Columnist Dean Juipe: De La Hoya has to have a knockout

Dean Juipe

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 10:20 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

At the risk of falling into the trap of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, boxing fans and observers have to take Oscar De La Hoya at face value when it comes to discussing his Saturday fight with Oba Carr.

He says he's coming out to inflict some pain.

He says he'll win by knockout.

He says he's going to look like the aggressive slugger he did in 1992 after he emerged from the Olympics with a gold medal and the keys to Fort Knox.

The trouble is, we've heard this before. The absolute fact of the matter is that De La Hoya consistently, without fail, in recent years has inevitably said he's new and improved as he's heading into a fight.

And then he fails to live up to his advance notices. This has gone on so long now that he's almost guilty of crying wolf.

The last time De La Hoya looked overpowering or truly awesome was in May of 1995 -- four years ago -- when he whacked out Rafael Ruelas in the second round at Caesars Palace. As impressive as that seemed at the time, in retrospect it's possible that De La Hoya merely caught a one-dimensional fighter who was plagued by notoriously poor balance with a good shot.

That's not to say De La Hoya hasn't been a great fighter. He's fantastic, winning all 30 of his bouts and doing it against competition that -- in spite of what you may read here and there -- has been top-rate virtually every step of the way. The people who repetitively write or say that he has not faced the best fighters available in his weight class are just plain wrong.

The trouble is, he's always predicting a scintillating finish to his fights and, for the most part, he has failed to deliver. He knows people want to see knockouts and he knows it's good for his career, yet he almost habitually finds himself stalled in the ring and playing a game of cat and mouse.

No better example exists than his most recent fight, Feb. 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center against Ike Quartey. De La Hoya promised he would come out swinging and, sorry to say, the prediction in this corner was that he would land a big shot early and end the fight in a couple of rounds.

But the fight didn't play out that way. De La Hoya was far too tentative and the end result was a decision win that -- much like the decision win over Pernell Whitaker at the same site two years earlier -- left many in the audience not only questioning the scoring but wondering if the Golden Boy left his power behind when he moved from 130 and 135 pounds to his present weight of 147.

Despite his obvious strength, De La Hoya often fights as if his first priority is protecting his good looks. He even admitted as much during a 60 Minutes II interview that was broadcast this week.

But he swears he's going to slug it out with Carr at Mandalay Bay and, aside from his earlier white lies, there's every reason to believe he will. Carr is a perfect opponent: feisty and aggressive, yet susceptible.

This is a fight that should be resolved within four to seven rounds. Carr has a certain determination and should have his moments, but he's physically overmatched and is up against a man who is feeling the need to be a headhunter.

If this fight does go 12 rounds, De La Hoya's credibility will have bottomed out. More importantly, it would be a sign that he's ready to be defeated after years of looking invincible.