As Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) readies himself for his December 6th bout against Manny Pacquiao, I thought it was an appropriate moment to look at whether De La Hoya’s career was ultimately a successful one in contrast to other greats in boring’s past. However, after careful examination, I came to the conclusion that De La Hoya’s achievements are less than impressive when looked at carefully. His immense popularity seems to stem from his 1992 Olympic Gold medal, and his ten world titles in six separate weight classes. However, he didn’t so such a grand job after 1997, for at that point he began to look less than impressive in his fights.
In April 1997, De La Hoya won a questionable 12-round decision over Pernell Whitaker, with many boxing fans feeling that it was Whitaker who should have been given the nod in the decision rather than Oscar. Before that fight, though, between 1994 to 1997, De La Hoya was at his best fighting as a lightweight. During that time, he won the WBO and IBF lightweight titles and beat the likes of John John Molina, Rafael Ruelas, John Avila, Genaro Hernandez, Jesse James Leija, and Darryl Tyson. After De La Hoya moved up and defeated Julio Cesar Chavez to win the WBC light welterweight title, De La Hoya started to show signs of slipping as a fighter.
By Nate Anderson: Next year we may be seeing the best fight in quite some time, perhaps the best in years, when Ricky Hatton faces Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya in a fight that will almost definitely break box office records for PPV. Although nothing is set in stone at this time, both fighters have expressed interest in making the potential fight happen. The only problem with the fight taking place is whether or not Hatton and De La Hoya will be successful in their upcoming bouts. Hatton faces Paulie Malignaggi, whereas De La Hoya takes on Manny Pacquiao, neither of which is an easy opponent. However, both Hatton and De La Hoya are expected to win by most betting experts in the sport. 
By Chris Williams: In news that will surely please a large segment of the boxing community while at the same time alienating just as many, Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) announced that he will be continuing on with his career after his December 6th bout Manny Pacquiao, mentioning that he’d like to fight at least a couple of times beyond that before hanging up his gloves for good. No doubt De La Hoya’s decision was made easier by the fact that he’s looking at making huge killing in his next fight with the pint sized Pacquiao, a fighter much smaller than De La Hoya and not much of a threat to hurt him like most of the other top welterweights and light middleweights presently are. 
By Scott Gilfoid: Only a few hours after going on sale, all of the tickets for the what will likely be a historic blockbuster bout between lightweight Manny Pacquiao and light middleweight Oscar De La Hoya sold out, leaving thousands of interested boxing fans forced to watch the bout on PPV rather than to see it live. As such, the fight what likely go down as the second largest gate attraction in boxing history, just behind the De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout which took place in May 2007. Pretty good considering that De La Hoya probably would be beaten by basically by most, if not all, of the current light middleweight and welterweight champions. 
By Manuel Perez: Oscar De La Hoya, not interested in sharing his time with his long time trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who is currently busy training light welterweight Ricky Hatton, has opted to get another trainer (Nacho Beristain) for Oscar’s bout with lightweight Manny Pacquiao in December. Beristain is an excellent trainer, and has trained a long list of top fighters such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Lopez and Humberto Gonzalez, to name just a few. Beristain has twice been on the receiving end of disappointing decisions for his fighter Juan Manuel Marquez to Pacquiao, with one being a controversial draw and another being an equally controversial decision loss to Pacquiao. 
By Nate Anderson: Ricky Hatton has come out saying that he wants to face Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao in 2009 – whoever the winner if of their December 6th bout. Hatton, 29, has a fight with Paulie Malignaggi on November 22nd, but once that fight is complete, Hatton wants to go after the big money fights. He previously had a chance to fight De La Hoya but Hatton declined because he wanted to get a shot at winning the IBF light welterweight. Many people thought Hatton had slipped his lid when he chose to decline what would have been a huge paying bout with De La Hoya for a fight with the much less popular Malignaggi, who is mainly popular on the East coast of the United States. 
By Eric Thomas: In an interview yesterday with Brian Kenny from the Sportscenter, Oscar de la Hoya commented on various things, from a second fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., how he’ll choose to fight Manny Pacquiao in their December 6th fight and his thoughts on the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Joel Casamayor bout on Saturday night. When asked about a second bout with Mayweather, De La Hoya said, “If I could have that rematch, how different that fight would be. When I fought Floyd, it was easier when I was throwing the jab, but for some reason I stopped throwing it. If we did it again in the near future, it would be a whole different story, that’s for sure…I hear he needs money.”
By Aaron Klein: I’ve long considered Manny Pacquiao (47-3, 35 KOs) to be the best pound for pound boxer on the planet, a fighter that few boxers even come close to being as good as. With that said, unfortunately I think he’s going to get to get his backside handed to him on December 6th by Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs). It isn’t that De La Hoya is still a top fighter at this point, because he’s clearly more B-class than A level at this point in his career, but his huge size advantage is going to make him much better than the shorter, lighter Pacquiao to have to deal with. 
By Aaron Klein: I don’t begrudge a guy for wanting to make some money, but come on, there’s a point where one can only stomach so much before they lose interest completely in the sport. For me, I think I’ve reach that point with the latest boxing news that Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) has decided on fighting Manny Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) on December 6th. It’s not as bad as it once was, however, because De La Hoya is now hinting that he’ll continue fighting beyond this fight, presumably against other smaller fighters like Ricky Hatton, a rematch with Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., or possibly against the inexperienced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Each fight would most likely generate huge money similar to the payday that De La Hoya will get for his bout with Pacquiao in December. 
By Eric Thomas: According to AP, Oscar De La Hoya may not be retiring after his December 6th fight with Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Apparently, because of De La Hoya’s inability to land a big mega fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who retired recently, it may be a factor in keeping De La Hoya fighting on past the Pacquiao bout. Obviously, De La Hoya’s decision hinges on him being successful against the 130 pound Pacquiao and beating him in an impressive fashion. It’s unlikely that he would want to continue – or that boxing fans, for that matter – if he were to be defeated by Pacquiao.