By Chris Williams: Just because he got the living daylights whooped out of him doesn’t mean that Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) needs to retire from boxing. Heck, De La Hoya’s probably been shot for at six years, yet he’s continued to fight and get wins over a number of small-time fighters and the public hasn’t minded. From what I can see, there’s a lot of good fighters that he can still fight, and more than enough boxing fans still interested in seeing him fight just as long as he has an even small chance of winning.
Below, I’ve listed the fighters that are out there that De La Hoya still needs to fight before he hangs up his gloves. Most of them present little risk for him while ensuring a good payday.
Felix Trinidad – Oscar has some unfinished business with him based on his 12-round majority decision loss to him in September 1999. Trinidad was one of the few fighters that beat De La Hoya in his prime and it’s been a thorn in Oscar’s side ever since. At 35, Trinidad is the same age as De La Hoya, and with three losses out of his last five fights, he’s fighting about as good as him, too. If Oscar can get Trinidad down to a weight close to 160, this is fight that almost guarantees a big audience in the U.S. Trinidad remains a popular fighter despite his few wins in the past seven years, and the fight would sell well.
Roy Jones Jr. – The former middleweight and light heavyweight great would be an interesting opponent for Oscar to select. At 39, Jones (52-5, 38 KOs) showed that he can still punch, dropping Joe Calzaghe in the 1st round of their recent bout in November. Calzaghe would quickly get up and continue fighting, easily winning the remainder of the fight. However, Calzaghe was hurt from the knockdown and he’s perhaps fortunate that Jones didn’t go after him. As you can see, Jones still have good power, if not his once impressive speed, but that factor alone may make him too dangerous for Oscar to choose if he plans on winning the fight. Still, the fight would sell with the fans. The weight would be a major sticking point, because Oscar has a slender built and the two occasions he moved up to the middleweight division for fights, he took a beating against Felix Sturm and was stopped in the 9th round by Bernard Hopkins. Oscar probably wouldn’t want to move up to that weight class again, even it meant a good payday.
Shane Mosley – Oscar has twice fought Mosley, losing both times but coming close two beating Mosley in their second bout in 2003. Many fans felt that De La Hoya actually beat Mosley and was given a bad decision. However, the victory stood up despite their protests. This would be an intriguing bout, because Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) still has a lot of his skills intact, unlike Oscar. Unfortunately, that may make this fight too dangerous for De La Hoya to take, because he can ill afford to take another savage beating like his last fight against Manny Pacquiao. At the same time, his reputation would surely suffer if he quits again in a fight like last time out. It might save him from a beating, but it would do a lot of damage to his future bouts if he chose to still fight beyond a fight against Mosley. What Oscar has going for him in this fight, though, is that Mosley works for his company, Golden Boy Promotions, and would likely take it easy on De La Hoya and not want to beat him too badly if he saw the fight getting out of hand with Oscar taking punishment.
Fernando Vargas – Still only 31, Vargas (26-5, 22 KOs) is still youthful in age, and would be a fine opponent for Oscar. The two previously met in 2002, a fight in which Oscar won by an impressive 11th round TKO. However, Vargas has battled weight issues in recent years, meaning that if this fight were to take place, it would probably have to be at the super middleweight limit, because Vargas would struggle to have to make it down much lower than that. He probably could do it if he had to, but he would be weak, and sickly, and not do well in the fight. Maybe that’s reason enough for De La Hoya to fight him? Vargas has lost his last three fights, but that probably wouldn’t matter because the casual boxing fans would have little memory of the losses and would probably be more than interested in seeing Oscar fight Vargas again.
Hector Camacho – Believe it or not, at 46, the Macho one is still fighting and recently scored a 7th round knockout over a journeyman fighter in July. Camacho previously met with De La Hoya in 1997 and lost a one-sided 12-round decision to him. However, remains a popular figure in the sports world, looks youthful and his name would probably sell a lot of tickets. It’s unclear how much he has left at this stage in his career, but probably not nearly enough to trouble Oscar much. The age factor might be a problem, however, because boxing fans would ridicule Oscar if he were to fight someone as old as Camacho.
Ricky Hatton – This is perhaps De La Hoya’s best option for a fight somewhere down the road. However, De La Hoya is probably going to have to wait in line, because Hatton has a fight with Pacquiao next and then depending on how that fight goes, Hatton might be facing Mayweather after that. But, De La Hoya is probably someone that Hatton will fight before he retires from the sport.
Floyd Mayweather – It’s doubtful whether Mayweather would want to get in the ring with Oscar once again, but it would be a good move financially for him, that’s for sure. The two previously fought in 2007, with Mayweather winning a 12-round split decision over Oscar. The bout was very close in the end, but Mayweather appeared to do just enough to get the win. Mayweather has been retired for the past year, so it’s hard to tell how much of his ring skills have eroded during this time. But even if he has dropped off somewhat, he’s still probably good enough to make for an exciting bout against Oscar. Mayweather would probably easily beat Oscar in a rematch, but the fight would be exciting for at least a few rounds before Oscar fades.
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