DE LA HOYA CALLS STEWARD HIS TRAINER UNTIL THE END.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writer

Emanuel Steward and Oscar De La Hoya know a good thing when they see it. That's why they say this marriage is permanent.

Steward sees a fighter with unlimited potential, both in the ring and at the bank. De La Hoya sees a trainer with the ability and experience that will allow him to realize that potential.

Now that's a foundation for eternal love.

The public gets its first peak at the happy couple when De La Hoya defends his WBC welterweight title against David Kamau tonight in San Antonio.

``I'll be with Emanuel Steward until the end of my career,'' De La Hoya said. ``. . . Finally, I'm in there with a real pro.''

De La Hoya (24-0, with 20 knockouts) might have said the same thing about Steward's predecessor, Jesus Rivero, not long ago.

Rivero, who replaced inexperienced Robert Alcazar in 1995, was plucked out of Mexico after a 15-year hiatus from boxing. He was labeled a guru, who was as much a teacher of life as the fine points of boxing. And De La Hoya ate it up, at least at first.

Turns out Rivero wasn't much of a teacher of offense.

In his last two fights, against Miguel Angel Gonzalez in January and Pernell Whitaker in April, De La Hoya was an elusive target. At the same time, he repressed his own aggressive, even ferocious instincts in the name of defense.

A fighter who had dispatched of so many opponents with overwhelming ease had become a cautious, almost timid counterpuncher, an image so alien to what he'd known that he felt it necessary to fire his trainer.

Enter Steward, the trainer of champions, the trainer of Thomas Hearns, one of the most feared offensive fighters in history.

The two had met only a few times when promoter Bob Arum brought Steward to De La Hoya's home shortly after the Whitaker fight, in which De La Hoya struggled but pulled out a decision. Fighter and trainer connected instantly and a formidable team was born.

In the past month, at De La Hoya's Big Bear training camp, Steward has begun to loosen the chains that have restricted the champion. The De La Hoya who steps into the ring tonight, they say, will be a refined defensive fighter. He'll also be what Steward called ``a cold-blooded killer.''

``I'm going back to the old style,'' said De La Hoya, who seemed most paralyzed when he virtually abandoned his right hand in the Gonzalez fight. ``I'm going to try to get knockouts, be very aggressive. (Rivero) would get mad at me if I was too aggressive. Everything started with defense. That's just not me.

``. . . We've gone back to the old combinations. I'll be using the right hand a lot more, like Tommy Hearns, one of the best right hands in boxing. We're going to get knockouts with the right hand.''

Don't get De La Hoya or Steward wrong. Neither believes drastic changes were or are in order.

Steward didn't like what he saw in De La Hoya's past several fights, a boxer fighting in a way that didn't suit his talents, a fighter that at times seemed lost. In the Gonzalez fight, he had an unobstructed view: He was in the challenger's corner when he was outpointed by De La Hoya.

However, in terms of talent, he's known all along that this is an opportunity that comes a trainer's way maybe once - if that. It's no wonder that De La Hoya instantly became his primary focus, even with heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis already under his tutelage.

This trainer of so many wonderful fighters gushes over his latest protege.

``The first time we met for breakfast, he told me he wanted to be the greatest fighter of all time,'' Steward said. ``That means a lot. That means he's willing to sacrifice.

``. . . And the talent is just phenomenal. No fighter I've ever worked with has the speed and all-around talent and intensity that he has. It's almost frightening, his energy level. He works three, four times harder than the average boxer.

``He's so hungry to learn, to be great. That's very unusual. I'm more excited than I've been with any fighter.''

DE LA HOYA VS. KAMAU

Who: Oscar De La Hoya defends his WBC welterweight title against David Kamau.

When: Tonight at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

TV: Live on HBO, first fight at 6:30 p.m. (Note: ESPN will telecast tape of the De La Hoya-Genaro Hernandez fight at 5 p.m.)

The particulars: De La Hoya (24-0, 20) is coming off two relatively suspect performances - decision victories over Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Pernell Whitaker, the latter of which gave him the crown. With new trainer Emanuel Steward in his corner, he's expected to return to his more aggressive style. Kamau (28-1, 21) has fought only twice in 21 months . . . The tough, but vulnerable Kenyan lost to Julio Cesar Chavez on a controversial decision in Sept. 1995.

Also fighting: Hernandez defends his WBC junior lightweight title against Anatoly Alexandrov.

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Box: DE LA HOYA VS. KAMAU (see text)