Oscar De La Hoya

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.

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.

The landmark Sears, Roebuck & Co. building in East Los Angeles is back on the market after a final purchase agreement with popular boxer Oscar De La Hoya and his partners was not reached by year end, the owner said Tuesday. De La Hoya's team acknowledged plans last summer to acquire the 23-acre property on Olympic Boulevard for about $70 million and turn it into a housing and shopping complex.

Oscar De La Hoya had never been to the Home Depot Center in Carson before Tuesday. As he looked over the 27,000-seat facility and listened to plans to bring in mariachi music, special food and drink stations and other entertainment for his "homecoming" Cinco de Mayo weekend fight May 3 against veteran Steve Forbes, De La Hoya said he experienced "chills."

BALCO founder Victor Conte on Tuesday said former world champion boxer Shane Mosley knew "exactly and precisely what he was doing" when he engaged in a doping program before his 2003 victory over Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley last week sued Conte for slander and libel after Conte said he was planning a new book that would "set the record straight" on Mosley's knowledge about using the designer steroids known as "the clear" and "the cream," and the blood-doping drug EPO.

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.

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 was not revealed, 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.

Pay no mind to the sports book, Steve Forbes insists. Certainly, he didn't look at the odds himself as he was leaving training camp in Las Vegas en route to L.A. for Saturday night's fight against Oscar De La Hoya. The 35-year-old De La Hoya is a staggering 18-to-1 favorite, according to the MGM/Mirage sports book. "Somebody forgot to tell me that," Forbes (33-5, nine knockouts) said this week as he concluded preparations for the bout at the Home Depot Center's soccer stadium in Carson.

Tonight, in a soccer stadium at the Home Depot Center in Carson, a boxing promotion will be interrupted by an actual boxing match. For an hour or so, the selling will rest while the product performs. But soon, presuming Oscar De La Hoya doesn't wander into one of Steve Forbes' fists and remain on the mat for 10 seconds or more, the promotion machine will crank up again. Don't mistake this for smug sarcasm. (Heaven forbid.

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.