Again, Oscar vows he’s ready

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 9:57 a.m.

It's a familiar refrain.

For what seems to be the umpteenth time in his eight-year professional career, Oscar De La Hoya is maintaining that his conditioning is superb and he has never been better prepared for a fight.

Sometimes he's telling the truth, sometimes he's not.

But this time he insists it's true as he readies for Shane Mosley and their June 17 fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"Attack, attack, attack," De La Hoya replied Wednesday during a conference call from his training camp in Big Bear, Calif., when asked how he plans to deal with Mosley. "I'm going to be very aggressive. I'm going to be smart. I'm going to use a lot of defense.

"I'm going to show a more elusive, explosive style. I'm giving it my all."

It's a decision loss to Felix Trinidad last Sept. 18 in Las Vegas that has renewed De La Hoya's desire to be the best he can be, he said.

"That decision helped me to refocus and train hard," he said. "If I'm in shape -- 100 percent in shape -- nobody can beat me.

"My training for this fight has made such a big difference. I seriously never felt this way before. It brings me great confidence to be in the best shape of my life."

Saying he's running more and sparring longer, De La Hoya believes his conditioning puts him over the top for a potentially difficult fight with a former champion at 135 pounds who is now fighting at 147.

"Great fighters always bring out the best in me," he said, figuratively pointing to impressive wins over past champions such as Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, Miguel Gonzalez, Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez and Ike Quartey. "It's an inspiration."

De La Hoya said earlier this year he wanted to fight four times in 2000 and win each bout by knockout. Thus far, he's 1 for 1, having KO'd Derrel Coley in the seventh round of their Feb. 27 fight in New York City.

Mosley, 34-0, figures to be a much tougher test.

"When I said I wanted four fights and four knockouts, I really meant it," De La Hoya said. "For this fight, I don't want to go out there looking for a knockout, I want to let it happen by itself.

"It's going to happen."

De La Hoya, 32-1, could make as much as $15 million if the pay-per-view receipts reach their goal for this fight. Mosley is assured of $4 million.

The showdown is taking place at a neutral site in that both men are from the Los Angeles area. So who will the crowd be pulling for?

"Who knows?" De La Hoya replied. "It might be toward me, it might be toward him. Or it might be even."

One thing that isn't even, he says, is his advantage in experiencing this type of big fight.

"Maybe his weakness will be the experience and quality of opposition each of us has faced," he said. "The fighters he has faced don't compare to what I've faced.

"That's something I have to take advantage of."

He admits he's in for a battle, however.

"I'd rate his speed a 10 and his power a 10," De La Hoya said. "I guess everything he does is rated a 10 because he's a great fighter.

"But I can easily match his speed with no problem. And the fire I'm going to have in my punches will have people saying 'Wow' in the crowd."

He also believes he holds an edge in one-punch power.

"He doesn't have a knockout artist's punch," De La Hoya said. "He's not a one-punch knockout puncher; it's an accumulation of punches that gets him his knockouts.

"That gives me confidence because I can use my defense and walk right through him. That's my plan."

Mosley, whose most recent fight was a Jan. 22 knockout win at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas over Willy Wise, took the International Boxing Federation lightweight title with a 1997 victory over Philip Holiday. He retained that title with notable wins over John John Molina and James Leija, then jumped two divisions late last year for his welterweight debut with Wilfredo Rivera.

He won that fight by knockout in the 10th round and then began calling out De La Hoya. The campaign worked and now the Californians are squaring off with the World Boxing Council welterweight title at stake, assuming promoter Bob Arum can work out the details with WBC president Jose Sulaiman.

"I'm meeting this weekend with Jose," Arum said. "One way or another this will be resolved by Monday."

De La Hoya seemed indifferent toward the WBC belt, as well as the fact he now has a loss on his record.

"If I have 10 losses when I retire it doesn't really matter to me," he said, somewhat surprisingly. "What matters is to make as much money as you can, stay healthy and be with your family when you're at the end of the game."

Yet that loss to Trinidad has spurred him on.

"It made a huge difference," he said. "I don't regret one bit of that fight, although I got a bad decision. I'm glad I boxed and made a great boxing performance."

He has decided to accept critics and their criticisms -- such as their complaints that he lost to Trinidad because he didn't fight the full three minutes each round -- pass without worrying him.

"At first you want to please everybody," he said. "But over the years you tend to do it for yourself. It's experience. Right now I'm doing this for myself.

"The criticism fades away over time. It bothered me so much at the beginning of my career. I was an Olympic gold medalist who hadn't done anything wrong and I was wondering 'Why is this happening to me?' when somebody would be critical of me.

"If I keep on beating these fighters, I'll get the respect I deserve."