By Aragon Garcia: Boxing great Oscar De La Hoya posted a video of him on social media today in response to Floyd Mayweather Jr. saying he’s coming out of retirement in 2020 to resume his career. De La Hoya said, “Rematch anyone?” He was the track already training for hopes of facing Mayweather in a long awaited rematch.
A rematch between Mayweather and the former six division world champion De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) would likely be still a huge event despite both fighters being in their 40s, and past their prime.
In their fight over a decade ago, it brought in 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, which was a record at the time. That number stood for eight years until Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015, and the fight drew 4.3 million buys.
De La Hoya reacts to Mayweather’s comeback
“Oscar De La Hoya: Rematch anyone?? 🥊 #speed #power #motivation.”
Mayweather beat De La Hoya by a close 12 round split decision 12 years ago on May 5, 2007. The scores were 116-112, 115-113 for Mayweather, and 115-113 for De La Hoya.
Some boxing fans believe De La Hoya had done enough to deserve the decision or at least a draw for the way he controlled the first six rounds of the fight. Oscar appeared to win all the rounds in the first half of the fight, which should have assured him a draw.
For boxing fans that might be critical of Mayweather fighting the retired De La Hoya, this would be a TREMENDOUS upgrade from the last 2 guys Floyd fought. In his last two bouts, Mayweather fought Tenshin Nasukawa and Conor McGregor. A lot of the hardcore and casual boxing fans had never heard of either of them before seeing Mayweather fight those guys.
Mayweather vs. De La Hoya would still be a GREAT fight. More than any other past Mayweather opponent besides Canelo Alvarez, De La Hoya would interest the fans. There’s no one else that Mayweather has fought that he could drag out of retirement to fight that would pull in the pay-per-view buys the way that the ‘Golden Boy’ De La Hoya could.
Mayweather announces his comeback for 2020
Floyd Mayweather: “Coming out of retirement in 2020. @danawhite and I working together again to bring the world another spectacular event in 2020. #boxing.”
Mayweather hasn’t said what his objective is for him making a comeback in 2020. Fans are predicting that he’s coming back for an exhibition match against one of Dana White’s UFC fighters. That would be sad, because Mayweather’s two previous fights against MMA guys weren’t fun to watch.
If the idea is for Mayweather to entertain fans and give them value for being charged $100 to watch his fights, then they got very little in return. Mayweather needs to fight someone that can hit him back, and make it a thrilling for fans to watch. De La Hoya could be that guy if Mayweather wants a real test.