Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya has completed his heavy work for Saturday's lightweight title bout against Rafael Ruelas, and, after 158 rounds of sparring, will spend the final days of preparation shadowboxing and doing light drills. "We've never sparred more than 120 rounds before," trainer Robert Alcazar said, "but we wanted to be especially ready for this fight."

With the economy in a nose dive, how many people will pay $54.95 to buy Saturday's telecast of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight? It's an intriguing matchup. De La Hoya, the sport's most popular fighter, against Pacquiao, the current lightweight champion who's the world's top-ranked boxer pound for pound, in a bout set at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. De La Hoya will make his first return to Las Vegas since his epic fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Give up without a fight? Never. Not Ike Quartey. Not even with malaria racking his body. Not even when the pain was so bad he was doubled over. The man described as Quartey's "spiritual advisor," Dr. Oko Kwate Kwei, assured him that his fight against Jose Lopez, set for Oct. 17, 1997, in Ledyard, Conn., could be rescheduled. Probably should be rescheduled. Quartey's trainer, Dan Odamtten, told him not to fight until the malaria passed. Quartey's promoter, Dino Duva, told him not to fight.

Oba Carr insists he isn't concerned about his opponent in the opposite corner Saturday night--Oscar De La Hoya. That's because Carr is convinced he knows who is in his corner--God. Athletes seeking divine blessings and guidance are nothing new. They have long looked to the heavens for protection from injury, for a source of inspiration, for a well from which to draw strength.

For Oscar De La Hoya, a.k.a. "Golden Boy," the hype stops here. Tonight, at the MGM Grand Garden, discussions about him move from future tense to present. It's nice when George Foreman says, "I can't see anyone stopping him." And when promoter Bob Arum says, "We believe Oscar De La Hoya will be one of the greatest fighters ever in boxing." But at some point, a fighter must make a leap of faith, ready or not.

Promoter Bob Arum predicts that tonight's blockbuster welterweight match between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad at the Mandalay Bay Events Center will be "a walk in the park" for De La Hoya. Yeah, Central Park. At midnight. With muggers out in full force. Don't get me wrong, De La Hoya will win. Because although Trinidad brings to the table more raw power--and the ability to deliver it--than anyone De La Hoya has faced, Trinidad can't match De La Hoya in any other category.

Much has changed for Rafael Ruelas in the four years since he last fought at the Reseda Country Club. Ruelas, 25, is the veteran of a fistful of stormy professional bouts and on the comeback trail, rather than among the up and coming. He's still rebounding from a devastating loss to Oscar De La Hoya. But one fact will ring familiar for Ruelas tonight when he faces Javier Arce in a 10-round junior welterweight bout--he is seeking a world title.

Junior lightweight Genaro Hernandez stopped Jorge Paez on cuts after eight rounds of a non-title bout, but he lost a little clout in his ongoing public relations war with Oscar De La Hoya with an unimpressive performance Friday night at The Pond before 12,479 fans. In the main event, Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez pounded Jesus Zuniga for four rounds, then finished him off with a wicked left-right combination in the fifth.