De La Hoya shows no effects of layoff
LAS VEGAS – The Golden Boy still has the luster.
Oscar De La Hoya made an impressive return to the ring after a 20-month absence, knocking down Ricardo Mayorga in the first round before finally stopping him in the sixth to claim the WBC’s 154-pound title on Saturday night.
Showing no signs of rust or reluctance, the 33-year-old De La Hoya knocked down Mayorga in the opening minute and never let up, unleashing waves of punishing head shots until Mayorga went down for the third time at 1:25 of the sixth.
It was the best fight for De La Hoya since he stopped Fernando Vargas four years ago and a near-perfect result in what De La Hoya claims will be the penultimate fight of his storied career.
De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs) clearly hadn’t lost his passion for the ring since Bernard Hopkins stopped him in the ninth round with a devastating body punch in September 2004.
Spurred by Mayorga’s pre-fight insults toward his family and courage, De La Hoya overwhelmed the wild-punching Mayorga with clinical right hands and a handful of devastating left hooks, stalking him around the ring and controlling nearly every moment of the fight.
“No matter what, I was going to stand up to him, let him know right away that I was here to fight,” De La Hoya said. “I had to show the bully that I wasn’t going to back down. He fought recklessly, but I stood my ground, and he saw I wouldn’t back down.”
He sent Mayorga to the canvas just 60 seconds in, artfully ducking a wild punch and responding with a strong right and a brutal left hook. The crowd stood, and De La Hoya cast a disdainful glance over his shoulder as he walked to the neutral corner.
The fight got no better for Mayorga (27-6-1), with De La Hoya’s tactical precision and surprising power taking a quick toll.
De La Hoya knocked him down again in the sixth, when a glassy-eyed Mayorga stayed momentarily on his wobbly feet before finally going down for good. De La Hoya also went to the canvas when referee Jay Nady pushed him away from his fallen opponent, but he sprung up to leap onto the ropes in triumph.
De La Hoya chose Mayorga as his comeback opponent partly because of the chain-smoking, beer-swilling Nicaraguan’s reputation for reckless behavior in and out of the ring. During their pre-fight publicity tour, El Matador wore bullfighting outfits and repeatedly insulted his opponent, questioning everything from his heritage to his sexuality.
“In the beginning, the way he was talking about my wife and my son, he motivated me to go right at him,” De La Hoya said. “He was going to talk dirty, and that was the motivation I needed to get myself up for this fight.”
They didn’t touch gloves beforehand, but the beaten Mayorga was humble.
“You are a great champion,” Mayorga said to De La Hoya. “You are a great fighter. I apologize for everything I said to you.”
“I forgive you,” De La Hoya replied.
De La Hoya was nearly flawless in his 29th title fight, though he had little interest in this belt. He wants to fight once more before retiring on Sept. 16, possibly in a comeback match with Felix Trinidad.
After this performance, there will be plenty of talk about the prospect of a tantalizing bout with welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., the top pound-for-pound fighter whose father trains De La Hoya.
•In Worchester, Mass., Jose Antonio Rivera won the WBA junior middleweight title, unanimously outpointing defending champion Alejandro Garcia.
The 33-year-old Rivera, the former WBA welterweight champion who has a full-time job as a juvenile court officer, fought in front of a hometown crowd of 4,858.