LEFT EYE CUT WORSE THAN FIRST REPORTED
The best welterweight fight in 17 years between Oscar De La Hoya and Ike Quartey has been
postponed due to a cut suffered by WBC champion De La Hoya in training. The November 21,
match at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas will now take place on either February
6, or 13.
ARUM AT 4:00 ET
De La Hoya's promoter Bob Arum said that "Oscar was told by a plastic surgeon to not
spar for three to four weeks." Arum then looked at the month of January and found
that the Pay Per View dates are slim as Mike Tyson is expected to fight on January 16,
with George Foreman and Larry Holmes going on January 23.
WHO, WHEN, & HOW?
Although the sparring partner was not identified, the incident took place in De La Hoya's
Big Bear training camp last Friday when the spar mate missed with an uppercut, and caught
De La Hoya with the laces of his gloves. This resulted in a gash on the left eyelid.
AMATEUR CORNER STRIKES AGAIN?
The fact that the laces of a sparring partner were exposed is in itself an indictment of
De La Hoya's trainer Robert Alcazar. For anybody boxing my fighter, be it a Golden Glover'
or a Golden Boy, I would (and did) inspect the other fighter's equipment and exposed laces
were a no-no.
TROUBLED OPTIC SWOLLEN
Besides the cut, the left eye was extremely swollen with approximately a 50% loss of
vision. This is the same eye that has puffed up on a number of occasions in the past for
De La Hoya, most notably after his last fight with Julio Cesar Chavez, and when he fought
Miguel Angel Gonzalez in 1997.
Pedro Fernandez
The writer has his own site at www.fighters.com and
can be reached at
flash@inow.com