De La Hoya: Pacquiao, Cotto, Margarito … anyone!
The Golden Boy willing to face anyone in grand finale
While the boxing world will be fixated at the upcoming battle this weekend, between welterweight champions Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, one man will have an invested interest in the bout.
Oscar De La Hoya will not be particularly cheering for either fighter, but one of them could potentially be the opponent for De La Hoya’s last fight in December.
December 6th, 2008 is slowly approaching and De La Hoya is in need of an opponent to face in his grand finale. Just about anybody weighing 135 to 160 pounds would be willing to fight De La Hoya for a sizeable payday. However, De La Hoya does not want an easy pushover in his last bout.
So, it could be Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito. Or Sergio Mora or Felix Trinidad.
Or Manny Pacquiao.
Recently, trainer Freddie Roach made comments to the effect that Pacquiao would easily defeat De La Hoya if the two were to meet in December. However, Roach, who trained De La Hoya when the Golden Boy faced Floyd Mayweather, was chided by Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum.
Still, it is not a bout that De La Hoya would turn down.
“There is a possibility of a fight with Manny Pacquiao,” said De La Hoya, who was, both, praised and criticized in his 12-round decision victory over Steve Forbes in May at the Home Depot Center.
“In his bout with David Diaz, I expected him to win. He brought speed and strength. I feel that he needs another bout with (Juan Manuel) Marquez. The bout with David Diaz did not sell the way they thought it would.
fightnews.com“Does Pacquiao need Marquez? Absolutely.”
If the Pacquiao does not work out, De La Hoya does not name a particular fighter he would prefer to face come December.
“I told Richard Schaefer to get me the biggest fight possible,” says De La Hoya. “Whoever it is, that is who we want. There is no particular fighter. Sergio Mora is a possibility. The winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight would be a great way to end my career. There is a lot of options. I am willing to fight whomever.”
Months ago, Sergio Mora was not even mentioned in the same breath as the fighters aforementioned. But after he pulled off an upset victory over former world champion Vernon Forrest to win the WBC super welterweight title, Mora’s name is now in the mix.
Although De La Hoya has not fought at the welterweight limit since a 2001 bout against Arturo Gatti, he says he could face his fellow East L.A. rival. At a recent book signing in Los Angeles, Mora even waited in line to have De La Hoya sign a copy of his latest book.
A bout with two East L.A. fighters in a venue like Staples Center, the Home Depot Center, or even Dodger Stadium, is something that De La Hoya has warmed up to.
“Having two L.A. guys at Dodger Stadium would be bigger than a Cotto fight,” says De La Hoya. “It would be an L.A. thing to have 55,000 people. That would be amazing. It all goes back to Richard (Schaefer) doing his homework and seeing if that is the biggest possible fight for me.”
Originally, De La Hoya wanted three final bouts in 2008—but now he will have to settle for two.
After his victory over Forbes, De La Hoya was eyeing a September 20th rematch against Mayweather—he’d even enlisted the services of Floyd Mayweather, Sr., who was not in the corner of De La Hoya when he faced Mayweather Jr.
“I am disappointed because I really wanted the three bouts for 2008,” says De La Hoya.
“When he [Mayweather] retired, it derailed my plans. Now, it’s just two fights. That’s it. It is very disappointing because you hear about how fighters train hard.”
In a jab at Mayweather, De La Hoya predicted that the now-former pound-for-pound king will come back to boxing.
“Why did he do what he did? I hope he figures it out,” says the Golden Boy. “It’s sad because a lot of fighters do not plan for retirement, or they retire young and then they come back. They do not think before they retire.
“I hope he stays retired. But, I know one thing: Floyd will come back!”
In regard to his own retirement,
De La Hoya makes it clear that December 6th will be the last time fight fans will see him as a professional fighter inside the ring.
“This will be my last fight,” he says. “There is no doubt about it.”[/QUOTE]
More on Calzaghe injury
Enzo Calzaghe has told Setanta Sports News that the fight between Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr will go ahead in November, after the Welsh fighter's wrist injury led to the original September date being postponed. It was feared that Calzaghe would not be able to compete in the bout due to a hand injury, but Enzo, who doubles up as his father and trainer, confirmed that he will go through with the fight. However, Calzaghe will need time to recover from his injury and the mammoth clash might have to be rescheduled for November to give him enough time to be ready. "He [Joe] sprained his wrists on the pads," Calzaghe told Setanta Sports News. "It's one of those things you never want to happen, but it's happened. When he woke up in the morning with a swollen wrist, I looked at it and it looked bloody awful. It is a sad thing it happened yesterday and he needs two or three weeks off before he starts punching again. Everybody's gutted about it. Joe's absolutely distraught. What can you do about it? You've got to have common sense in this game. At the end of the day at this level you need to be safe."
Pacman a dangerous Golden Boy foe
No less than Golden Boy Promotions vice president for matchmaking Eric Gomez believes Manny Pacquiao presents a tough challenge for Oscar De La Hoya.
In an interview with the daily Philippine radio show “Sports Chat”, Gomez said they’ve been telling De La Hoya that Pacquiao has the tools to hurt the six-time world champion.
“We’re talking to him and telling him it’s a dangerous fight. Manny can really hurt you and why do you want to do that. In fact, I myself, personal, as a matchmaker, I feel that a Miguel Cotto fight is easier. I feel Miguel Cotto’s style suits Oscar better,” Gomez told this writer who hosts the show aired over DZSR Sports Radio.
Cotto, the undefeated welterweight fighter from Puerto Rico will defend his welterweight crown against Mexican Antonio Margarito this weekend in Las Vegas.
“Manny jumps around like a buzzsaw. He comes in, jumps around with different angles, I just don’t know if Oscar can have a guy coming like that at a 100 miles per hour,” said Gomez “ Miguel Cotto’s coming in from the front door. You can wait from there and catch him. But Manny Pacquiao’s the type of fighter that comes in from the front door, side door, back door, and that’s what makes him so great. The guy is so unpredictable, very strong.”
The buzz about a De La Hoya-Pacquiao bout started when Freddie Roach revealed through the same radio show last week his eagerness in seeing his prized fighter battle De La Hoya straight on this December.
The following day, it was hall-of-fame promoter Bob Arum’s turn to grace the show and confirmed there are talks ongoing about making the fight.
As soon as he learned of the Jones-Calzaghe fight getting postponed, former WBA featherweight champion Derrick "Smoke" Gainer has already informed Frank Warren's matchmaker, that he's ready, willing and able to face undefeated up and comer Amir Khan, who has yet to find an opponent, on September 6. "It was a great opportunity, it was just too close to Roy's fight. Now that that's been pushed back,
I'm ready to go to England and hand him his first loss," said Gainer.[/QUOTE]
Forrest-Mora II will take place on the Casamayor-Marquez undercard on Sept 13th
And Berto-Forbes will take place on September 27th opening up the Mosley-Mayorga broadcast
Cool, a Forrest/Mora rematch, if Vernon looks as shot and old as he did in the first, it'll be like watching a replay.
