De La Hoya outpoints Forbes

De La Hoya: Points win

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Oscar De La Hoya dominated Steve Forbes to win a unanimous decision in a 12-round non-title bout at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

In his first bout in nearly a year, the 35-year-old outclassed his opponent, winning decisively on the judges' scorecards - 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108 - to improve his record to 39-5 with 30 knockouts.

The 31-year-old Forbes (33-6, 9 KOs) never seriously challenged or hurt De La Hoya during the bout.

De La Hoya is now set to face Floyd Mayweather Jr on September 20 in a rematch of their bout last May, which was won by Mayweather on a split decision.

The bout - set at catchweight of 150 lbs - was billed as a homecoming for LA native De La Hoya, and a crowd of around 27,000 turned up at the home of the LA Galaxy to cheer him on.

But it was the naturally smaller and quicker Forbes who started fast, producing some slick combinations in the opening rounds.

Once De La Hoya got into gear though the result was never really in doubt.

The 'Golden Boy' established a stiff left jab that proved the key to his domination, and mixed in some good body shots and uppercuts.

He did manage to open a cut over the right eye of Forbes, but never really looked like stopping the former 'Contender' star.

Afterwards De La Hoya said: "That's the way Stevie Forbes fights. I was hoping I would stop him or knock him out, but since nobody else has I knew he was going to be a tough customer.

"I'm a little disappointed because I worked hard in the gym, but it just shows you he's not the 2lbs Steve Forbes but the 800lbs Steve Forbes.

"The idea was to fight by standing more straight up, using the jab and being aggressive at the same time. After 12 hard rounds I feel sharp after a year's lay-off.

"It accomplished my goal of the first of three and I'm ready to have two big exciting fights in September and December."

De La Hoya said the deal with Mayweather is not signed yet, but added: "I'm going to go after him because I know I can beat him."