Golden attraction comes to an end

By Robert Morales, Boxing Columnist\
dailybreeze.com

It was 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, about three hours after Oscar De La Hoya announced his retirement from boxing. De La Hoya was playing host to an international conference call to discuss what had been an emotional decision that brought him to tears a couple of time at Nokia Theatre Plaza at L.A. Live.

De La Hoya won championships in a record six weight classes and set pay-per-view records. But that doesn't necessarily mean he was terrific in the ring, and it was inevitable that he would be asked what he would say to those who believe he was more of an attraction than a great fighter.

"I say, `Thank you. Thank you for always watching me. Thank you for making me an attraction. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being there,"' DeLaHoya said. "I've had the opportunity to face many world champions and a lot of them I won. Some I lost.

"But my satisfaction is because at least I tried. I tried to accomplish the impossible and not too many do that. And so if people want to remember me as an attraction, then I'm glad I gave a lot of people a lot of entertainment."

The question was asked to DeLaHoya because, although he fought most of the best during his 17-year career, he had a losing record in the 11 fights against what most would consider elite competition. We're not counting De La Hoya's two victories over Julio Cesar Chavez, because Chavez was past his prime when he and De La Hoya tangled for the first time in June 1996.

In those 11 fights, he beat Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey and Fernando Vargas. Referring to Whitaker as an elite fighter is giving De La Hoya the benefit of the doubt because when they fought, Whitaker was 33 and a bit past his prime.

In the other six, De La Hoya lost to Felix Trinidad Jr., "Sugar" Shane Mosley twice, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Bob Arum, who promoted DeLaHoya for two-thirds of his career, said De La Hoya could have been much better.

"Oscar was a great attraction, the biggest attraction of his time and he was a very good fighter who fought all the competition that was around at the time," Arum said. "But he was never a great fighter. Later on in his career, when he wouldn't or couldn't push himself like a Manny Pacquiao does in training, he ended up losing fights that he should have won.

"I thought he won the Trinidad fight, but it never should have been that close. Same thing with the second Mosley fight. Should not have been that close. Once he established himself and once he was a big box-office draw, he was unable or unwilling to push himself to the next step to achieve true greatness."

But it doesn't change what DeLaHoya did for boxing after he turned pro in late 1992 after winning the gold medal in the Barcelona Games.

And with De La Hoya having hung up his gloves, it's going to be interesting to see what kind of an effect his absence will have on the business of boxing.

De La Hoya was the one fighter who, regardless of his opponent, always fared tremendously on pay-per-view. His fight with Ricardo Mayorga did nearly a million buys. The inside joke in boxing circles was that DeLa Hoya could fight his sister and get a million buys.

Well, Arum thinks Pacquiao, whom he promotes, is the fighter who can pick up the slack. He does have a huge following among his fanatical Filipino fans. But he never came close to a million pay-per-view buys until he fought De La Hoya last December, in a fight that reached 1.3 million buys.

Still, Arum said he is hopeful that Pacquiao can surpass what De La Hoya has done in this regard.

"CNN is doing an hour show on him," Arum said of Pacquiao, who May 2 will fight Ricky Hatton at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "It shows he has really achieved a status beyond boxing and beyond sports.

"And look what he has done in the Philippines. There is a whole rebirth in boxing."

Arum, who spoke by telephone Wednesday, hopped aboard a plane the next day to the Philippines, where he is promoting a pay-per-view card tonight that will feature Filipino Nonito Donaire defending his flyweight title against Raul Martinez of San Antonio in the same Araneta Arena that played host to "The Thrilla in Manila" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975.

Arum said he is expecting a bigger crowd for Saturday's card than there was for Ali-Frazier.

"And it's all because of Manny," Arum said.

Good for Manny. But while we are looking ahead to what might be, let's not forget what was. DeLaHoya gave boxing an injection of popularity that has never been seen before. His 14.1 million pay-per-view buys that generated $696 million in revenue is proof.

His buddy, actor/comedian George Lopez, is hopeful that no one will ever try to put down what the Golden Boy meant to the world of prize-fighting.

"You can't put a punch-count on heart and Oscar has been all heart," Lopez said. "I'm proud to call him my friend and I'm prouder that a guy from East L.A., who came from nothing made a place for himself that will not be surpassed."

Gold-medalist Ward to face test in his back yard

After posting an 18-0 record with 12 knockouts against mediocre competition, Andre Ward is going to face his first real test May 16 when he takes on hard-hitting Edison Miranda in the super middleweight main event in Oakland.

Showtime will televise from Oracle Arena.

It will also mark the first time that Ward, America's only gold-medal winner in the 2004 Olympic Games, will fight in his back yard.

"I've wanted to fight in my hometown for a long time," said Ward, who fights under the Goossen Tutor Promotions banner. "After my last fight (in Lemoore), I said I wanted the next one to be in Oakland, and it is.

"It will be exciting for me finally to be able to fight in front of my friends, family and Bay Area fans. For the longest time, people would ask me why I wasn't fighting in my hometown. But now I am."

Miranda (32-3, 28 KOs), a former top middleweight contender, said Ward and his promoter, Dan Goossen, have bitten off more than they can chew.

"The fight will only go up to the 10th round and that's because that is when I am going to knock Andre Ward out," Miranda said Tuesday. "Andre Ward has never been in the ring with a fighter like me - he hasn't fought anyone talented. If there is one thing that you notice about Andre's fights, he's always running.

"Andre doesn't have the heart of a champion. He is holding onto his one achievement, the Olympic gold medal, but that is all he will ever achieve. I feel sorry for Dan Goossen to have invested so much money in such an untalented fighter."

Ward and Goossen were at a news conference in Oakland. They listened as Miranda called into the news conference and voiced his disparaging remarks through a speaker phone.

"Miranda can say anything he wants right now and I am not going to react," Ward said. "But you can bet that I will retaliate in the ring on May 16."