Oscar De La Hoya isn't ready to wind down his career just yet. Retirement is being pushed back once again, unless Shane Mosley's fists convince him otherwise.
De La Hoya enters the ring today looking to avenge one of only two losses that mar an otherwise remarkable career when he defends his 154-pound titles against a fighter who has beaten him both as an amateur and a professional.
Beating Mosley will allow De La Hoya to check off another item on his list of must-dos before he finally calls it a career.
Losing to Mosley is so unthinkable that De La Hoya is ready to retire if it happens again.
"I've trained so hard for this fight, like never before," De La Hoya said. "If I lost the way I am now, what's the motivation? Why am I in the sport? Yes, I will retire if I lose."
De La Hoya doesn't see that happening, of course, in a fight that is more about revenge than adding another US$15 million or so to his already fat bank account.
Mosley used his speed to outpunch De La Hoya and win a split decision at 147 pounds three years ago, but De La Hoya is coming off a huge knockout over Fernando Vargas in his last major fight and is brimming with newfound confidence.
"I don't want to retire," De La Hoya said. "I want to keep on fighting and fighting hard."
Oddsmakers figure De La Hoya will still be around after tonight's scheduled 12-round fight at the MGM Grand hotel arena. He's a 2-1 favorite to retain his WBC and WBA titles in a fight that has long since been a sellout and is expected to do big numbers on pay-per-view television.
De La Hoya is the reason, of course. The former Olympic gold medalist is a marketing phenomenon, and the money brought in by this fight will bring the total revenues for his 11-year career to nearly a half-billion dollars.
"I've made a lot of people rich, including myself," De La Hoya said.
Unlike many fighters, De La Hoya has kept much of that money. He has an astute financial adviser, a fledgling boxing promotion company and is finally happy at home with his marriage two years ago to Puerto Rican singer Millie Corretjer.
He doesn't need to fight anymore, but fighting is what he does.
De La Hoya already has his sights set on a possible sixth weight class title in a fight next year against middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. Mosley, though, could spoil everything if he can break out of his recent fight funk and show the skills that allowed him to beat De La Hoya the first time they met.
"I'm expecting the toughest fight of my career," De La Hoya said. "This is going to be a very competitive fight. He's always in shape and trains hard."
De La Hoya was coming off the first loss of his career, against Felix Trinidad, when he fought Mosley the first time at the Staples Center in June 2000. The fight was spirited, with Mosley coming on in the late rounds to both outbox and outpunch De La Hoya for the upset win.
A lot has changed in the three years since. Mosley lost two fights to Vernon Forrest and was unconvincing in his 154-pound debut in February against Raul Marquez, a fight that was ruled a no contest after two rounds because Marquez was bleeding badly from head butts.
De La Hoya, meanwhile, came back to win the 154-pound title, then stopped Vargas in a performance last September that might have been the greatest of his career .
"That kind of elevated me to another level," De La Hoya said.
Mosley acknowledges he blew an opportunity to be recognized as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter when he fought a series of pretenders after beating De La Hoya, then got beat by Forrest. He's determined not to let another chance slip away in this fight.
The fight itself figures to be more of a boxing match than a slugfest, especially if Mosley has his way. Mosley can punch but he's a smaller 154-pounder than De La Hoya.
De La Hoya says he's found a way to deal with Mosley's hand speed, and promises a much different fight than the first bout. In recent fights, De La Hoya has begun to use his right hand much more. In the past, he relied mainly on his left jab and hook.
"The way you neutralize speed is knowing how to throw your punches at the right time," he said. "I'm obviously not going to be the same fighter as in 2000. He's going to have to look for a lot of combinations."
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