IT ALL RIDES ON HIS LEFT.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Boxing

When Oscar De La Hoya is throwing, and landing, his left hook to the head, it's a beautiful thing to see. It is his best, and most destructive, punch.

De La Hoya devastated Rafael Ruelas with that left hook in his first super bout in May 1995. He used it to flatten Ruelas before stopping him in the second round.

That same left hook to the head was what decked Ike Quartey in the 12th round in February 1999 to help De La Hoya gain a split-decision victory in a hotly contested fight.

Then there was the one that destroyed Fernando Vargas in September 2002.

The left hook to the head that dropped Vargas in the 11th round was vicious - picture-perfect.

And though Vargas did get up, he was in la-la land and was stopped later in the round.

Yet, in De La Hoya's last two fights - the rematch against ``Sugar'' Shane Mosley a year ago today and the fight against Felix Sturm on June 5 - the left hook to the head was nearly nonexistent. Consequently, De La Hoya lost a close decision to Mosley, and won a narrow decision over Sturm, who had fought nobody of note. On Saturday, when De La Hoya squares off with Bernard Hopkins for the world middleweight championship at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, De La Hoya had better be throwing that left hook to the head, or he has zero chance of winning.

So where, oh where has that left hook gone? Is De La Hoya's left hand still bothering him after two surgeries, one to the hand, one to the wrist? Or is his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., responsible for the change?

Mayweather insists he is not the culprit. Then again, perhaps he is.

``Well, that is his best punch,'' Mayweather said of the left hook. ``The thing is, you can't depend on one hand, man. You gotta use both hands. If you're a fighter, man, you got two guns, you use two guns.

``If you're an old gun in the Old West, if you are going to have a draw with somebody, the man with two guns got a better chance than the man with one.''

This is true, but it stands to reason that if a gunfighter is faster and more accurate with a certain hand, you can believe he will be smart enough to draw with that hand first.

That said, Mayweather was asked if he has tried to dissuade De La Hoya from using the hook as a way of getting De La Hoya to become more of a two-fisted puncher. Remember, De La Hoya never has had much of a right hand.

He is a converted left-hander, and that's probably why.

``There is nothing I took from him, as far as the hook,'' Mayweather said. ``When I'm in the gym, I hold the pads and he can throw a hook as hard as he wants to, as hard as he has ever been throwing it.

``My thing is trying to help him put his right hand with the left hook. Whether he is throwing an uppercut, left hook, right hand, whatever, put the punches together. You can't put the punches together with one punch because it is the hardest punch; you ain't going to knock everybody out anyway.

``You got to group your punches.''

Richard Schaefer, who is De La Hoya's adviser and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said that as far as he knows, De La Hoya's left hand is not bothering him.

``The left has not caused him any problems in this camp, nothing I've heard of,'' Schaefer said.

However, it should be noted that De La Hoya did complain of pain in the hand prior to the rematch with Mosley. The last of his two surgeries that came six months apart was in mid-2002.

De La Hoya, for his part, has gone on record as saying that he did not throw his left hook much against Mosley in the rematch because he was tired, especially late in the fight, and that the left hook takes a lot of energy.

--Marquez on undercard: Juan Manuel Marquez (42-2-1, 33 KOs) of Mexico City will attempt to successfully defend his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association featherweight belts against countryman Orlando Salido (23-8-2, 15 KOs) in the semi-main event.

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