Columnist Steve Carp: Finally, it feels like fight week

Steve Carp

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 12:03 p.m.

Steve Carp is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at carp@lasvegassun.com or 259-4087.

For a so-called "Fight of the Millennium," it sure took awhile to get this town thinking about the long-awaited welterweight world title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad.

Then Don King opened his big yap and all was right in the world. Now we can get serious about Saturday's showdown at Mandalay Bay.

The Loquacious One sent this promotion on its way Wednesday at Paris Las Vegas by challenging Top Rank's Bob Arum to a $1 million bet, King, of course, siding with Trinidad. Arum calmly told King to shove it, or at least take his $1 million over to the Las Vegas Hilton where sports book guru Art Manteris would be glad to handle the transaction.

Until Wednesday, this fight had been nearly as quiet as the plans for D-Day. De La Hoya was ensconced in the mountains of Southern California and Trinidad was in personal lockup, courtesy of his father, the self-proclaimed Don Felix.

Nary a syllable had been uttered. But then Wednesday came and the words flowed as if someone had punched a hole into Hoover Dam. Suddenly, Las Vegas and the rest of the sporting world was struggling to keep up with the rising tide of pronouns, adverbs and adjectives of every sort.

De La Hoya hit all his buzzwords, claiming he's "focused" and that he has something to prove -- to himself, to his father, to his fans, to everyone.

Trinidad, looking somewhat slender, kept his verbiage to a minimum, maintaining the claim he made before leaving Puerto Rico that he'll knock De La Hoya out. His old man kept the small line of communication with the outside world barely open, saying that his son will prevail Saturday, offering little as to how that happenstance will occur.

So the intrigue that has been the bellweather of this promotion since Day One remains intact some 48 hours before the first bell. It remains a pick 'em fight, both at the betting windows and in the minds of the so-called experts.

Trinidad, 35-0 with 30 KOs, has shown an ability to knock guys out with both hands. He is strong and quick. But he has not fought the caliber of fighter De La Hoya has nor has he fought in the kind of environment that awaits him Saturday.

Talent-wise, he has the goods to get the job done. But can he put that talent to proper use?

De La Hoya, conversely, has been there, done that. He thrives off the electricity of fight night in Las Vegas. He is in shape and will be ready to do battle. For him, this is the fight that perhaps puts him in among the elite -- the Sugar Ray Leonards, Roberto Durans, Thomas Hearnses and the like.

But as much as this fight may be about boxing greatness for De La Hoya, it is just as much about maturity. At 26, De La Hoya has plenty of fighting left in him, if he chooses to take that path. He has not lost in 31 fights and his "Golden Boy" image remains untarnished.

However, he's not quite sure which road to take. Perhaps Saturday's outcome serves as his map to his future. Listening to him speak, he sounded like a man who was trying to convince himself that all would be right, both for his immediate as well as his distant future.

Unfortunately, Wednesday's proceedings failed to shed any new light on the situation. All you can say is that things are at least beginning to heat up and for those of you spending the $49.95 to buy the pay per view, here's hoping you get your money's worth.