Arum cries foul

Steve Carp

Sunday, Sept. 19, 1999 | 12:06 p.m.

It didn't take long for cries of foul to emanate from the Oscar De La Hoya camp in the wake of his first defeat as a professional.

And it was his promoter, Bob Arum, who was bellyaching the longest and loudest.

Without calling the three judges who scored Saturday's world welterweight championship fight at Mandalay Bay in Felix Trinidad's favor thieves, Arum was wondering out loud just what the heck Jerry Roth, Glen Hamada and Bob Logist were watching.

"No one's going to question the integrity of the three judges," Arum said bitterly after Trinidad gained a majority decision in the 12-round fight. "But this proves the judges can score a fight incorrectly."

Meanwhile, Don King, who serves as Trinidad's promoter, couldn't contain his glee. He rained on Arum's parade, boasting and bragging, relishing and savoring the moment.

"We paid our dues! We won the fight!" King said, his voice rising with each syllable. "He was chasing Oscar De La Hoya like Carl Lewis."

Of course, King had no poblem with the judges' decision.

"It's a tribute to the great state of Nevada that you can come here and get a fair and just decision," he said.

The ink was still drying on the scorecards when the first talk of a rematch surfaced. King, who was given second-string status during this promotion, knew he had the upper hand and he played it for all it was worth.

"We'll be glad to give Oscar De La Hoya a chance to redeem himself," he said. "I have no problem with a rematch. Just put my name where Bob Arum's is and put Bob Arum's name where mine is and it's on!"

Arum, doing a slow burn while King's tongue fiddled, responded: "That'll be the day. I guess that answers that question."

The 26-year-old De La Hoya said he's going to take some time off to contemplate the future before returning to the ring, be it against Trinidad or anyone.

"I need a rest," he said.

Trinidad, who celebrated long into the night at the Las Vegas Hilton and will receive a hero's welcome upon his return to Puerto Rico today, said he'd be happy to do it again with De La Hoya. But he said he has to discuss it with King first.

Meanwhile, King's one-man celebration continued. He called the win "a triumph of good over evil" and said Arum's attempts to manipulate the media into saying De La Hoya got jobbed was "trickeration." In the past, King has referred to Arum as the "Master of Trickeration."

Arum claimed the CompuBox stats clearly showed De La Hoya had done enough. The final numbers saw De La Hoya holding a 648-462 edge in punches thrown and a 263-166 advantage in punches landed as well as an edge in the percentage of jabs and power punches landed.

But the majority of those numbers were racked up during the first half of the fight. Down the stretch, De La Hoya did not sustain the attack and it ultimately cost him.

"You win eight of the first nine rounds, it's supposed to be in the bag," Arum said.

King, standing within earshot, quickly retorted, "You're going to need an awful big bag."

And in the end, Arum appeared to be the one left holding the bag with King holding the aces regarding the rematch.