BOXING
[h1]Statue of Oscar De La Hoya coming to Staples Center[/h1]
It will join similar tributes to Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretzky. De La Hoya says of Saturday's bout with Forbes: 'This is no pushover fight.'
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 1, 2008
A seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Oscar De La Hoya will join similar tributes to Los Angeles sports stars Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretzky at Staples Center, officials announced Wednesday.
The date of unveiling is pending, a Staples Center spokesman said, but De La Hoya was surprised by the announcement, made by his Golden Boy Promotions business partner Richard Schaefer at a downtown news conference promoting De La Hoya's fight against Steve Forbes on Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
"I'm going to drive by it every day," De La Hoya said.
Of the fight, De La Hoya (38-5, 30 knockouts) says he weighs 147 pounds, three pounds under the allowed limit, and reinforced that he was completely focused on a fight that is also serving as a tune-up to his scheduled September rematch with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
"This is no pushover fight," De La Hoya said. "I fell for that trap before [in a hard-fought decision over lightly regarded Felix Sturm in 2004]. I didn't feel like a winner. I know this guy is going to take it to a new level. It means bigger and better fights. Stevie Forbes is thinking that, and I'm ready for him."
Forbes, an 18-1 underdog at the MGM/Mirage sports book in Las Vegas, has never been knocked down, and he's a former world super-featherweight champion. He was runner-up in the 2006 season of the reality television series, "The Contender."
"He keeps on coming, but I love that," De La Hoya said. "I want to knock him out. I want to be the first, and I want to be spectacular."
More than 24,000 tickets have been sold for the bout, and some $75 tickets remain inside the Home Depot soccer stadium, which has a capacity of 27,000 seats. The fight will air on HBO.
Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs) told hundreds of fans and reporters assembled at the Los Angeles Library that he's "worked my [rear] off my whole career, and never got a chance. I've read the news reports. You guys don't know nothing.
"I've been fighting my whole life. At birth [as a premature baby] the doctors said my heart wasn't strong enough to pump blood through my body, and my lungs weren't strong enough to breathe. The doctors were wrong, and you're wrong."
A subdued Floyd Mayweather Sr., serving as De La Hoya's trainer, also spoke, but said he didn't want to introduce a traditional news conference poem critical of Forbes, because the fighter used to be trained by Mayweather Sr., and is currently being directed by the trainer's brother, Jeff Mayweather.
Also in attendance Wednesday afternoon was Jaime Quintana, manager of super-bantamweight Rafael Marquez.
Quintana said negotiations are in progress to schedule a fourth consecutive fight following the epic trilogy between Marquez and World Boxing Council champion Israel Vazquez of Huntington Park. Vazquez defeated Marquez by split decision in March at Home Depot Center's tennis stadium, his second consecutive victory in the series.
Quintana said Staples Center could host the bout, and current talks are ongoing about the date. Marquez would be ready to go in November or December, Quintana said, but Vazquez wants to return in January or February.
