Boxers

Driving north on Vine Street in Hollywood, just above Santa Monica Boulevard, it'd be easy to miss the home gym of the world's best boxer, Manny Pacquiao, and his equally respected trainer, Freddie Roach. It's across from a Taco Bell and just south of a Vagabond Inn and an Armenian Church, tucked in a nondescript strip mall with Nat's Thai Food, Nirvana Massage, Susie's Designs, a laundromat, a beer/wine market and an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting room.

Oscar De La Hoya, 36, announced his retirement from boxing Tuesday after a decorated professional career of more than 16 years that included a record six world titles in different divisions, 10 belts in all and a secured standing as the most lucrative fighter in boxing history. Four months removed from being battered over eight rounds by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, De La Hoya (39-6, 30 knockouts) announced at downtown's L.A.

It came as fast and swift as a punch thrown seconds after the opening bell. Boxer Floyd Mayweather held a media conference call Tuesday to promote his return to the ring Sept. 19 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand in a welterweight fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, but questions about two separate police cases quickly came up. "My main thing is to focus on the fight," Mayweather said. "Anything else, I'm not worried about. I try to focus on positive things." Las Vegas police are investigating a shooting outside a skating rink, and last week seized two handguns, ammunition and two bulletproof vests from Mayweather's home and two cars.

Boxer Oscar De La Hoya is strongly considering retirement, but isn't ready to pull the trigger on his career just yet. "I'm still confused," De La Hoya said Friday in a lengthy telephone interview from his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "I'm torn between saying, 'It's over. 'Bye. I don't have it anymore,' and knowing if I'll be able to live with that. It's a tough decision, not easy at all." De La Hoya, 36, is less than three months removed from his one-sided Dec.

Brazilian authorities detained the wife of former boxing champion Arturo Gatti and formally accused her Sunday of killing him at a posh seaside tourist resort. Police said 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues was taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation and presented a formal accusation against her. Prosecutors will later decide whether she will be charged.

The ongoing revival of boxing, boosted by bouts between the best fighters in the world, has an odd man out. His name is Paul Williams. He has a 33-0 record with 24 knockouts, a unanimous decision over former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito last July, and the intimidating tools that come with being a frequent-punching, 6-foot-1 southpaw with an 84-inch reach.

NEWBRIDGE, Wales -- In the valleys here just north of Cardiff, unknown to the world until a recent bit of fame trickled in, two men have been conducting one of those daunting earthly experiments. Yet again, an irascible father has trained his irascible son in the emotionally freighted pursuit of boxing, and although this act of near-lunacy occurs fairly often in the sport, these two have been at it for almost three decades, attempting to refrain from strangling one another.

Oscar De La Hoya said Monday he is confident his reunion with trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. will not only help him defeat underdog Steve Forbes on Saturday at Home Depot Center, but also will ensure a victory in his rematch with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September. In a live chat with Times readers on latimes.com, De La Hoya told a questioner that he "absolutely" will retain Mayweather Sr. for the anticipated showdown. Mayweather Jr.

The two questions that lingered longest after Oscar De La Hoya's 12-round dominance of Steve Forbes on Saturday night were these: If he can't knock out Forbes, how is he going to knock out Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September? When was the last time Oscar fought so energetically in the final rounds? To the first question, De La Hoya's trainer and Mayweather Jr.'s father, Floyd Sr.

"Sugar" Shane Mosley's scheduled May 31 welterweight fight against former world champion Zab Judah has been canceled, and is in jeopardy of not being rescheduled, Judah's manager said Thursday. The manager, Michael Shinefield, said Judah, 30, suffered a badly cut right arm May 1 when he slipped in a Las Vegas boxing gym's shower and fell through a glass shower door.