Like an aging rock ‘n’ roll band that announces its farewell tour in a bid to cash in one last time, Oscar De La Hoya is embarking on his own version of the long goodbye. The Golden Boy’s retirement tour starts with a bout versus Steve Forbes on Saturday, and is supposed to culminate with a September rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and a December bout against an opponent to be determined.

Saturday’s fight, which takes place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, will be the first time De La Hoya has fought in his hometown of Southern California since his 2001 destruction of Arturo Gatti. Like Gatti, Forbes is another natural 140-pound fighter moving up in weight class for a once-in-a-lifetime crack at the Golden Boy. The bout will also be broadcast on regular HBO and not pay-per-view, as a “thank-you” to all the loyal De La Hoya fans. These next few months will be a time for fans and fight scribes alike to wax poetic and nostalgic about the legacy of De La Hoya and the impact that he’s had on the sport. But storybook endings are for storybooks, and although De La Hoya is expected to get past the smaller Forbes, assuming he will beat Mayweather this time around and then his December opponent—who could be the tough Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto—is a tall order.

De La Hoya, 38-5 (43), is more part-time boxer and full-time CEO of his fledgling Golden Boy Promotions, which promises to be the future of boxing once Don King and Bob Arum exit the stage. But the Golden Boy has proven that a part-time 35-year-old fighter can still be a formidable force, as he showed in his 6th round obliteration of Ricardo Mayorga and his competitive loss to Mayweather, a fight in which many believe De La Hoya was winning after six rounds. Still, De La Hoya knows the importance of not overlooking his “tune-up” opponent, a lesson he learned in 2004, when he squeaked by middleweight Felix Sturm in a fight many believed Sturm won. In that fight, De La Hoya showed up undertrained and started out throwing blistering combinations, as if he thought he could blast Sturm out of there in one round. As the fight progressed, Sturm’s educated jab increasingly found the mark, and a tiring and frustrated De La Hoya had to rely on his late round flurries to salvage the fight.

Forbes, 33-5 (9), like Sturm, enters the De La Hoya fight with a mere nine knockouts to his credit, but unlike Sturm, he is the naturally smaller man. Though De La Hoya stresses that he is not looking past Saturday to his rematch with “Money” Mayweather, he knows—and Forbes knows—that the he is heavily favoured to win. But for De La Hoya to have a chance at beating the pound-for-pound king in September, he has to look spectacular against Forbes, and that means a decision victory will not suffice. A prime De La Hoya had no trouble disposing of smaller, smart boxers like Forbes. The feather-fisted Forbes may not pack a lot of punch, but he is defensively sound and his style vaguely resembles Mayweather’s. He is also trained by Jeff Mayweather, brother of Floyd Sr. who has returned to De La Hoya’s corner (and whom De La Hoya stopped in 4 rounds in 1993).

When De La Hoya barely beat Sturm and gave Bernard Hopkins fits as he watched his potential super fight with the Golden Boy almost end up on the cutting room floor, he exposed himself as being too small for the 160-pounders, much to the delight of the “Executioner” Hopkins, who methodically disposed of De La Hoya in 9 rounds. An unimpressive showing against the smaller Forbes is unacceptable and casts a shadow against the rematch hype that will surround the Mayweather rematch. If the skinny kid from East L.A. with the movie-star looks wants to ride out into the sunset with a script written by him alone, he must start by making sure he is ready for anything come Saturday night. Or else the unlikely Forbes will rain on De La Hoya’s retirement party.

Prediction: De La Hoya TKO 10

© 2008 Aaron Bayley