Columnist Dean Juipe: De La Hoya plans three more big fights

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001 | 1:20 a.m.

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

Anyone who has ever dealt with Oscar De La Hoya has long since learned that whatever he says requires a grain of salt. It isn't that he's a chronic liar, it's just that the opinions and views he expresses are routinely molded to fit his public posture that particular day.

He says what he thinks his listener wants to hear.

As such, subjects such as his future plans and the direction he is taking his career can vary from moment to moment.

Keep that in mind while considering what he told the Los Angeles Daily News over the weekend.

"I'm going to go after this fight like I never have before," he said, referring to landing a bout with undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. "Right now, he's the man ... and I know I can beat him."

In addition to that fight, which would be targeted for May 5 and likely in Las Vegas, De La Hoya said he would be in rematches with Felix Trinidad in September and Shane Mosley in December of 2002, and then retire.

"I'll be 30 by then," he said. "I've always said that I won't fight past 30."

De La Hoya is 28 years old and has a Dec. 8 fight with the unsung Roman Karmazin scheduled in Los Angeles. De La Hoya is the World Boxing Council junior middleweight champion and has a record of 38-2, with the losses to Trinidad and Mosley.

But it's Hopkins -- who upset Trinidad last month in New York -- who has caught De La Hoya's immediate interest.

"I'm not going to let no 38-year-old beat me," he said. "Trinidad didn't go to the body at all. When you go to the body of a 38-year-old, his days are numbered."

Hopkins turns 38 in May.

As for fighting at 160 pounds, De La Hoya said it wouldn't be a problem and that he's walking around at 168 now.

Not mentioned in his 2002 plans but still a possible opponent is arch-rival and World Boxing Association 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas. The latter -- and not Hopkins -- could yet emerge as De La Hoya's challenger for the May 5 date.

WBA heavyweight champ John Ruiz spent the last two weeks training at the Golden Gloves Gym in Las Vegas but has since gone back East. His defense against Evander Holyfield remains tentative for Nov. 24 but, with no site yet, it's increasingly unlikely it won't go off as scheduled. ... Another card still looking for a home -- and one that was offered to Caesars Palace -- is a heavyweight doubleheader pencilled in for Dec. 1 that will have Wladimir Klitschko in its main event, with Lance Whitaker vs. Jameel McCline in an attractive supporting role. The card was earmarked for New York until Klitschko's opponent, New York's Ray Mercer, dropped out with a damaged eye.

The Avi in Laughlin has cancelled its plans for a card this Saturday. ... Roy Jones Jr. has accepted Australia's Glen Kelly as his opponent for a Feb. 2 bout that's apt to be held in Miami. Kelly is 28-0-1. ... Through no fault of his own, Jones is being stripped by the WBA of its light heavyweight title and that organization is sanctioning a Bruno Girard vs. Lou Del Valle Dec. 8 fight in France for its championship. .... From the Underpublicized Dept.: Junior Jones improved to 49-5 by stopping Mike Juarez, 23-11-2, at 1:05 of the seventh round of their fight last Saturday at the Stratosphere. Jones led by 2, 3 and 4 points on the judges' cards when referee Kenny Bayless stepped in.