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Oscar winner De La Hoya aims to keep title against Mosley
Posted: Friday June 16, 2000 12:25 PM
Oscar De La Hoya puts his WBC welterweight title on the line Saturday night in the Staple Center in Los Angeles when he steps in to the ring against a tough challenger in Shane Mosley. CNNSI.com's Johnny Phelps spoke with the champ to get his thoughts on the upcoming bout. Johnny Phelps: You've been very open about your strategy for this fight: attack, be aggressive. Why have you been so open about it? Oscar De La Hoya: I don't think there's any secrets and anything to hide here. There's either two ways of fighting: that's boxing or just going in there and brawling. Of course in between you have your little tricks that I'm not going to reveal to you (smiles). But it's all about just going in there and fighting and sticking to my game plan and making it a fun fight. Phelps: How much did the loss to Felix Trinidad affect your decision to change your boxing style and become a brawler? De La Hoya: I received a lot of criticism from a lot of people and a lot of people who didn't appreciate boxing. I feel that now, it has changed my whole mentality about the game. I have to go in there and just fight like a warrior. Go in there and just take care of business and hopefully take that win. Phelps: How tough is it Oscar to win and to win the way people want you to win? De La Hoya: It's very difficult because everybody has their own style that they want you to use. A lot of people want me to box. A lot of people want me to fight. A lot of people want me to counter punch him (Mosley). It's very difficult, it's very difficult to please everybody. But as long as I have great physical conditioning, I can do whatever I want inside that ring. I trained for three whole months up in the mountains. I feel great. I feel strong. And I'm ready to go. Phelps: Mosley is certainly known for his quickness. Is that your biggest concern about him? 
De La Hoya: I think so. His quickness, he possesses great skills with either hand. He's a very fast fighter, a very strong fighter, a very confident fighter. All the opponents he has been facing, he takes care of right away. He has no respect for any opponent inside the ring. And I have to show him, '"Hey, who's the boss inside that ring?" That's what I have to do. Set the pace and set the tone of the fight from the get-go. Phelps: He's moving up in class. You've done this before. How tough is it on those first few fights when you carry that extra weight? De La Hoya: It's very, very difficult because you're facing stronger opponents, faster opponents and the level of competition is just different. The skill that I possess is not like the one he faced against, let's say a Willy Wise a few months ago or a (Wilferdo) Rivera who he faced about a year ago. It's just a whole different level. But I'm sure Shane Mosley knows that. He's a very smart fighter, very good person and he's prepared. Phelps: Oscar, everything seemed to be going so smoothly for you before the Trinidad loss. Is your perspective at all different now on your overall plans for your boxing future as a result of that? De La Hoya: I'm convinced it was such a blessing in disguise. Fighting Trinidad just changed everything for me. My whole mentality about the game has changed about the game. I trained harder, I'm more focused, I rededicated myself to boxing and it's all because of that decision. And I feel that without that decision, I wouldn't be the person that I am now who is training harder and is looking at boxing a whole different way. Phelps: I guess you'd like to continue that way and get him (Trinidad) back in the ring again, right? De La Hoya: Hopefully, I think maybe by February. I'm moving up to 154 (pounds) and I want my very first fight at 154 against Trinidad. Phelps: All right, we'll be ready for that. But first it's Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley for the welterweight title Saturday night in Los Angeles. Oscar, thanks for joining us and good luck. De La Hoya: OK, thank you.
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