Back in the Box Oscar de la Hoya Returns to What He Does Best By FERNANDO DOMÍNGUEZ Musicians are no longer behind him, except mariachis belting out tunes on the ring before a fight.

There is no more singing on television’s Cristina, no more CD recordings, no more sideshows.

All of that is on hold indefinitely.

For now, Oscar de la Hoya seems more concerned with rekindling his brilliant boxing career than going Hollywood, more eager to pack people into sports arenas than concert halls.

That much was clear during his last bouts, against Spain’s Javier Castillejo in June and against Canada’s Arturo Gatti three months earlier. The Golden Boy from East Los Angeles has returned to boxing with a fury.

He is back after an nine-month layoff from boxing not only to repair his tarnished professional and personal reputation, but to accomplish feats few others have achieved.

By soundly beating Castillejo, de la Hoya became the third fighter to claim world titles in five weight divisions, matching Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns. And more might be on the way.

De la Hoya fighting Javier Castillejo in June

With a new trainer, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., who is retooling the boxer’s style, and with a renewed commitment to the business that made him a multimillionaire, de la Hoya is looking to secure a spot among the all-time greats. At 28, he’s far from finished.

“A lot of people say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks,” Mayweather said. “But some old dogs are willing to learn.”

Maybe it was a promotional stunt. Or a motivational tool. Or sheer machismo.

Whatever the case, de la Hoya made sure a well-calculated bluff was part of the hype for his June 23 fight with Castillejo for the Spaniard’s World Boxing Council super-welterweight belt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

De la Hoya, revered in some Mexican-American quarters as a Mexican hero but disdained in others for not being Mexican enough, promised to retire if he lost to Castillejo.

“I would have no reason to be inside the ring anymore,” de la Hoya said.

The going-away party can wait, though.

In a thoroughly one-sided bout in front of 12,480 at the venue and HBO’s largest pay-per-view card this year, de la Hoya used speed and defense to score a unanimous decision. The fighter took home the 154-pound crown, the latest trophy in a collection that includes championship belts at 130, 135, 140 and 147 pounds.

“I’ve seen quick and fast boxers, but he’s extremely fast,” Castillejo says of de la Hoya. “He’s an outstanding boxer.”

Some argue the fight was pure piracy for de la Hoya, with Castillejo crossing the Atlantic for the first time to hawk his title for $800,000, a notion angrily rebuffed by both camps. De la Hoya maintains Castillejo was a legitimate champion and not the cannon fodder that oddsmakers made an 8-1 underdog by fight time.

The outcome failed to support de la Hoya’s contention. Even though Castillejo lasted all twelve rounds, de la Hoya won eleven and floored his opponent with a right-cross, left-hook combination seconds before the final bell. By then, all that was left for de la Hoya to do was to count his $3 million purse. “I felt strong, but there’s always room for improvement,” de la Hoya says.

De la Hoya changed his boxing image to promote his CD

Although de la Hoya easily disposed of Castillejo, the fight was nothing compared to his performance in the same ring against Gatti, a veritable human punching bag. De la Hoya sent Gatti packing with a fifth-round technical knockout on March 24.

The bout with Gatti marked de la Hoya’s return to boxing after nine months spent everywhere except a gym.

He became a singer, turning out a well-received CD of Spanish-language ballads and three songs in English that was nominated for a Grammy this year in the category of “Best Latin Pop Album.” Music critics were pleasantly surprised.

While de la Hoya built new relationships on one front, he ripped down old ones on another. Last August, he sued in federal court to severe ties with Bob Arum, his longtime promoter and the man largely responsible for putting more than $125 million in de la Hoya’s bank account. That’s more money than any non-heavyweight in the history of the sport.

At one time, the two were so close that de la Hoya presented Arum with his Olympic medal at a birthday celebration. They began spatting over several contractual issues, though, and drifted apart. Arum says he’ll return the medal when de la Hoya retires or if he asks for it personally.

De la Hoya got his freedom from Arum in January, when a judge voided their contract. The decision prompted de la Hoya to make a callous comment about Arum to La Opinión, the Los Angeles Spanish-language daily.

In the story, de la Hoya said he had “defeated one of the biggest Jews to come out of Harvard.” With the shock waves still reverberating, de la Hoya has tried to remove the foot from his mouth with a written apology.

“I did not mean to insult Bob Arum and his family or any ethnic or religious group in any way. I humbly apologize to anyone the remarks may have offended,” de la Hoya wrote.

De la Hoya was unavailable to revisit that topic nor any others for this story. A spokesperson at his Golden Boy Promotions office in East Los Angeles repeatedly turned down requests for an interview, saying de la Hoya was attending to business matters.

A few months ago, some of those business matters meant war with Arum and a breakup with Robert Alcázar, who trained de la Hoya since he was an amateur and prepared him to win the lightweight class at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Against Trinidad, de la Hoya ran for the last three rounds of a fight he was winning, dropping a majority decision at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Against Mosley, de la Hoya never adjusted to the faster opponent, who darted in and out, moved sideways and even fought left-handed at times to confuse de la Hoya and to methodically take away his WBC weltwerweight title with a split decision at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Observers contended de la Hoya would have been better served by someone other than Alcázar, known to have clashed with trainers de la Hoya hired to work his corner, including Mexican boxing guru Jesús Rivero and U.S. legends Emanuel Steward and Gil Clancy. De la Hoya finally agreed.

“Mayweather is incredible,” de la Hoya said soon after joining forces. “It is the confidence that when I step inside that ring, inside that gym, I want to train; I want to learn. If I am not ready, [Mayweather] will smack me across the head. I need that.”

By all indications, de la Hoya already is reaping huge benefits from working with Mayweather, Sr., the estranged father of undefeated WBC super-featherweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Under Mayweather’s “Old-School” training regimen, which features chopping wood and running in boots and with weights on the hands, de la Hoya has more stamina. And he has greatly refined his skills, from a vastly improved defense to unleashing his right hand more frequently instead of depending almost solely on his devastating left hook. Mayweather promises more weapons will be added to de la Hoya’s arsenal with every fight. “He was like a robot before,” says Mayweather, rarely considered the most humble of trainers.

“He’s got a lot of mobility, he’s more flexible. Oscar is a good student and has shown a lot of ability to continue to learn. . .. As long as he’s with me, he will be on the right track.”

That, of course, is always a crapshoot with de la Hoya. His association with Mayweather may last forever or it may end abruptly, especially if his father, Joel, finds fault with the trainer’s methods. Joel de la Hoya, a former pro fighter, always has the final word regarding his son’s boxing career.

But so far, so good. De la Hoya is back with a bang and aiming for more victories. Mayweather believes they’ll come for the revamped and focused de la Hoya.

“Oscar is excited about fighting again,” Mayweather says. “He has committed himself to boxing.”

HISPANIC Magazine