BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Oscar De La Hoya doesn't want to be
an actor or singer anymore. He just wants to box, and his entire
focus is on his rematch with Shane Mosley.
"This is the big one. This is for all the marbles,'' De La Hoya
said Wednesday. "I will definitely be hungrier than ever, more
than what I was for (Fernando) Vargas, because the fact that Mosley
beat me.''
De La Hoya has sought rematches with Mosley and Felix Trinidad,
the only fighters to beat him. But Trinidad says he's retired, so
De La Hoya is going after Mosley.
Mosley defeated De La Hoya in a 12-round decision in June 2000
in Los Angeles.
"He never hurt me,'' Mosley said, smiling. "He hit me with a
left hook and it didn't hurt.''
Their rematch for the super welterweight title is Sept. 13 at
the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"I took the fight because I need to get myself back on top,''
said Mosley, who will receive $4.5 million -- the amount he got
three years ago.
"He's probably going to make close to $20 (million).''
But outside the ring, there's no animosity between the two local
fighters who have known each other for years. De La Hoya grew up in
East Los Angeles, while Mosley is from suburban Pomona.
"I respect him and he's a good man,'' said Mosley, who knows
his importance to De La Hoya now that Trinidad is out of the
picture.
"I'm fortunate to get this opportunity. At the same token,
Oscar is fortunate to be able to fight me again, so we're fortunate
to have each other.''
Neither fighter knocked the other at a news conference, although
De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., took a few shots at
Mosley by reciting an expletive-laced poem.
"He doesn't do the talking for me, but he gets under the skin
of my opponents,'' De La Hoya said of Mayweather, clad in a pale
pink suit. "He might hurt his image, but not mine.''
Mosley and his father-trainer Jack laughed at Mayweather's
rhymes. But Mosley gave Mayweather little credit for improving De
La Hoya's fighting style.
"He's still the same De La Hoya to me, but there's some things
he added to his technique,'' he said. "I can do a lot of different
things. I can attack, I can box, I can go side-to-side. I can
really change my style up in the fight, whereas De La Hoya has to
work on a certain style and implement that certain style. That's
going to be the difference in the fight.''
De La Hoya said he's analyzed tape of the first bout "forever
and forever.''
"I should have used more jabs,'' he said. "I wasn't in good
shape. This time around it's a whole different story.''
After watching the tape an estimated 50 times, De La Hoya scored
the first half in his favor and the second half for Mosley.
"I felt like the loser that night,'' he said. "He didn't blow
me away whatsoever. It was such a close fight. I thought it would
have gone to me.''
Mosley used his speed to beat De La Hoya, who is working on
using his right hand more.
"What I have to do to counter that is use a lot of jabs, like
there is no tomorrow,'' De La Hoya said. "Now I can put my punches
together with my right hand.''
Since beating De La Hoya, Mosley has lost twice to Vernon
Forrest and in February his fight with Raul Marquez was declared a
no contest because Marquez was cut in head butts.
"It's not like I've been winning and this is going to be
another fight,'' he said. "I lost a couple of times and I'm
hungry. I want to win and he wants to win, so it's going to be a
terrific fight.''
De La Hoya retained his 154-pound title by beating Yory Boy
Campas two weeks ago. He sprained his left hand in the bout, and
began rehabilitation Wednesday.
"I would think in three weeks it's behind us,'' said Tony Daly,
De La Hoya's physician. "I don't anticipate any problems.''
Promoter Bob Arum said less than 2,400 of the 15,000 tickets
remain available at a cost of $800 and $1,200.