentative plans have him fighting a lesser opponent in June -- David Kamau, once the likely target, is now questionable -- followed by Hector Camacho in late summer or early fall, followed in the winter by the winner of the Terry Norris vs. Felix Trinidad bout that will be held this summer in New York.

That's a full plate, regardless of the sequence.

"Sometimes it all seems too much," De La Hoya said in a reflective moment. "This is like a dream. Sometimes I want to be on my own and back in my own neighborhood, but I want to be the best and this is what I have to do."

With that in mind, he can't stumble in this fight with Whitaker.

"I've actually trained for the Whitaker of four or five years ago," De La Hoya said. "I want to frustrate him when we get in the ring, because no one has ever done that before. I want to keep him off balance with smart pressure."

Pressure of a different sort, orchestrated by Whitaker, arose during the buildup of this fight. He said De La Hoya was inexperienced, unproven and "no Julio Cesar Chavez."

It didn't play well with De La Hoya.

"He knows he's going downhill," De La Hoya said. "It's all jealousy. He doesn't want to accept that I'm in the limelight now and he's not.

"He's never at a loss for words and he's always putting me down. I think he's trying to motivate himself, but I just brush it off. It's funny to me."

His tone, however, spoke otherwise.

Hoya getting the higher marks.