DE LA HOYA THREW THIS ONE AWAY.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal

Oscar De La Hoya can blame only himself for what happened here Saturday.

Quite simply, he fought one of the most stupid fights in recent boxing history.

Sure, a bad decision by the judges gave Felix Trinidad the victory in their much-hyped welterweight title-unification fight.

De La Hoya out-landed Trinidad 263-166, according to computer statistics, in which a technician at ringside is assigned to each fighter and tallies each punch as it lands.

Such figures certainly aren't fool-proof, but they provide another, meaningful perspective of the fight.

Also, De La Hoya was a convincing winner in an informal poll of 21 of the nation's top boxing writers after the fight. Sixteen had De La Hoya winning, three gave it to Trinidad and two saw it as a draw. The Daily News had it 116-114 in favor of De La Hoya.

Again, that's hardly the bottom line - but it makes one think.

It wasn't the abominable decision that turned the heavyweight meeting between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis into a sick joke. It was poor scoring that gave the wrong man a majority decision and two of the three welterweight titles.

However, all that shouldn't have mattered: De La Hoya should never have put himself in a position to lose.

For at least eight rounds, he did exactly what he set out to do: He avoided punches with constant movement and landed enough of his own to take a commanding lead. It was the impressive boxing clinic he claimed it was.

Even the misguided judges had him ahead. After eight rounds, he led by one, two and two points on the three cards.

Then, certain he had the fight won, he coasted in the last three or four rounds. And why not? He couldn't lose. Then he did. He lost the final three rounds on two cards and two on the third to blow the fight, his perfect record and his WBC championship.

What were De La Hoya, trainer Robert Alcazar and veteran adviser Gil Clancy thinking?

History has told us there is no sure thing in boxing, even in a city in which everyone believed Trinidad would have a tough time winning a decision.

You simply don't take such chances, particularly with so much at stake.

All De La Hoya had to do was continue to make Trinidad miss and counter with sharp combinations - as he had done magnificently well in the first eight rounds - to win one or two of the final rounds and the fight.

Instead, he gave it all away, a fact that could haunt De La Hoya the rest of his life.

Damage assessment: How much damage has De La Hoya done to his career?

Not much, assuming he's able to bounce back from this disappointment and fight as he's capable of fighting.

With the lone exception of Rocky Marciano, they all lose. Ali lost. Leonard lost. Their careers didn't suffer afterward. They continued to flourish because of their unique abilities and personalities, as De La Hoya likely will do.

Without question, De La Hoya remains the biggest draw outside the heavyweight division.

The loss and his tactics - effective, but boring to all but the boxing purists - probably don't help in the short run. However, it's nothing a few exciting victories wouldn't cure.

Of course, that would include an inevitable rematch. Ali avenged his loss (the first of his career) to Joe Frazier and was bigger than ever. Leonard avenged his loss to Roberto Duran (his first) and was bigger than ever.

If De La Hoya beats Trinidad in a second meeting . . . you got it, bigger than ever.

And if a rematch doesn't happen? Not the end of the world. There are several big-money fights out there for him: David Reid, Fernando Vargas, Ike Quartey a second time, to name a few.

Expect De La Hoya to move up to the 154-pound junior middleweight division to challenge WBC champion Francisco Castillejo at the new Staples Center either early next year, an easy victory.

Then, probably in May, he'll have another big fight.

For the record, De La Hoya said after the fight that he plans to take ``a long time off'' because he's disgusted with boxing.

Don't believe it. He has said it before and has too much going for him to stay away long.

Rematch?: The promoters are going to make it difficult to make the rematch.

Don King, Trinidad's promoter, wants to reverse all the terms of the first contract. Among many things, that means his fighter would make twice the money in a rematch and stage the fight where he chooses. Trinidad said Sunday that he would like to fight in Puerto Rico.

The reaction of Bob Arum, De La Hoya's promoter? No way. He believes it's his fighter who - regardless of the first fight - brings in the fans and the terms of any contract should reflect that.

See why this could get sticky?

However, King and Trinidad will probably cave in at some point and agree to split the pie about in half. After all, against what other fighter could Trinidad make more than $10 million?

Ike Quartey? Ha. The De La Hoya-Trinidad match reportedly drew more than one million pay-per-view buys primarily because of De La Hoya's name. Trinidad-Quartey, a compelling matchup, might draw 300,000, 400,000 at the very most.

Get the picture? Trinidad needs De La Hoya.

Upbeat: De La Hoya was in a state of disbelief at the post-fight news conference but somehow upbeat.

``Now I know how Lennox Lewis felt,'' he said. ``Let's give him the last four rounds. Eight to four? I'm not hurt, I'm not disappointed. If I felt like a defeated fighter, I would feel bad and admit I lost. At least I can feel in my heart that I did a good job out there.

``I tried to box. People are so used to watching me fight and brawl. For one time, I wanted to box and just show a little boxing lesson. I guess that wasn't enough for the people at ringside.''

He went on.

``It's hard to deal with, but this is boxing. . . . As far as I'm concerned I just put on a good performance. I'm not discouraged whatsoever.''

Frustration: Felix Trinidad Sr., the fighter's father and trainer, criticized De La Hoya's run-and-shoot tactics, which he said frustrated his son.

``When one boxer doesn't want to go through combat and the other comes for a real fight, it's difficult,'' he said.

``It was like a street fight. . . . Tito did fight, he did what he had to do. He was the dominant person in the ring.''

The younger Trinidad ridiculed his opponent.

He used a nickname he borrowed from veteran boxing writer Michael Katz of the New York Daily News - ``Chicken De La Hoya'' - and then served up the ultimate insult when he was asked what he had said to Julio Cesar Chavez at ringside after the fight.

``I just said to him that he's a real Mexican champion,'' he said. ``And De La Hoya is not because of the way he ran away. He's not a Mexican fighter.''

Next up: Trinidad is expected to face WBA champ James Page perhaps early next year in an attempt to unify the three welterweight titles.

Trinidad, while disappointing against De La Hoya, is too talented for the tough Page.

Did he or didn't he?: De La Hoya claimed that Trinidad congratulated him for winning the bout before the scorecards were read.

Trinidad denied it on Sunday.

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PHOTO (color) Felix Trinidad, wearing two championship belts, and promoter Don King could make it tough for Oscar De La Hoya to get a rematch if they don't lower their financial demands.

Eric Draper/Associated Press