Oscar knows Campas will bring big punch

Dean Juipe

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 10:10 a.m.

It may not be the most competitive fight on paper, yet Oscar De La Hoya knows there's a risk involved and it's Yory Boy Campas' right hand.

De La Hoya and Campas will headline a May 3 card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and each was in Las Vegas on Thursday to discuss the bout. Both agree that the element of surprise will be limited to a single aspect of their scheduled 12-round bout at 154 pounds: Can Campas connect?

"I'm like a long-shot horse," Campas admitted. "A lot of people may have doubts about me, but I also have a lot of people behind me who feel I can pull off a miracle upset."

While the sports book at Mandalay Bay has yet to post a betting line, when it goes up it will have De La Hoya as a considerable favorite. He is, after all, a current world champion coming off a major victory (over Fernando Vargas) and already planning a September fight of greater consequence.

But Campas, despite the mileage of 85 professional fights, is a former world champion who remains a big hitter. Sixty-eight of his wins have come by knockout.

"I know he's going to come out and fight," De La Hoya said. "It's going to put a lot of pressure on me. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to go toe to toe with him."

De La Hoya is 35-2, and Campas is 80-5. They'll headline a card that will also include a featherweight title fight between Erik Morales and Bobby Velardez, plus an additional title fight yet to be announced.

A sell-out crowd of 12,000 is expected, with promoter Bob Arum saying 60 percent of the tickets have already been sold. He added that the fight would also be available on closed circuit at various local casinos, allowing for an additional 20,000 viewers.

"Obviously, Oscar's following dwarfs that of Morales, but Erik right now is the most popular fighter in Mexico," Arum said of having Morales in a supporting role. (Morales is fighting Eddie Croft in an exhibition Saturday in Mexico City as part of a card that is expected to draw 42,000 fans.)

De La Hoya and Campas were civil and exceedingly polite toward one another at press tour stops in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but neither is apt to take that as a sign of weakness. Both expect a decent, if short, battle once they get in the ring.

"I know the majority of fans feel I'm overshadowed," Campas said through an interpreter, Top Rank's Richie Sandoval. "But with good preparation, anything's possible.

"It's an important fight for me and I know I can hurt this guy if he'll just stand there and fight with me."

De La Hoya, a year younger than Campas at 30, is considerably quicker than his upcoming opponent and would like to put that advantage to good use.

"I'm going to train as hard as I can," he promised. "I can't get caught looking past him."

This is a fight that has been discussed for years in Mexico, and finally came to fruition when De La Hoya agreed to take an interim bout before a bigger fight this fall.

"We could have done this four years ago," Campas said. "I just had to be patient and wait. It's a logical fight for both of us."

But only because De La Hoya didn't want to go a year between bouts.

"I was actually going to fight only once this year because I'm at the tail end of my career," he said. "I thought I'd play it smart and play it safe.

"But the love and passion I have for the sport didn't allow me to stay too inactive for long. I love fighting -- it's what I do best."

His trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., knows there's a risk involved.

"Yory Boy's an awesome puncher," he said. "He can get you out at any time, so you've got to be careful with this guy."

Likewise, Arum is aware of what could go wrong.

"It's not a fight where you give Yory Boy much of a chance, but he punches hard and if he gets tremendously lucky he could make it a tough night for Oscar," he said. "Oscar has the greater tools and quickness, but if everything breaks Yory Boy's way he's got a chance."