DE LA HOYA `ANXIOUS'.

Byline: Robert Morales Boxing

It was Friday night, and Oscar De La Hoya had completed his day of training in Puerto Rico, where he lives with his wife Millie and their infant son Oscar Gabriel.

"I just sparred 10 rounds," De La Hoya said via telephone. "I'm feeling really good. I am more anxious than nervous. I think when I first started training camp, the first couple of weeks I was like, 'What am I doing getting back in the ring?' But I feel very, very anxious right now."

On May 6 in Las Vegas, De La Hoya will challenge Ricardo Mayorga for his World Boxing Council super welterweight belt.

When De La Hoya climbs into the ring, it will have been a year and nearly eight months since his last fight, which was hardly a success. He got stopped in the ninth round by Bernard Hopkins on Sept. 18, 2004, in a challenge for the undisputed middleweight championship.

At 33, he is three years past the age at which he long ago said he would retire. He has won championships in a record six weight classes. He has more money than he'll ever know what to do with, thanks to some large purses over a 13-year career, and because of the success of his Golden Boy Promotions, which has become a major player in a short time.

No one would have blamed De La Hoya if he had called it quits after Hopkins stopped him with one vicious left hook to the body. But here De La Hoya is, days away from squaring off with Mayorga, who is short on technique, but long on power.

"I think it is the challenge," De La Hoya said. "The challenge of facing the best in the ring. I'm a very competitive person and my physical (ability) and my mind still feel like I can call myself world champion.

"I still believe I can retire as world champion, and I accept the fact that this is my last opportunity. That is the reason I have decided to fight this one. And if everything goes well, then go ahead and have a farewell fight in September."

Surely, he must have missed basking in the limelight during his time away from the ring.

Not so, said De La Hoya, of East Los Angeles.

"I don't need it," said De La Hoya, who is 37-4 with 29 knockouts.

"I'm not really hungry for that. I've had it throughout my whole career and obviously I appreciate it. Obviously, without the fans, I wouldn't be in this position. But once I retire, it's definite. I'm not going to have to come back because I miss the limelight, or the cheering.

"I've broken it down. There are several reasons why fighters come back. Obviously, the monetary (part), that's one. Two is because they have nothing else to do other than boxing - they have to fight. And three is because they miss the limelight.

"I'm in a position that I don't need any of that. I don't really have to live off that. I have my businesses and my company to fall back on. That is one of the reasons why I did turn promoter because I will still be involved in the game. I'll still be around the fans and listening to the cheering. So, it's going to be OK once I retire."

But it will only really be OK, De La Hoya admitted, if he retires on a winning note. Being stopped by Hopkins was one thing, but being stopped by a body shot has been difficult for De La Hoya to swallow. He was losing the fight by two, four and six points on the scorecards, but he was hardly taking a beating from Hopkins, who is considered one of the top middleweights in history.

Now, it appears, Mayorga (28-5-1, 23 KOs) has put himself in the position to deal with the wrath of De La Hoya, whose movie-star looks mask what's on the inside 1/3 a proud fighter with a lot of fire in his belly. De La Hoya has the burning desire to again be a world champion, but Mayorga and his foul mouth have ignited something even deeper.

It's one thing to talk bad about an opponent, but bringing his wife into it is another thing entirely. Mayorga has not only started pushing and shoving matches with De La Hoya at news conferences, he has brought Millie into the fray.

"He has just been saying that after the fight he is going to grab Millie for one night and that he is going to show her what a man really is," De La Hoya said. "And that she is just a woman from the streets and things like that."

Now those are fighting words. But De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said De La Hoya must be careful and not let his dislike for Mayorga control his thinking during the fight.

If De La Hoya beats Mayorga, he said he is hopeful his "farewell" fight in September would be against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

But if he loses to Mayorga, De La Hoya said he would then retire and not fight in September.

--Hang 'em up: We have only one word for Chris Byrd, who Saturday lost his International Boxing Federation heavyweight belt to Wladimir Klitschko via seventh-round technical knockout: Retire.

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