At home in Puerto Rico, he discussed retirement with his wife, who had no problem with him quitting boxing. His father was even more eager to sign on, since he thought Oscar should have retired after stopping Fernando Vargas nearly 6 years ago.

That left one other person to convince. He proved to be the biggest hurdle of all.

"I'm the stubborn one," De La Hoya said. "I think I can still do this, and it makes me want to keep doing it."

At the age of 35 he won't be doing it much longer, assuming he sticks to a plan he has carefully crafted to say goodbye to a career that has made him the richest and most successful fighter of his generation.

He insists boxing fans will see the last of him this year in a series of three fights beginning with his bout tonight against light-hitting Steve Forbes at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

"It's been the most difficult decision I had to make, to convince myself to prepare myself for retirement," De La Hoya said. "It took me a long time, but I'm ready to go."

De La Hoya will be helped along the way with a nice retirement package that includes a fat bank account, an office tower he owns in Los Angeles and a thriving boxing promotion business. He also owns Spanish language newspapers, Ring magazine and a portion of the Houston Dynamo soccer team, among other things.

And then there's the $50 million or more he'll earn this year, most of it coming from a planned September fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. that will be a rematch of the richest fight ever.

But even a golden parachute for the Golden Boy won't completely soften his exit from the sport that has consumed him since his father introduced him to it as a child.

"I'm going to feel very sad to retire," De La Hoya said. "But it's time to go. Nothing is going to convince me to come back. Nothing."

Ever the promoter, De La Hoya has plotted a retirement strategy that will maximize both his exposure and his bank account. It starts with a homecoming of sorts for the product of East Los Angeles before a crowd that could reach 30,000 at the Home Depot Center.

The fight is little more than a tuneup for De La Hoya, who hasn't fought since losing a split decision to Mayweather a year ago. He handpicked Forbes, hoping to put on a performance that will make boxing fans forget that he has won only two of his last five fights and hasn't had a win over a significant opponent since stopping Vargas in September 2002.

It's not that his cold streak has cost him any popularity. He remains the only fighter who can sell big pay-per-views like the record $2.4 million for Mayweather, and the only fighter who would even dream of trying to fill the Home Depot Center, where tickets are priced starting at $25.

But even though De La Hoya remains a huge draw and a big fan favorite, a look at his record shows two very different careers. The first was the De La Hoya who was 31-0 before losing his September 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad, while the second is his 7-5 record since then.

Forbes, who otherwise had only good things to say about the man who will give him his biggest payday, suggested that most of his wins came against fighters who were fading by the time that De La Hoya met them.

"I'm a boxing historian and I don't think he's beaten anybody in their prime in his prime," Forbes said.

That doesn't mean De La Hoya will necessarily have any trouble with Forbes, who once held the 130-pound title and lost in the final of the "Contender" reality series. De La Hoya is a 17-1 favorite to win the scheduled 12-round fight, which has a 150-pound contract limit.

"I think he's overlooked me a little bit," Forbes said. "I think now he's putting a little more thought in me than at first."

De La Hoya insists he's a hungry fighter, inspired by a retirement strategy that gives him a chance to go out on top and leave a legacy that is something more than just being good looking, popular and rich.

"I think I have left something on the table these last few years," De La Hoya said. *