CARSON, Calif. — Oscar De La Hoya showed he could still beat a contender. Next up is cashing in again like a champion.
In what was little more than a tuneup for a much bigger fight, De La Hoya kicked off his retirement tour Saturday night before an appreciative crowd by pitching a near shutout over a game but overmatched Steve Forbes.
De La Hoya got a chance to shake off ring rust and put on a show in front of his hometown fans, who came out in big numbers to cheer him on against a fighter whose previous biggest claim to fame was losing in the final of the “Contender” reality series. De La Hoya didn’t disappoint, battering the smaller Forbes around on his way to an easy 12-round decision win in his first fight in a year.
The win set up a September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who beat De La Hoya by a split decision last May in what was the richest fight ever. And even though De La Hoya was a 17-1 favorite, his dominating performance against Forbes will likely do what De La Hoya wanted by helping sell the second fight with Mayweather.
“This is the same style I’m going to use for Mayweather,” De La Hoya said. “This is the plan for Mayweather.”
De La Hoya won all 12 rounds on one judge’s scorecard and 11 out of 12 on the other two. He bloodied Forbes’ face, but he failed to knock out an opponent who had never been stopped in 38 previous fights.
The Associated Press had De La Hoya winning every round, and scored it 120-108.
