December 15, 1999

The De La Hoya press conference was a big bore. They held the conference in the Theatre at MSG, formally the Felt Forum. Currently, "A Christmas Carol " is on stage there, so the entire theatre is transformed into a Dickens's Village.

Had it not been for Lou Dibella's (the only man on the dais with a personality) quip that he had seen the Ghost of Christmas past trying to visit Seth Abraham seated in the Audience, the event would have passed without much ado at all.

So, Oscar De La Hoya is set to fight Derrell Coly on Feb 26, 2000 at Madison Square Garden. There seems to be only two points of interest here and one punch line.

1- Derrell Coly has passed up a title fight with Felix Trinidad to cash in on the big bucks (a cool million) and fight the erstwhile golden boy, Oscar DeLa Hoya.

2- This is a return trip of Oscar to MSG. His last performance here was four years ago in a non-competitive match against Jesse James Lieja. That night, 16,000 Oscar fans showed up to see Oscar. This is precisely what Bob Arum wants Don King to know: that with or without a title the fans will come to see Oscar (as in not Felix). And so they will come again to witness Senor Muy Guapo in an equally uninteresting bout against Derrell Coly .

Oh, they did feebly try to hype this fight. Coley played the forgotten victim. "It's about time" he said. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, thanks for showing up. Is it really you?' Blah, blah blah, and "I'll show you Feb. 26th I am the man." I would have punctuated is last statement with an exclamation point but that wouldn't convey to you the lack of lustre in his speech.

Oscar did his part in hyping Coley as a formidable opponent. But he also took the opportunity to throw a few jabs at Felix Trinidad "Nobody wants to fight Derrell Coly because his is dangerous. Even more dangerous than Felix Trinidad . . .OUCH!

And here's one for the judges: "I will return to my old style. You will not see me boxing on my toes. I can stand and take a punch. It's too bad that no one appreciates the art of boxing anymore. But you can't let the judges juggle your career around" Umph! And so he pledges to stand toe-to-toe in this next bout. Ta dah.

The punchline by now should be obvious. The inevitable rematch between Trinidad and De La Hoya is near. The lines have been drawn. Muscles are flexed and it's Oscar that the people come to see.

Translation, "yo queiro mucho dinero para jugar contigo" dice Oscar De La Hoya .