Columnist Dean Juipe: De La Hoya expected to retire

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, June 20, 2000 | 9:26 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.

They're holding a "Life After Oscar" meeting this afternoon at the Top Rank Boxing offices in Las Vegas.

While no formal decision has been made, those who promote Oscar De La Hoya believe he is going to retire. After losing for the second time in three fights, there's a feeling De La Hoya will leave the brutal sport with his senses intact at the age of 27.

No hanging around simply for another big payday with Shane Mosley, who defeated De La Hoya by decision last Saturday in Los Angeles.

No hanging around for another profitable rematch with Felix Trinidad, who took a decision from De La Hoya last September at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Having earned more than $100 million in his eight-year boxing career, there's a belief he has had enough of boxing. A second career as a singer and/or actor is beckoning.

His father, Joel, appears to be the catalyst in pushing De La Hoya toward this somewhat unexpected retirement. He, along with his son Joel and trainer Robert Alcazar, may have persuaded Oscar to call it quits during a private meeting that was held behind locked doors following the fight with Mosley.

That discussion -- in a locker room at the Staples Center -- ran for 90 minutes and produced a changed Oscar De La Hoya. He went into the meeting having said he would take the rematch with Mosley, yet he came out of it talking about quitting and escaping while he's physically able.

While De La Hoya thought he won the fight with Mosley, few agreed. And as he digested that reality it may have occurred to him that he's not apt to beat Mosley in a rematch, just as he may not be able to defeat Trinidad if they were rematched.

Hold off on taps or a 21-gun salute, as De La Hoya may not make a decision on the matter for another couple of weeks. But his promotional firm is making plans for a post-Oscar existence minus its biggest star and top money maker.

De La Hoya always said he wasn't going to fight forever, although if this is the end it came quicker than many of his fans and colleagues expected. Losing can do that to a guy, particularly if he has an alternate career and the money to walk away.

If he's through, history will describe him as an exciting fighter who parlayed an Olympic gold medal and a boy-next-door image into a profitable, if brief, run through four weight classes. It will also say he wasn't the invincible slugger that many -- including myself -- made him out to be and that he sometimes talked a better game than he delivered.

He'll be regarded as a great fighter, although maybe not one for the ages. Pundits will argue that De La Hoya could beat Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker, but that he didn't measure up to the likes of predecessors such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.

He made a great deal of money in the sport and Top Rank made a great deal off of him. But today when promoter Bob Arum sits down with his staff to discuss the future, for the first time since 1992 De La Hoya doesn't figure to be in the equation.

Arum has told acquaintances that he can go two years without a superstar before believing it will become a problem. If De La Hoya retires, that two-year clock will begin ticking.