No sideshow act this time around. No running away. No running out of gas. All chickens were left high in the mountains of his California training camp. Oscar De La Hoya the fighter showed up last night at the Garden. What a concept.

As a result, Derrell Coley never had a chance.

De La Hoya knocked out Coley at the end of the seventh round, one round after Coley predicted he would KO Oscar in this battle of welterweights.

De La Hoya abused Coley all night long with his left hand as 13,814 watched the show. The final shot from De La Hoya was a punishing left to the liver. Coley crumbled to one knee and was counted out exactly as the round came to an end by referee Wayne Kelly, the official time was the three-minute mark of the round. Coley’s right eye was swollen shut at that point. He was beaten in every way.

“I finally had a great a great training camp, my jab was really sharp, no more Mr. Nice Guy, I fought my style and wasn’t concerned about him,” De La Hoya said as he bounced back like a champion from his September loss to Felix Trinidad, the only blemish on his record in 33 fights. De La Hoya came in weighing 147 pounds and said he would go up to 151 to fight Trinidad, possibly June 10 in Las Vegas. If he fights Shane Mosely, that battle would take place June 17 in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.

“I’m going to fight both this year anyway,” De La Hoya said, promising three more knockouts this year.

Coley won only one round on the cards of the three judges, the first round was given to him by Mel Lathan. The Post scored all but the third round for De La Hoya and even that round was more of a sympathy vote for Coley than a clearcut three-minute win.

As for the killer punch, Coley, who had been knocked down six times previously in his career, said, “He got me with a body shot right down the middle. He didn’t do anything that surprised me but I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was coming into the fight.”

Coley dropped to 34-2-2.

Coley’s major problem was that his hands were down and he didn’t throw enough punches. He never threatened De La Hoya. His punches were crisp but there just weren’t enough of them to keep De La Hoya away. De La Hoya was the aggressor in every round. In his loss to Trinidad, the Big O ran away the final four rounds. Judges Fred Ucci and Joe Dwyer gave the night to De La Hoya. “After the first round, I felt he wouldn’t knock me out,” De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya earned $5 million for this fight, while Coley took away $650,000.

Coley was finished before the seventh round started. He blew his nose before the start of the round, a boxing sin, allowing that painful right eye to swell and close. He could not see out of that eye so De La Hoya was able to attack with a vengeance under the cloak of secrecy.

De La Hoya is already counting on fighting Trinidad. “When I fight Felix I will just go up a few pounds,” De La Hoya said. “I’ve got three more knockouts coming this year. I came out tonight very patient. Coley was boxing a lot.”

De La Hoya promised he would be a fighter and he kept his word. He stalked Coley the entire night. Coley said he thought he had a chance in the fourth round. “I hurt him in the fourth but I couldn’t finish him off,” Coley said. “I wasn’t strong enough to finish him.”

Coley talked big, heading into the night and promised he would knock out De La Hoya. Talking and doing are two different things. In the end, after Coley got up after being counted out, he went over and hugged De La Hoya and told him, “Great fight. I really do respect you.”

On this night, De La Hoya earned that respect. He showed that when his mind is on his boxing he can be something special. In the end, the numbers told the story. De La Hoya landed 183 punches to Coley’s 77, 66 jabs to Coley’s 33, 52 power punches to Coley’s 44. No contest. De La Hoya remembered he is a boxer, not a sideshow act.

Looking back at his September defeat he said, “That loss was the best thing for me.”

Evidently, it knocked some sense into him.