DE LA HOYA: THEY'LL COME TO ME.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL

Oscar De La Hoya isn't a champion at the moment. That'll change when he takes Javier Castillejo's WBC junior middleweight belt Saturday in Las Vegas.

Then, he contends, he'll be where he'd been almost his entire career when it comes to potential opponents: in the driver's seat.

``I'm going to call out whoever I want to fight, whether it's (Fernando) Vargas or (Felix) Trinidad or (Shane) Mosley,'' he said on a telephone conference call last week.

``They'll have to wait for me. I'll announce who I'm going to fight after this fight with Castillejo.''

Of course, De La Hoya got a little carried away.

Trinidad has no intention of fighting him any time soon. He has a date with Bernard Hopkins at middleweight and wants to move up to challenge light heavyweight champ Roy Jones Jr.

However, De La Hoya could be on target with Vargas and Mosley. After all, who are they going to fight to make good money if not De La Hoya?

Vargas has signed to fight Shibata Flores in September for the vacant WBA junior middleweight title. Assuming Vargas wins, he desperately wants De La Hoya no later than early next year to re-establish himself as an elite fighter and earn a big pay day.

And Mosley, perhaps the best fighter in the world, is in the same position as Jones: No one to fight. His most interesting possible opponents at welterweight are Andrew ``Six Heads'' Lewis and Vernon Forrest, and neither is inspiring.

He, too, needs De La Hoya.

And De La Hoya plans to use his leverage.

``Say I decide to fight Mosley,'' he said. ``He's making under $2 million a fight now. Just because I'm Oscar De La Hoya, he's going to ask for $10-15 million. That's not going to happen. I'll offer him more than he's making, but it won't be a ridiculous amount.

``He'll have to fight me on the date I choose and where I choose to fight for my title at 154 (pounds). If they want to make money, ... they'll have to fight on my terms.''

--Old school: De La Hoya has gone backward to move forward.

One of the first things that attracted him to Floyd Mayweather was the trainer's old-fashioned ideas about conditioning. De La Hoya, coming off two losses in his previous three fights, liked what he heard.

``The first time he mentioned chopping wood and running in boots, my dad was like, `We have to get Mayweather.' I was convinced,'' De La Hoya said. ``I believe, too, in old-school boxing.''

De La Hoya said he runs about five miles wearing boots every other day. He said the boots weigh two pounds each. And he chops wood to augment sparring and other boxing-related training.

``Our No. 1 worry was conditioning,'' he said. ``A lot of times I was fading in the second half of fights. Conditioning is so important.''

--De La Hoya was asked whether he's in the class as such greats as Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.

``Not yet,'' the 28-year-old said. ``I feel that because I lost a lot of time ... not training hard enough, not focusing on boxing, I need a couple of years to demonstrate to the boxing world what I'm all about.''

--Hall of Fame: Aaron Pryor heads the group of fighters that will be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in October.

Also selected were Antonio Cervantes, Nicolino Locche, Denny Moyer, Eusebio Pedroza and Pascual Perez. Those selected in the expanded category: promoter Don King, television commentator Jim Lampley and WBC president Jose Sulaiman.

Pryor (39-1, with 35 KOs) was a true ring marvel. He began throwing punches incessantly at the opening bell and didn't stop until it was over, more often than not with his opponent flat on his back.

``He was the Henry Armstrong of his era,'' one observer said.

Pryor defeated Cervantes to win the WBA junior welterweight title in 1980 and defended 10 times. He's best remembered for his knockouts of the great Alexis Arguello and his subsequent battles with drug abuse.

He would've finished his career with a perfect record had he not tried to make a comeback in 1987.

Cervantes, the greatest fighter ever from Colombia, was a two-time junior welterweight champ who defended 10 times. Locche, another junior welterweight champ, compiled the remarkable record of 117-4-14, with only 14 knockouts. Moyer held the junior middleweight title.

Pedroza, a Panamanian who fought most of the best featherweights of his time, held the WBA title for eight years and had 19 defenses. And Perez, like Locche an Argentine, held the flyweight championship from 1954 to 1960.

--According to Lampley: Lampley, who has been calling fights for HBO for 15 years, was asked to name the best fighters he's seen.

He came on the scene after the primes of Leonard, Hearns and Roberto Duran.

``I would say the three guys on top now - Jones, Trinidad and Mosley - are the best,'' he said. ``Oscar De La Hoya is very close, but he's not as a much a two-handed fighter.

``I've always thought his great weakness is he never had a great right hand. The most dangerous fighters hit with both hands.''

So who's the best among the top three?

``The best all around is Shane,'' he said. ``He has the most skills. ... All things being equal, if they fought at the same weight, I'd bet on Mosley.''

--Rabbit punches: Derek Gainer is off the Roy Jones Jr.-Julio Gonzalez card on July 28 at Staples Center and Andrew ``Six Heads'' Lewis is on.

Lewis will defend his WBA welterweight title against Ricardo Mayorga. Gainer, who had been scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez, reportedly had a falling out with Jones. ...

A new weekly television boxing series, ``ShoBox: The New Generation,'' debuts at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The series will run at least 26 weeks and will take place alternately in the United States and England.

Two undefeated fighters - Martin O'Malley (17-0, 14 KOs) and Leo Dorin (17-0, 6 KOs) - face off in a 10-round welterweight fight on the first card.

--Coming up: Kostya Tszyu defends his WBC and WBA junior welterweight titles against Oktay Urkal on Saturday in Uncasville, Conn., on Showtime.

Also on the card, Zab Judah defends his IBF junior welterweight belt against Allan Vester, and hot lightweight prospect Francisco Bojado of L.A. faces Glenn Forde. ...

David Toledo will face Victor Polo in a 12-round featherweight bout Tuesday in New York on ESPN2. ...

Robert ``Scrappy'' Ortiz of Simi Valley faces Geraldo Valencia on Thursday at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello. The card starts at 7 p.m.

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(color) Oscar De La Hoya says he's ``going to call out whoever I want to fight'' for his next opponent.

Lynsey Addario/Associated Press