A country's hopes
Both fighters can count on strong fan support
Posted: Friday September 17, 1999 03:34 PM
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Felix Trinidad (35-0) is confident he will prevail in Saturday's match against Oscar De La Hoya (31-0). AP |
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -- There are enough sub-plots in
Saturday's Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad welterweight title
fight to keep a soap opera running for years -- in any language.
First there is the rivalry between Mexicans and Puerto
Ricans and between those who speak only Spanish and those who
are bilingual.
Trinidad, from Puerto Rico, insists on Spanish only even
though it severely limits his commercial opportunities, while
Mexican-American De La Hoya is smoothly bilingual and as a
result will earn about $8 million in endorsements this year.
Then there is the cliffhanger over whether De La Hoya will
endanger himself by abandoning his superior boxing skills and
slug it out with Trinidad in an attempt to prove he's as tough
as anyone despite his good looks, his legions of shrieking
female admirers and nickname "Golden Boy."
For pure commercial drama there is the corporate
handwringing that will take place ringside Saturday as De La
Hoya's many sponsors root for their investments to pay off.
There also is the relationships the 26-year-old undefeated
fighters have with their fathers.
Trinidad (35-0) is extremely close to his father, Felix,
Sr., who trains and manages his son.
The 31-0 De La Hoya, on the other hand, admits to feeling
smothered at times by his father, Joel. And the Olympic gold
medalist and three-time champion who, including this fight will
have earned $100 million in purses, says he's still waiting to
hear his father compliment him for just one of his
accomplishments.
While De La Hoya's fans have the most presence here,
Trinidad will have the entire island of Puerto Rico living and
dying with every punch thrown Saturday in the 12,000-seat
Mandalay Bay arena. Puerto Ricans are so confident their hero
will win that a victory parade expected to draw 100,000 people
has been scheduled. Even inmates in some Puerto Rican prisons
will see the fight.
In the United States, however, Trinidad -- the International
Boxing Federation champion -- has been such a second banana in
the promotion of the bout that one of the fighters on the
undercard was giving thanks to everyone involved and forgot
Trinidad's name.
On face value, Saturday's scheduled 12-round bout that has
drawn a deluge of thousands of fans into this adult fairyland
promises to be one of the best fights in years.
It pits two undefeated fighters who have an abundance of
talent and are expected to be the biggest non-heavyweight draw
in boxing history. HBO executives who are broadcasting the
$49.95 pay-per-view fight say they expect about one
million buys.
The fight of 147 pounders (66 kg) essentially is a "pick
'em" bet with each fighter capable of taking the other out
early in the fight.
World Boxing Council champion De La Hoya, who is guaranteed
$15 million but who could easily earn $6 million more from his
cut of the pay-per-view sales, is generally seen as the stronger and
faster of the two men, both of whom possess strong right hands
and left hooks. Both man have been knocked down in fights.
Former welterweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard, who fought
and beat the likes of Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Thomas
Hearns in the 1980s, says De La Hoya has an excellent chance to
win if he doesn't stand toe-to-toe with Trinidad.
If De La Hoya "boxes and uses a couple of good body shots
and tries to pick Trinidad apart, then I think you have to like
Oscar's chances."
That may be easier said than done. De La Hoya, despite
saying earlier this week that he is through with a macho
approach as a way of proving his toughness, also has found it
necessary to insist in the run up to this fight that, "the
blood I have in me ... I have that blood to go in there and duke
it up with any one. I'm a fighter."
Trinidad, who along with his father will receive about $10.5
million, is a powerful puncher, and although his opponents have
not generally been as good as De La Hoya's, the Puerto Rican has
ruled the IBF since 1993 and is said to be laser-focused on De
La Hoya.
"He said I wasn't worth $10 million. That's insulting,"
Trinidad said. "I'm worth that and more. That's why on
September 18 he'll pay for those words."
Some observers say that to counter Trinidad's extremely
accurate punching, De La Hoya must get angles on him to throw
his own combinations.
De La Hoya's toughest opponents were probably Ike Quartey,
whom he rallied to beat in February on a 12-round split
decision, and Oba Carr, whom he stopped in the 11th round in
May.
Veteran trainer Teddy Atlas is picking De La Hoya for a
quality he thinks should be rated along with hooks and jabs --
"the ability to somehow find a way to win which De La Hoya
always finds."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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