MAYORGA IS LOOKING FOR A FIGHT NICARAGUAN HOPING DE LA HOYA WILL BRAWL, NOT BOX.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS -- There is no question Ricardo Mayorga is hopeful all the trash he has been talking will make Oscar De La Hoya want to go right at him when they square off tonight at MGM Grand.

``It's nice to hear he has so much hate for me,'' said Mayorga, who will be defending his World Boxing Council super welterweight belt. ``We'll see if he demonstrates how much hate he has for me by standing in the middle of the ring and fighting with me.''

De La Hoya, 33, of East Los Angeles, is 37-4 with 29 knockouts. Mayorga, 32, of Nicaragua, is 28-5-1 with 23 knockouts. Both fighters weighed in at 153 pounds.

De La Hoya, who will be fighting for the first time since being knocked out by Bernard Hopkins in September 2004, has made it clear how much he dislikes Mayorga. For De La Hoya, this is rare. He has, for the most part, treated all of his opponents with respect during his 13-year professional career.

The only other fighter who irritated De La Hoya is Fernando Vargas, and De La Hoya knocked him out in the 11thround in September 2002.

De La Hoya said he believes many people still expect him to stick and move and not allow for many toe-to-toe exchanges because he hasn't fought in 20months, and because Mayorga, though very wild, can do damage with some of the haymakers he unleashes. Vernon Forrest was stunningly knocked out by Mayorga in the third round in January 2003 in a welterweight title unification fight.

``You know, people will think that I'll be boxing this guy and dancing and boxing,'' De La Hoya said. ``You know, a lot of people are going to be very surprised that I will stay right in front of him."

But De La Hoya won't just stand there and exchange punches. He is easily the superior boxer of the two and he plans on utilizing the basic elements of the sweet science.

``Obviously as a smart boxer, I'll know how to move my head and use my defense, but you know, guys like this who hit hard and who are wild, are guys that you have to know how to maneuver, and the more you box them, obviously the more pressure they'll put on you,'' De La Hoya said.

``So, you have to know how to stand your ground and keep your distance and just be careful, so this fighter here is going to make me so aware and keep me on my toes, and make me fight as hard as I can. He's going to bring out the best in me, which I'm really looking forward to.''

During his first training camp in some time, De La Hoya and his handlers have tried to cover all the bases. They have used a variety of sparring partners to recreate the odd angles from which Mayorga punches.

``The key to this is to bring in different sparring partners on a regular basis to keep Oscar always guessing in practice because that is very similar to what the fight is going to be like,'' said De La Hoya's brother, Joel Jr., who will assist trainer Floyd Mayweather.

Said Mayweather: ``It is very difficult to train for Ricardo Mayorga because he is so unpredictable and sneaky. He will shove you, punch you in the back of the head, throw you on the ground.''

There is the ring rust that all fighters must contend with after a lengthy layoff. Then again, De La Hoya was off for 15 months before stopping Vargas.

``We'll we prepared for everything,'' De La Hoya said. ``I started training four months in advance in order to get the rust out to make sure that the timing and the power is there, the speed is there. Actually just about (a month) ago is when I finally felt it click in me, that my speed was there, my power, my timing.''

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