De La Hoya remains focused

Oscar De La Hoya is refusing to look past Sunday morning's opponent Stevie Forbes to his September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

De La Hoya returns to the ring at the Home Depot Center in his native Los Angeles almost exactly a year since his initial showdown with pound-for-pound king Mayweather ended in a split-decision defeat.

Since then he has presided over his blossoming promotions company Golden Boy, producing or co-promoting blockbuster fights between Mayweather and Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley and last month's Joe Calzaghe versus Bernard Hopkins encounter.

With another epic of his own in the offing in his rematch against Mayweather on September 20, and a fight in December to close out his illustrious career, it would be easy for De La Hoya to dismiss his meeting with Forbes as nothing more than a warm-up for the bigger prizes to follow.

Yet since the 35-year-old, 10-time, six-weight world champion announced early in the year he would be facing 31-year-old Forbes, he has been at pains to insist this fight means as much to him as the Mayweather rematch.

"To all those who say that this is a tune-up I say I'm not falling for that," said De La Hoya, who has won 38 of his 43 career fights, claiming 30 knock-outs.

"I'm going to fight and I'm going to get ready for Steve Forbes as if this is the last fight of my life and as if it's the first fight of my life."

"I'm going to fight like a contender and I am a contender because I'm not a champion any more. This is a big year for me."

"Stevie Forbes mentioned that I'm probably looking past him because of a showdown with Mayweather in September, but that's not the case."

"I've been training since January for this fight and we've been taking the necessary steps to be ready, and ready I am. For anyone who thinks that I'm overlooking Stevie Forbes, that's not the case whatsoever."

De La Hoya has painful memories of what can happen if you look beyond a fight.

In 2004 he fought Germany's Felix Sturm ahead of a middleweight showdown with Hopkins and nearly came unstuck, struggling for fitness and form to overcome the European and surprising many at ringside by escaping with an unanimous decision.

Four years on, De La Hoya recognises the pitfalls.

"With Stevie Forbes it's gong to be one of those fights that if I'm going to be overconfident and looking past him, you know, I don't want another Felix Sturm situation to happen."

De La Hoya believes he has underlined his commitment to the fight by reuniting with former trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. - the pair split when De La Hoya agreed to fight his trainer's son last May 5 - and returning to the scene of his early training camps in the Southern California ski resort of Big Bear.

Forbes, the IBF welterweight title-holder from 2000 to 2002, also believes De La Hoya is taking him seriously, even if he is little regarded outside of the boxing world.

"I know he's going to be ready to fight," Forbes, who has 33 wins from his 38 career fights, said, before adding: "I'm coming to win."

"I know I'm not really known to the public but I'll be known come May 3."

Forbes said his regard for De La Hoya and his achievements