COLUMN: Joe Hawk

     "Pound 4 Pound"?
      "Pounded 4 Pounded" might have been more accurate.
      Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker traded probing jabs, measured punches and last-second flurries Saturday night in an effort to settle once and for all who is boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter. But while De La Hoya wrested away the World Boxing Council welterweight title, the question of who's the best may not be answered.
      The 24-year-old De La Hoya, nine years Whitaker's junior, may have scored a unanimous decision at the Thomas & Mack Center, but there were many among the 12,200 in attendance -- Whitaker specifically -- who thought the outcome easily could have gone the other way.
      And should have.
      For now, though, De La Hoya can lay claim to the unofficial moniker that served as the pre-fight promotion. But he may want to do so with respect, if not with some hesitancy. The fight was that close -- though judges Jerry Roth and Dalby Shirley had De La Hoya winning 116-110 and Chuck Giampa ruled it 115-111.
      "Oh, my God, of course," said Whitaker, who lost just his second professional fight against 40 victories and one draw, of whether he thought he had decisioned De La Hoya. "One thing about it, the world saw it. As long as the world saw the fight. ...
      "I should have gotten 10 out of 12 rounds. ... For 12 rounds, he took a beating."
      Actually, both fighters did.
      De La Hoya, who improved to 24-0 and captured his fourth world title and first in the 147-pound weight class, took a left to the face in the third round that resulted in a scuff to his right cheek. One round later, back-to-back left jabs by De La Hoya caught Whitaker's right eye, causing the area around it to puff up. Then in the 10th round, De La Hoya began to show signs of a bloody left nostril; by late in the 12th it was running.
      Both fighters took measured stances throughout much of the fight, occasionally breaking through with a jab here, a right or left there. At times, De La Hoya would control the center of the ring, throwing punches that not only had Whitaker bobbing and weaving but back-pedaling. Then there were other instances when Whitaker seemed to be in control, his crouch-and-move-in-low style sending De La Hoya back on his heels.
      The best action took place in the final 10 seconds of each round, beginning in the fifth, as the fighters resorted to blind flurries against open defenses. It was amazing that neither went down for good with the relentless and uncontrolled punches thrown.
      In fact, there was only one knockdown. And that, like the final decision, could be considered questionable. It came in the ninth as Whitaker shot through with a wide right to the body and a short left to the side of the head, sending De La Hoya to one knee. Referee Mills Lane ruled it a knockdown, and De La Hoya rose to his feet, obviously frustrated.
      For the challenger, who spent the last three months studying Whitaker on videotape, it admittedly was a frustrating night.
      "Pernell Whitaker is very difficult. His southpaw style can intimidate anyone," De La Hoya said. "Anybody would be frustrated with Pernell Whitaker."
      De La Hoya vowed he would give the deposed champion a rematch -- to settle twice and for all the rightful pound-for-pound champion. He admitted the punches Whitaker connected to his face "hurt," though he didn't think Whitaker was getting through with that many.
      While Whitaker connected on 40 percent of his punches to De La Hoya's 34 percent, De La Hoya threw almost twice as many power punches and was good on 40 percent to Whitaker's 38 percent.
      "I know I can do much better," De La Hoya said of his willingness to give Whitaker a rematch. "I'll feel unfulfilled until I know that I really, really dominated his style as a southpaw fighter."
      One thing was for certain Saturday night, and that was Pernell Whitaker's style and guile were every bit the match for Oscar De La Hoya, boxing's questionably best pound-for-pound fighter.
     
      Joe Hawk's column is published Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached by e-mail at Joe_Hawk@lvrj.com.