Columnist Tim Graham: It’ll be tough for Oscar to step away

Tim Graham

Thursday, Feb. 11, 1999 | 10:54 a.m.

Tim Graham's column appears Thursday. His media notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at tim@lasvegassun.com or 259-4078.

In the clearing stands a boxer And a fighter by his trade And he carries the reminders Of every blow that laid him down Or cut him 'til he cried out In his anger and his shame "I am leaving, I am leaving" But the fighter still remains. -- Simon & Garfunkel "The Boxer"

No matter how much he bleeds ... no matter how much he sweats ... no matter how much the leeches suck out of him, boxing stays in a fighter's system.

It pumps through his veins, circulating throughout his body, never really finding a way out.

George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez. The list of fighters who cannot expunge the sport from themselves -- and vice versa -- goes on and on.

Two more examples of boxing Rasputins were trotted out at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater on Wednesday. Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns were hired by Top Rank to help promote Oscar De La Hoya's title defense against Ike Quartey Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

De La Hoya, the WBC welterweight champion, has long insisted he won't fall into the same rut as many of the greats who came before.

He promises to retire by the time he turns 30 and pursue other interests such as acting, singing, architecture, fight promotion. That gives him only four more years in the ring.

De La Hoya claims that will be all. He is steadfast he won't return.

Leonard and Hearns thought the same thing the first time they retired. And the second time. And the third time ...

"It's totally mental," Top Rank president Bob Arum said. "They need to find other things to do in life after boxing. But when all they know is boxing, they'll keep returning time and time again.

"Oscar has made a conscious effort to diversify himself. Once he's 30, that's it. I guarantee it."

There is no way a young superstar like De La Hoya can walk away so soon. All the hobbies in the world cannot compensate for the feeling a fighter gets climbing between the ropes amid a sea of flashbulbs and screaming fans -- or when he receives his paycheck.

De La Hoya thinks he can be a rare exception, a la Marvin Hagler, and retire without regret. Hagler, however, was 33. De La Hoya will box into his third decade, too.

"Don't ever put an age on when you'll retire," Leonard said. "It doesn't stick."

Leonard, 42, announced his first retirement in 1983. Like De La Hoya, he was an Olympic gold medal hero, savvy and well-spoken, sought after for endorsements and cameos.

But, even though he didn't need the money, Leonard couldn't stay away. He made four comeback attempts in the next 14 years, his last coming after a six-year layoff.

"There's always a new challenge," Leonard said.

Leonard finally quit in 1997, but Hearns continues to fight. He is 40 and scheduled to take on Uriah Grant April 16 in Detroit.

"It's hard to walk away," Hearns said.

De La Hoya will find out for himself soon enough.

No matter how much he wants to get out of the sport, it always will be in him.