By Norm Frauenheim-
TUCSON – He has a famous name. He has fast feet. And faster hands. Patience isn’t the first thing anybody sees in Diego De La Hoya.
Erik Ruiz never saw it at all. Ruiz only saw incoming hands and agile feet, all traveling at an inexhaustible rate that De La Hoya sustained for 10 rounds Thursday night in winning a one-sided decision at Casino Del Sol in an ESPN televised bout.
It was the kind performance that seemed to eliminate the need for much talk about what might await De La Hoya (18-0, 9 KOs). A 122-pound title fight involving one of boxing’s best-known names would be easy to put together. Easy to sell. But Diego De La Hoya is in no rush.
“I’m 22,’’ he said after scoring a near shutout of Ruiz on a card staged by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Showdown. “I’m having fun.’’
While Diego De La Hoya had fun, Ruiz only got dizzy.
With cousin Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy watching from ringside, Diego darted in, darted out. His jabs flowed, one after another, like water out of a high-pressure hose. He circled tirelessly in an orbit that kept him out of range from Ruiz’ power.
Only midway through the fight did Ruiz strike with a big right that rocked De La Hoya. His reaction was a smile. Yeah, he was having fun. Lots of it.
“I also was smiling because I felt confident,’’ said the fighter who lives in Mexicali. “I knew I had done the work. I had sparred with bigger guys, guys with more power.’’
If there’s a question about Diego De La Hoya, it’s his power. At 22, however, he figures to get stronger, strong enough perhaps to have a lot more fun for a very long time.
In a co-main event, super-middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard avoided upset, but not controversy.
Ballard, a Golden Boy prospect from Temple Hills, MD, scored a second-round knockdown and then survived one right hand after another to escape with a close decision over a relentless Adrian Luna.
Luna, a late stand-in, was as surprising as he was unknown. In the end, a capacity crowd of 2,000 chanted his name as if the Mexican fighter was from Tucson. After it was over, those same fans booed the scorecards – 95-94 on two and 97-92 on the third.
In the end, however, the judges decided that Ballard (17-0, 12 KOs) had done enough – just enough – by flooring Luna (18-5-1, 11 KOs) with a counter left midway through the second.
Meanwhile, Luna might have done enough to ear a ticket back to Tucson. Golden Boy and Showdown announced that they would promote another ESPN card at Casino del Sol on July 29
BEST OF THE UNDERCARD
The card got an early start with a quick finish. Julio Franco (10-, 6 KOs), a Robert Garcia-trained super-flyweight from San Antonio, opened the show. It took him 40 seconds to end it with a left hook for a stoppage of Marco Sanchez (9-5-2, 4 KOs) of Mexico.
THE REST
Roberto Manzanarez (35-1, 28 KOs), a lanky lightweight born in Phoenix and now living in Mexico, used his reach and agile feet to score a unanimous decision over Erick Martinez (13-7-1, 7 KOs), also of Mexico.
Los Angeles junior-welterweight Jonathan Navarro (9-0, 5 KOs), another Garcia-trained fighter, had power that echoed through the Casino Del Sol ballroom and overwhelmed Ricardo Fernandez (3-5-4) of Mexico throughout a six-round decision as punishing as it was one-sided.
