De La Hoya Bout Could Be a Rout

LAS VEGAS — Who is Miguel Angel Gonzalez?

To many, nothing more than the answer to a future trivia question: Whom did Oscar De La Hoya beat in between his blockbuster fights against Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker?

Gonzalez hears such talk, and it adds to the frustration and resentment that have eaten away at him like an ulcer over a career spent in the shadows of his peers.

Here he is, a winner of all 41 of his professional fights, 31 by knockout, 63 of his 64 amateur bouts, a former World Boxing Council lightweight champion with 10 successful defenses at the crossroads of his career.

Yet as the challenger to De La Hoya, the WBC super-lightweight champion, in tonight’s 12-round main event at the Thomas & Mack Center, Gonzalez, a 6-1 underdog, is regarded as a mere speed bump on De La Hoya’s road to glory.

This will be the first and last title defense for De La Hoya (22-0, 20 knockouts) of the crown he won against Chavez last June.

Plans are already set for De La Hoya to fight Whitaker at 147 pounds on April 12 at Caesars Palace, as long as De La Hoya is successful tonight and Whitaker is successful next week when he meets Diobelis Hurtado.

De La Hoya doesn’t plan to stay at 147 pounds for long, either. Although he turns only 24 next month, De La Hoya is on a fast track to retirement.

“I’m not going to be in this that long,” he said. “Maybe until I’m 28, 29 or 30. I want to win six world titles. I want to beat the best and then get out of there.”

De La Hoya is a heavy favorite tonight because:

--The layoff. This fight was supposed to take place Oct. 12, but De La Hoya had to postpone it because of tendinitis in his left shoulder.

That shoulder is now back at full strength, and De La Hoya also seems stronger than ever mentally. Eighteen months ago, De La Hoya was bored with boxing. He talked about taking a year off to pursue a movie career. He sometimes talked more about his other athletic passion, golf, than he did about boxing.

But no more.

Under the guidance of trainer Jesus Rivero, whom De La Hoya fondly, almost reverently, refers to as “the Professor,” De La Hoya seems reborn in the ring.

“I thought there was nothing more to learn,” De La Hoya said. “I thought I knew it all. But he [Rivero] has made it more interesting. I learn something new every single day. I feel like there are no limits to what I can do. Boxing is 90% of life.”

Having not fought since the Chavez bout, De La Hoya is itching to exchange his numerous sparring partners for a true opponent. He can’t wait to start throwing punches.

That’s not good news for Gonzalez.

--The speed. De La Hoya is equal parts blinding speed and devastating power. Gonzalez has trouble generating much speed and is a notoriously slow starter.

Veteran trainer Emanuel Steward, who has been working with Gonzalez for only six weeks, feels his fighter has to change two facets of his style to have any chance tonight.

“I want him to fight with his arms in closer to his body,” Steward said. “And I want to fight on the balls of his feet instead of his heels.”

If Gonzalez survives the first four rounds, Steward said, he has a chance to win.

--The environment. It’s sort of like the pressure a football team faces the first time it goes through Super Bowl week.

The hype, the army of media representatives, the crush of fans and the bright lights of Las Vegas are familiar distractions to De La Hoya, who has been in the blinding glare of the spotlight since winning a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics.

Although Gonzalez has fought for world titles in different parts of the world, the only thing that surpasses a big fight in Las Vegas is a match in the Olympics. It was in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul where Gonzalez suffered his only loss.

--The corner. While De La Hoya seems totally at peace with Rivero as his guiding light, Gonzalez is trying to learn a whole new approach under Steward.

That may work to his benefit over the long haul, but not for tonight. Against the easiest of opponents, trying to shed bad habits and learn new tricks can’t be easy. Against the opponent of Gonzalez’s life, it may be impossible.

Boxing Notes

Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Angel Gonzalez both weighed in at the 140-pound limit. . . . There are two other championship fights on tonight’s card. International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight champion Konstantin Tszyu (18-0, 14 knockouts) defends against Leonardo Mas (23-2, 15 knockouts), and IBF light-flyweight champion Michael Carbajal (44-2, 29 knockouts) puts his title up against Mauricio Pastrana (15-0, 13 knockouts). Finally for comic relief, heavyweight Eric “Butterbean” Esch (25-1, 21 knockouts), the crowd favorite on every card he appears, meets Curt Allen (5-0-1, three knockouts).

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Fight Card at a Glance

* SITE: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

* WHEN: Tonight. First bell at 5, first fight on TVKO at 6.

* BOUTS: Champion Oscar De La Hoya (22-0, 20 KOs) vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez (41-0, 31 KOs), WBC super-lightweight title fight; champion Konstantin Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs) vs. Leonardo Mas (23-2, 15 KOs), IBF junior-welterweight title fight; champion Michael Carbajal (44-2, 29 KOs) vs. Mauricio Pastrana (15-0, 13 KOs), IBF light-flyweight title fight; heavyweights Eric “Butterbean” Esch (25-1, 21 KOs) vs. Curt Allen (5-0-1, 3 KOs).