De La Hoya Takes Crown From Chavez

Oscar De La Hoya made the 100th fight of Julio Cesar Chavez’s career look like his first.

De La Hoya sliced open a cut over Chavez’s left eye in the first round Friday night, then beat him into a bloody mess in the fourth round before referee Joe Cortez stepped in to stop the fight.

It was total domination by De La Hoya, who never let Chavez get into the fight and stopped the great Mexican champion for the first time in his career at 2:37 of the fourth round to win the WBC super lightweight title.

The end came after De La Hoya (22-0) threw a left hook that caused blood to spurt out of the nose of Chavez, whose face was so covered in bright red blood that it was barely visible.

Chavez (97-3) offered only a brief protest as De La Hoya was hoisted onto the shoulders of his cornermen in triumph. Both fighters earned $9 million.

“We were trying to stop Julio Cesar Chavez in his tracks and we did it,” De La Hoya said.

Although Chavez’s camp officially denied it, a source close to the camp said the champion had sustained a cut over his left eye in training but had not told promoters about it. Chavez had closed his training camp, which is normally open, after arriving in Las Vegas during the Memorial Day weekend.

The sellout crowd of 15,283 had barely had a chance to cheer the fighters when a punch by De La Hoya opened a deep cut over the left eye of Chavez midway through the first round.

Almost immediately, blood began flowing down the face of Chavez, and Cortez stopped the action briefly for the ringside doctor to look at the cut.

Chavez, an underdog for the first time in his career at 2-1 odds, fought tentatively from the opening bell, ignoring his usual style in an effort to try and box the taller and stronger challenger.

But with his cut reopened in the fourth round, Chavez tried to fight back, briefly catching De La Hoya against the ropes in a neutral corner.

It turned out to be a mistake. De La Hoya came out of the corner with a big left hook that sent blood streaming all over the face of Chavez, then began backing him up with big shots to the head and body.