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LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Ten-time world champion Oscar de la Hoya kept his plans for a rematch with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather jnr on track Saturday with a 12-round unanimous decision over Steve Forbes.
De la Hoya, 35, has said he wants to close out his glittering career in 2008 with two fights - in September against Mayweather and in December, perhaps against Miguel Cotto.
Forbes, a former world champion himself, could have derailed those plans, but De la Hoya gave him little chance, earning the decision by 119-109 according to two judges, while the third saw it 120-108.
Now De La Hoya is expected to face Mayweather on September 20 in rematch of their first bout, which was won by Mayweather.
“The idea is stand up and fight straight up, use the jab and stay on my toes,” said De la Hoya, who did all of those things. “Now I feel sharp. After 12 hard rounds, now I feel sharp after a year-long layoff.”
“It accomplished my goal, and I’m ready to have two exciting fights come September and December.”
De la Hoya, who has won 10 world titles in six weight divisions, improved to 39-5.
Forbes, 31, showed technical prowess, but didn’t have an answer for De la Hoya’s speed and power in the non-title bout fought at 150 pounds.
De la Hoya had vowed he wouldn’t look beyond Forbes, perhaps recalling his 2004 fight against Germany’s Felix Sturm prior to a middleweight clash with Bernard Hopkins.
De la Hoya nearly lost to Sturm, but escaped with a unanimous decision.
Although he was sharp in this one, De la Hoya admitted he was a little disappointed with the outcome.
“I was looking to knock him out, but I couldn’t,” De la Hoya said. “
In his first fight since losing a split decision to Mayweather, De La Hoya took control in the early rounds.

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Easily the busiest boxer on the planet, Oscar De La Hoya is always working on promoting his fights. It’s something other boxers should take note from and learn from as well. Recently De La Hoya took time from his busy schedule to mingle with the readers of the Los Angeles Times. The Times readers were well informed and asked great question to De La Hoya.
One of the questions asked of De La Hoya was if he’d have Floyd Mayweather Sr. in his corner
against Mayweather Jr. this time? De La Hoya plans to fight Mayweather Jr. in a rematch near the end of this year.
De La Hoya told readers of the LA Times: "Absolutely, Mayweather Sr. has that secret potion to dissect the Mayweather style. Mayweather Sr. created that style, he made it, so working with him on the Forbes fight, I already feel confident I’ll beat Mayweather Jr."
De La Hoya was also asked if he wanted a rematch with Trinadad ?
In regards to fighting Trinidad again, De La Hoya told the readers: "If he can come down and meet me at a reasonable weight, I’ll be more than happy to fight him again."
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Mention New Year’s Day in the Mon Valley and thoughts immediately turn to the late Gus Brickner, the Human Polar Bear, who achieved local and national notoriety for his cold-weather swimming exploits.
While Brickner passed away some 15 years ago, his granddaughter, Briana Brickner, is making a splash of her own, but it has nothing to do with frigid temperatures or icy waters.
“No cold water for me,” she laughed. “I like my pool water nice and warm.”
Instead, Brickner, a junior at Charleroi Area High School, is making a name for herself on local stages as a singer and actor.
In November she took top honors in the Washington County Wake Up Your Dreams vocal competition, which benefits CASA for Kids, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that trains community members to become Court Appointed Special Advocates, according to the Wake Up Your Dreams Web site. Sponsors of the competition included Washington radio station WJPA, and Walt Maddox/Walt Maddox Productions, in addition to the law firm of Yablonski, Costello and Leckie P.C. TARGET joined as a community sponsor last year.
After Brickner wowed the Wake Up Your Dreams judges with Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” Maddox, an original member of the 1960s doo-wop group, The Marcels, which recorded the hit tunes “Blue Moon” and “Heartaches,” invited Brickner to his studio for a recording session.

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