Where in the world did the De La Hoya statue go?

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The pen is mightier than the fist?

No more than a week after Times columnist Bill Plaschke was critical of the new Oscar De La Hoya statue at Staples Center, the bronze rendition of the Golden Boy standing on a bottom rope raising his arms in victory has gone missing.

‘That shows you the power of the L.A. Times, and Bill Plaschke in particular,’ Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer told me tonight. ‘Oscar loses one fight, and they give in to Plaschke.’

But, seriously, the statue was moved from its entryway location across from a statue of Magic Johnson because Schaefer wasn’t satisfied with the marble base upon which the statue was to stand.

‘I had some comments on the marble and so they’re going to completely redo it,’ Schaefer said. ‘It’ll be back in maybe a couple of weeks.’

The statue’s new base will be black and inscribed with gold lettering that lists ‘all of Oscar’s accomplishments: the gold medal, the 10 world titles, everything,’ Schaefer said.

Mystery solved.

-- Lance Pugmire