THE MEDIA; HBO'S MERCHANT CAUGHT IN MIDDLE : WHAT SMOKES.

Byline: Tom Hoffarth

All because Larry Merchant made some clumsy remark about a mariachi band two months ago during an Oscar De La Hoya pay-per-view bout, HBO decided to pull him from its telecast of De La Hoya's next fight Saturday night.

Even though Merchant, who recognized later what he said might have been lost in the translation, apologized on the air twice and told De La Hoya's people he was sorry when that really wasn't necessary.

Sure, it's one of those issues that stinks of censorship, reeks of political correctness and is downright unfair.

``But then life isn't always fair,'' Merchant replied the other day from his Santa Monica home.

HBO, though, has been fair to him through all this, and he admits that. And in a strange way, the cable channel is probably is doing the right thing by separating Merchant from a situation that could get more ridiculous.

From HBO's perspective - which Merchant clearly understands, based on a 20-year relationship with the organization - this has more to do with giving promoter Bob Arum the illusion that he's won a small battle by looking good in front of the Latino community. It is hoped the entire thing will blow over before Arum can inflate any more.

It all goes back to the moments before De La Hoya got into the ring to fight Pernell Whitaker last April. Merchant wanted to make a sarcastic remark about how a mariachi band playing nearby was really an unnecessary ``marketing ploy'' - by Arum - to get the crowd on De La Hoya's side. Merchant also used the word ``sucks.''

What happened afterward was predictable considering it involved Arum, but even he took the sport to another new low.

Arum appealed to several Mexican-American civil rights groups to claim that Merchant hates their music, their culture and their symbol of pride - specifically, De La Hoya. So all of the sudden, the political atmosphere around San Antonio, Texas, where De La Hoya fights Saturday against David Kamau, became so anti-Merchant - and HBO, which has pumped about $5 million in promotion for this fight, received so many letters and faxes of protest - the cable channel saw reason enough to try to squash Arum's ill-placed revenge tactics.

Merchant, a print and TV journalist for more than 40 years, knows he's not supposed to be the story. That's why he calls this whole incident ``a really interesting experience. So many people have opinions about this and so few have asked me about it.

``I'm not crazy about setting a precedent or appeasing `know-nothing-ism.' Neither is HBO.''

Fact is, the real reason Merchant hasn't made such a public fuss of all this is because of the way HBO has remarkably stood behind him in the past.

When Mike Tyson resumed his boxing career last year and began negotiations with HBO about an exclusive contract - much as they had at the beginning of Tyson's career - Tyson's people wanted no part of Merchant on the broadcasts. They thought he was too critical. HBO wouldn't back down. Tyson and promoter Don King eventually went with Showtime.

Time and time again, boxers and their promoters have been livid about Merchant's TV analysis and demanded he be taken off the air. HBO, despite long-term contracts with some of these fighters, tells these high-strung folks directly that Merchant is not there to hype their guy.

As for De La Hoya, Merchant feels that ``no one has had higher praise for him than me, especially in fights where he didn't live up to expectations.'' Still, the 24-year-old who has a multiyear, multifight deal with HBO has been put in a position by Arum to be critical of Merchant.

In a conference call with reporters two weeks ago to promote De La Hoya-Kamau, Arum continued his assault: ``To say that any promoter is pandering to Mexican or Mexican-American fans by playing music that's associated with them says they're dumb, stupid people, that if you play a song for them, that suffices to have them support what you want to do. That's absolutely outrageous. And until Larry realizes how outrageous that is, the Mexican-American community is going to oppose him.''

Merchant has worked four fights for HBO since the De La Hoya-Whitaker fight, and ``some guys in the crowd have taken shots at me, and that's OK.''

But what Merchant calls the ``most unpleasant part of all this'' is to be unfairly accused of bigotry.

``When an activist group tries to use really a minor incident to promote their bigger agenda and tries to get me fired - here's a civil-rights group challenging my civil rights. It's one of the oddest things I've ever experienced.

``The world of political correctness is interesting. What if I really didn't like mariachi music? Can't I say that? And why does it mean I do or don't like De La Hoya?

``But that's show biz. I've been around this long enough that I should have understood what was going to happen. In this arena, people listen with their hearts, and words can be incendiary. Most only half-heard what I said because they were interested in the fight coming up. In a show-and-tell business, the show is more important than that tell.

``If people are really offended, I'll apologize. I had to argue with my bosses (at HBO) just to be able to apologize on the air - they didn't think what I said was anything. Instead, I wasn't smart enough to realize that a rather notorious self-promoter would make an issue out of something that could make himself out to be the hero. To me, it's a little below the belt; it's more than payback.''

And what else is new in boxing.

Fox Sports West 2 perseveres to reach the two-million subscriber mark by adding three cable systems this week, including Falcon Cable (Agoura, Malibu, Thousand Oaks). All the excuses that cable companies have used for not adding it - and accusing Fox of arm-twisting tactics in the process - are finally wearing thin. It's a combination of Rupert Murdoch's interest in buying the Dodgers (and putting more games on FSW2 next year) and that his involvement in cable-rival EchoStar has come and gone (he just bought the Family Channel and a stake in PrimeStar, which will help cable rather than hurt it). The last major targets for FSW2 are Comcast (282,000 subscribers) and Century (333,000), with Ted Turner's Time-Warner (444,000) holding firm in its anti-Murdoch stance. Those three would push FSW2 to over 3 million and nearly reach its maximum area of coverage. ``We're in great shape,'' said FSW chief Kitty Cohen. ``I'd say we're a viable network now. I'm a believer in there's virtually always room for compelling programming. If not today, then the next day.''

WHAT CHOKES

Sports-talk radio show hosts brought into a reputable television political talk shows to get audience reaction with sound-bite logic. Granted, in the format of ABC's ``Politically Incorrect,'' Jim Rome has as much reason to be a guest has anyone else, as he was Tuesday, even though there are a dozen more-qualified current or former sports-talk hosts who could more than hold their own on a show like that (Fred Wallin, Joe McDonnell, Steve Edwards) but lack the national exposure or agent representation. ``Throw the switch . . . he's a babykiller'' in reference to Timothy McVeigh and discussing redemption for adultery with Rev. Jerry Fallwell are real, live issues that those consumed with the not-based-in-reality sports-talk mentality can't always comprehend. Let those who know what they're talking about talk about those things that can incite an otherwise lynch-mob audience. ``Props'' to Rome for doing his job on the show. Just don't make it look too easy for other knuckleheads in the sports-talk genre to demand equal time.