Oscar De La Hoya returned to knockout form in spectacular fashion Saturday night, stopping David Kamau with a vicious left hook in the second round to retain his WBC welterweight title.
De La Hoya knocked Kamau down early in the second round with a left hook, then finished him with a left that sent Kamau spinning around and to the canvas with 17 seconds left in the round.Kamau got to one knee and tried to get up, but fell backward as referee Lawrence Cole counted him out at 2:54 of the round.
"I'm back, I've got the power," De La Hoya said. "The power is back."
It was the 21st knockout in 25 fights for De La Hoya, who was defending for the first time the WBC title he won two months ago from Whitaker. But he had gone the distance in his two previous fights and was looking to regain his knockout punch as a welterweight.
Kamau, never stopped before, appeared to win the first round as De La Hoya fought cautiously. But only seconds into the second round, De La Hoya started the sequence that would end the fight by hitting the challenger with a double left hook to the body and head.
He followed it with a left hook that put Kamau down for the first time. Kamau got up at the count of 6 and exchanged punches with De La Hoya, but not for much longer.
"Every time he traded with me he left himself wide open," De La Hoya said. "I'm surprised he got up from the first knockdown."
Kamau, a native of Kenya, had lost only once, on a decision to Julio Cesar Chavez in September 1995. But he proved no match for De La Hoya's power or speed.
"He's fast and he's quick," Kamau said. "He caught me off-guard with a left hook."
De La Hoya, who went the distance in his last two fights, brought in new trainer Emanuel Steward to improve his offense and vowed to go after a knockout against Kamau.
It didn't take long before a crowd of about 10,000 in the Alamodome who screamed and cheered for De La Hoya like he was a rock star instead of a professional boxer. The fight had been over for more than 10 minutes and the crowd was still screaming De La Hoya's name.
De La Hoya, who weighed the class limit of 147 pounds, earned $3 million for the fight, and set up a Sept. 13 fight with Hector Camacho in Las Vegas that could earn him double that.
"I'm already ready for Camacho," De La Hoya said. "I'm very happy and pleased with my performance."
It was only the second fight at the 147-pound weight limit for both fighters, with De La Hoya winning the welterweight title in his first bout at the weight against Whitaker.
De La Hoya has made some $18 million in three fights this year. He could reach the $30 million mark for the year with the fight against Camacho and a December fight in New York City.
In another title fight, WBC super featherweight champion Genaro Hernandez retained his title with a split decision over Russian Anatoly Alexandrov.