DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997                TAG: 9704080537

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: EAST LOS ANGELES, CALIF.          LENGTH:   49 lines

OSCAR ISN'T NO. 1 IN HIS OWN HOMETOWN

Vicente De La Hoya is giving a driving tour of the landmarks of his nephew's life - the two-bedroom duplex Oscar grew up in, the dilapidated gym where he trained, the cemetery he used to run past and the large high school he attended.

Emblazoned on the side of the van Vicente is driving is ``Oscar De La Hoya Youth Boxing Center.'' At a stoplight, two young men in a blue pickup pull alongside the van and shout: ``Chavez! Chavez!''

This is Oscar De La Hoya's home, but he's not exactly a hometown favorite. Julio Cesar Chavez, idolized by his Mexican countrymen, was cheered at a Los Angeles press-tour stop before the two men fought last summer, while De La Hoya was booed lustily.

There is other anti-De La Hoya sentiment here as well. As the visitors prepare to tour De La Hoya's alma mater, Garfield High School, Vicente warns: ``Many people from this school don't like Oscar.''

De La Hoya is a Mexican-American who has fought - and trounced - a number of Mexican-born fighters, including Chavez. De La Hoya believes that's one reason he is not popular with what he calls a small but vocal faction of Mexican fight fans in his hometown. He also says because he is handsome and suave, many women pull for him, which upsets their boyfriends or husbands.

De La Hoya says some people believe fame and fortune came too easily to him, but they fail to see the effort and time he puts into training. His style also is contrary to that of the traditional Hispanic fighter.

``The typical Mexican style is being a brawler - staying in there and fighting, getting cut, bruised up, knocked down and coming back and winning the fight,'' De La Hoya says. ``That's what the Mexican fans want to see. They want to see blood. But my style is not that style. My style is not getting hit. I'm going to be a very smart boxer in that ring.''

Oscar's older brother, Joel Jr., says people in the old neighborhood feel Oscar has abandoned them, that he no longer associates with them.

``That's what they talk about - he sold out, he abandoned the neighborhood,'' Joel Jr. says. ``You try to do better for yourself. Oscar's not going to be living in some run-down apartment for the rest of his life.''

The run-down gym De La Hoya trained in as a boy is being overhauled for kids who want to become boxers. On a recent day, workmen busily tear up board, drill with a jackhammer and scoop up trash. The place used to be known as the Resurrection Gym - it once was a church, and a painting of Jesus still peers down from above the altar area. Now it's being resurrected as the Oscar De La Hoya Youth Boxing Center.

By giving back, De La Hoya hopes to win back his hometown fans. KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY BOXING

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