De La Hoya to announce plans this week

Oscar De La Hoya has made a decision about his boxing future and will announce his plans Tuesday.

De La Hoya, 36, has been pondering retirement since losing convincingly to Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand Garden. De La Hoya, a six-time world champion, said after the fight he would take time and figure out if he still wanted to compete. The announcement will come at noon at a news conference at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

De La Hoya, who was in Las Vegas on Friday prior to Saturday’s Winky Wright-Paul Williams fight at Mandalay Bay, wasn’t tipping his hand. Neither was Richard Schaefer, the president and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.

“Whatever decision I announce Tuesday will be the right decision for nobody else but me,” De La Hoya said. “I’m still asking myself, ‘Did I make the right decision?’ But I’m firm. My decision is solely based on how I feel.”

Schaefer said he was glad De La Hoya took his time with the decision.

“I told him that the one voice you have to listen to is your own,” Schaefer said. “You need to listen to your body, and you need to listen to your mind.

“I gave him my opinion. But at the end of the day, it’s up to Oscar to decide what he wants to do with his life.”

A gold medalist for the United States at the 1992 Olympics, De La Hoya has fought in 10 weight divisions and has a 39-6 record with 30 knockouts. But he has lost four of his last seven fights, and Pacquiao beat him up badly. De La Hoya was unable to answer the bell for the ninth round.

“I still haven’t watched the fight,” De La Hoya said. “I have it on TiVo, but I can’t press ‘Play.’ “

• TOP RANK ADDITIONS — At a time where companies across the nation are downsizing, Top Rank, Inc. is expanding.

The promotional company last week hired Carl Moretti as vice president of boxing operations. Moretti, who worked at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Main Events and, most recently, DiBella Entertainment, will work alongside chairman Bob Arum and president Todd DuBoef.

“It’s like working for the Yankees,” Moretti said from New Jersey, where he’ll be based. “It’s the biggest and best organization in boxing.”

Moretti said defining his job with Top Rank isn’t easy.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” he said. “But if I can sum it up, it’s to make Bob’s and Todd’s job easier. Whether it’s traveling somewhere instead of them having to get on a plane, talking to the networks or overseeing an East Coast show, whatever they need, I’m there.”

Moretti, 48, said he will miss working for close friend Lou DiBella but that the opportunity to go to Top Rank was too good to pass up.

“I have a daughter who’s almost ready to go to college, and I’ve got to find a way to pay for her,” Moretti said. “I have another daughter, so it was hard to turn down what Bob was offering me financially. I’ll be able to secure my children’s future with this move.”

Top Rank also announced the signing of Michael Torres, a welterweight from Piscataway, N.J., who is 12-0 as a professional with seven knockouts. Torres, who is managed by Cameron Dunkin, will make his Top Rank debut on the undercard of the June 27 fight between Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Mora in Atlantic City.

• JUDAH SIDELINED — Zab Judah was scheduled to headline the May 1 card at South Point. But an injury to his left hand in training last week has forced him to withdraw from his bout with Jesus Rodriguez.

The card will go on, with Balweg Bangoyan facing Alejandro Perez for the WBC international super bantamweight title in the main event.

Also on May 1, Top Rank will promote a card at the Hard Rock Hotel, the first boxing event at the new “The Joint.”

In the main event, Urbano Antillon will face Tyrone Harris in a 10-round lightweight bout. The co-main event will feature welterweights Alfonso Gomez and Juan Manuel Buendia in a 10-round bout.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.