Oscar De La Hoya doesn?t have to look at the tape. He only needs to look in the mirror. Maybe, he still can?t see clearly through a damaged eye that was nearly swollen shut about a week ago. But the message is there, written in black and blue across his battered face. Come on, Oscar. Make it official. Say, once and for all, what everybody saw in the whipping delivered by Manny Pacquiao. Say that you are retired. Please. Yet as I write this five days after the Golden Boy era ended on the stool following eight rounds of a mugging at the MGM Grand, there still hasn?t been anything official from De La Hoya, who reportedly returned to his home in Puerto Rico after leaving a Las Vegas emergency room. Maybe, the devastating loss stunned De La Hoya into silence, although he seemed to say he had fought for the last time when he told Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach in the ring that, yeah, he just didn?t have it anymore. A lot of people have asked me why he didn?t just make it official in comments to HBO?s Larry Merchant in the wake of the defeat, the final and emphatic punctuation point in a rich career. It?s a good question. It?s also a troubling one. At least, it is for as long as De La Hoya keeps everybody waiting. It?s hard to believe that De La Hoya is actually considering another fight. A lot of people, including lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez, would have beaten him on Dec. 6. If the opponent had been true welterweight Antonio Margarito instead of Pacquiao, he might still be in that emergency room. If De La Hoya thinks he can fight again, then something happened that has yet to be disclosed in a bout that turned into an accident, a head-on collision ? De La Hoya?s head with Pacquiao?s undeterred hands. I?ve always liked De La Hoya. He?s careful not to make rash judgments. He?s insightful, thoughtful. But there isn?t anything to think about here. Everybody from Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer to business partner Bernard Hopkins said that nobody can make the decision for him. Huh? If Pacquiao didn?t, who could? In the hours and days since De La Hoya?s loss and presumed retirement, there?s been a lot of talk about the economic hit that will rock boxing without its biggest star. Without De La Hoya, pay-per-view numbers figure to go into a recession. For while at least, there doesn?t figure to be anything that approaches the 1.25 customers ? the $70 million in pay-per-view revenue ? generated by Pacquiao-De La Hoya. Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr? Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton? Both are attractive. But the guess here is that either fight would be lucky to approach one million buys. Neither Hatton nor Mayweather nor Pacquiao has that crossover, celebrity appeal possessed by De La Hoya. That said, boxing suffers a much bigger blow if ? for some reason, any reason ? De La Hoya decides to stick around for another opening bell. After Pacquiao further cemented his claim on international stardom, a colleague mentioned to me that De La Hoya?s career was just a con. He said that his well-managed emergence included victories over Julio Cesar Chavez when the Mexican legend was past his prime. Fernando Vargas was more hype than real, he added. And, of yeah, De La Hoya was 3-3 over his last six fights before Pacquiao. True, true and true. Still, it was a good con and it wasn?t the first in boxing, which is as much theatre as it is sport anyway. To wit: Mike Tyson. The ex-con might have been the biggest con in boxing ever until Evander Holyfield exposed him as mere schoolyard bully in their first fight. Yet, the public continued to buy into the Tyson image, even after Holyfield stripped away the snarling mask in a huge upset. In the post-mortem, De La Hoya is undoubtedly anguishing over what he could have done differently. Was it a mistake to surrender his natural and ? as it turned out ?only advantage in size? At opening bell, Pacquiao, a former 106-pounder, was a pound-and-a-half heavier, 148 ?, than De La Hoya, a former middleweight who was reported to be at 147. Was there something wrong at camp, at the training table, or in the corner? There will be plenty of people trying to tempt De La Hoya with answers. The Golden Boy is still perceived to have a Midas touch. That means a quick buck. Floyd Mayweather Sr, already is being quoted as saying that things would be different against Pacquiao with him back in his corner. Trainer Nacho Beristain said he ended it after eight because ?it wasn?t Oscar?s night,?? as if to say that there will be other nights. Only Roach, De La Hoya?s trainer for his loss to Mayweather, was up front and honest about it all. ?I?d like to see him retire,?? said Roach, who might have said the same thing had he been in De La Hoya?s corner for the bruising, tell-tale decision over Steve Forbes last May. But Roach wasn?t. By then, Roach was unhappy with De La Hoya?s decision to rehire Mayweather. Against Forbes, however, Roach saw then what everybody knows now. The hope is that De La Hoya is about to say he knows it too.
