Far more was at stake in last week's Oscar De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez boxing match than a sports title, let alone a match-up between the U.S. and Mexico. For Latinos the subtext was whether the heart of Latino-American culture is best symbolized by the branches or the roots. The 23-year-old boxer from East L.A., with the Mexican flag embossed on one leg and the U.S. flag on the other, has emerged as the breakthrough hybrid figure. PNS associate editor Gregory Rodriguez is a fellow of the Alto California Research Center and the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy.

LOS ANGELES -- For years Mexican Americans have been predicting that a breakthrough figure would emerge --- a celebrity who is both unapologetically American and proud of his or her Mexican roots. Last Friday in Las Vegas, East L.A.'s Oscar De La Hoya not only gained the WBC Super Lightweight title with his victory over Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez; he also emerged as the new Mexican American archetype.

The cultural title may have been the more difficult to claim. The 23-year-old De La Hoya had long acknowledged that he had to prove himself a worthy Latino-American idol, not just a world class boxer. In this predominantly Latino city, two thirds of adult Latinos are foreign-born and they were decidedly pro-Chavez.

Younger American-born fans with their more ambiguous identities were more sharply divided in their loyalties.

I watched the fight on closed circuit TV at the Universal Amphitheater -- probably the only venue in the city with a strong De La Hoya rooting section. Sponsored by Power 106, L.A.'s most popular hip hop station, the spectators were mostly male, U.S.-born Latino teenagers and young adults, some with their arms around their girlfriends, others locked in Oedipal struggles with the Mexican born fathers seated next to them.

Before the match, 23-year-old Fabian Correa of Chino belted out the "Star Spangled Banner" as his Mexican father, uncle and grandfather sat quietly in the audience. Only he and his mother were rooting for De La Hoya. Oscar, he said, was a Latino from "here," -- the U.S. -- like himself. "I love Chavez, but De La Hoya's one of us."

Yet just as many young men saw the older, more experienced fighter from the old country as the hero of the night. Tough, loyal to family, his hometown and to his humble roots, he embodied Mexicanidad. Chavez has long been an idol to Latinos on both sides of the border. On the other hand, De La Hoya's pretty face and unabashed "Golden Boy" image -- while popular with U.S.-born young Latina women -- didn't make him any the more popular among young men.

Most non-Latinos saw the fight as one pitting the U.S. against Mexico. But for Latino Americans, the subtext of the fight was whether the heart of Latino American culture is best symbolized by its branches or its roots. Power 106 touted the fight as the "Old School Versus the New."

"They're both Mexican to me," fans of all ages insisted throughout the evening. And yet, the younger fighter from East L.A. was also much more than that.

While Chavez was wrapped in the tricolors of the Mexican flag, De La Hoya wore trunks with the Mexican flag embossed on one leg and the stars and stripes on the other. De La Hoya has long acknowledged Chavez as his boyhood hero. But he also cherishes the Olympic Gold Medal he won fighting for the U.S. team in 1992, loves golfing, and dreams of being an architect when he retires. When asked after the fight what he was going to do next, he said he planned on seeing the new Sean Connery movie "The Rock."

De La Hoya's hybrid character threatens traditionalists even as it attracts young people who see themselves reflected in his north-of-the-border Latino identity. Now that he has beaten Chavez and earned the championship belt, more and more young Latinos, uncertain as to how to see themselves, are apt to seek validation in his hybrid image.

As for their fiercely nostalgic Mexican-born fathers, they already sense where the future lies. Most now admit that once Chavez retires, they'll put their hopes in De La Hoya.