By Jim Maltzman: WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) has offered Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) a title shot if he wants it in his first fight when he comes out of retirement. De La Hoya, 47, was bragging on Friday night, saying that he can do some real “Damage” at 154 when he comes back.
Charlo responded to De La Hoya’s boast by saying, “Let’s go,” and he sounded like he meant it. De La Hoya didn’t specifically say who he wants to fight at 154 to do his “damage,” but you would have to think that Charlo would be high on the list.
Most boxing fans on social media are predicting quick blowout win for Jermell Charlo over De La Hoya if that fight gets made. De La Hoya would need to get with a great trainer like Eddy Reynoso to work his way into the kind of condition that he would need for him to have a chance against Jermell.
The top 154-pounders:
- Jermell Charlo – WBC champ
- Jeison Rosario – IBF/WBA
- Patrick Teixeira – WBO
- Erislandy Lara – WBA secondary
Rosario might be the best of the bunch given his youth, power, and chin. We’ve already seen Charlo lose to Tony Harrison, and he didn’t look that exceptional in avenging the loss last December. You’ve got to rate Rosario and Lara above Charlo.
Charlo offers De La Hoya a title shot
De La Hoya lost his last contest against Manny Pacquiao in a one-sided fight that ended after the eighth round. Oscar’s corner pulled the plug on the fight to save him from taking any additional punishment from the Filipino star.
At the time the fight wast stopped, Pacquiao was ahead on the cards by the scores 79-71, 79-71 and 79-72. De La Hoya looked shot to pieces and didn’t resemble his former self during his glory years.
ODH, I won’t scare you or try to make you stop, com on, You ain’t been touched by this era, You said 154, cuz you know i’m King, Let’s go
RT @OscarDeLaHoya: I can do some damage in the 154-pound weight class. #FBF #TheComeBack #Training #GoldenBoy pic.twitter.com/7YEagrgWEN
— JERMELL CHARLO (@TwinCharlo) July 18, 2020
There aren’t too many fighters that can come out of retirement and immediately fight for a world title and tells you something about the cache De La Hoya. However, the World Boxing Council would still need to agree to sanction a fight between Charlo and De La Hoya, and it’s not a certainty that they would.
Why is Oscar coming back?
That would be something if De La Hoya dared to take on Charlo, 30, for his WBC 154-lb belt. Charlo is someone that you would least expect the Golden Boy boss De La Hoya to fight because he’s an explosive puncher with excellent size and speed.
We have nothing to go on in judging whether De La Hoya can hold his own against a top-level 154-pounder like Charlo, Jeison Rosario, or Erislandy Lara. Oscar hasn’t fought in such a long time, and he’s been eating well in retirement.
De La Hoya’s net worth is $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. With that kind of money, Oscar has enjoyed the most exquisite food and drink that money can buy. It might be hard for De La Hoya to go through a grueling training camp to lose the weight he’s put on, and not be able to backslide by eating or drinking the wrong things.
One gets the sense that De La Hoya’s motive for coming back is to make as much money as he can. He’s not going to do that against Charlo, even though it would be a fun fight to watch. De La Hoya needs an opponent that can move the needle and help draw fans.
Oscar needs a famous opponent
Given De La Hoya’s many years out of the ring, he’s not well known to the newer boxing fans that have been watching the sport for the last ten years. The only way those fans can see De La Hoya is by watching his old fights on Youtube, and it’s doubtful that the younger fans have been doing that.
De La Hoya needs a popular enough fighter that can help him bring in the younger generation of fans that have little clue who he is. Oscar can rope in the older cats no problem, but there’s not enough of them to ensure that he brings in a lot of pay-per-view buys. That’s why Oscar needs to pick a famous fighter.
These are good options for De La Hoya:
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Canelo Alvarez
- Errol Spence Jr
- Manny Pacquiao
- Terence Crawford
- Mikey Garcia
De La Hoya can make the most dough fighting 41-year-old Pacquiao, but he can’t afford to wait much longer to set that fight up. Pacquiao will be retiring soon, and he takes a loss if he faces one of the younger fighters like Spence or Crawford.
De La Hoya needs to lose approximately 30 pounds, and he’ll be ready to fight at 154. Pacquiao would be the A-side, and he probably would want a catchweight of 150 pounds for him to agree to a rematch with Oscar.
Losing weight would be a must for Oscar
Can De La Hoya drain down to 150? He probably can if he focuses on the money he’ll make from the fight. What we don’t need is for De La Hoya to meltdown to 150, and then complain afterward that he was weight drained when he loses. That’s what happened the last time De La Hoya fought Manny.
A real question you have to ask about De La Hoya fighting Pacquiao is whether the fans would want to see it? They saw what happened to De La Hoya the last time he fought Manny in 2008, and they might not want to waste their money on a cash grab.
If De La Hoya came back and beat someone good at 147 or 154, then that would help make believers out of the boxing public. I don’t know who Oscar could beat. He would have to fight a top tier guy, and most of them would be dangerous for him. De La Hoya looks pretty old now, and it’s hard to imagine him beating anyone halfway decent.