By Scott Gilfoid: In the latest boxing news, former light middleweight champion Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) is reportedly highly interested in a bout with Oscar De La Hoya, whom he feels has been avoiding him for some time. This comes to no surprise to me that De La Hoya, or any other top fighter for that matter, would choose to avoid Wright, because he’s hard to beat even under the best circumstances. Since losing a 12-round unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins in controversial fashion last July, Wright has been unable to find a top opponent that would be interested in taking him on, likely given his still largely intact boxing skills.
Wright, now 36, is interested mainly in several fighters, ranging from Floyd Mayweather Jr., Kelly Pavlik to De La Hoya. Unfortunately for Wright, each one of them have fights booked up for the remainder of 2008, and in De La Hoya’s case, he may be going after bigger fish, such as Miguel Cotto, after De La Hoya gets through with his next two fights against Steve Forbes and Mayweather. One can’t blame Wright for wanting a bout with anyone of them, especially De La Hoya, because the bout would mean a tremendous payday for Wright, likely well into the millions.
By Nate Anderson: In a recent conference call interview, Oscar De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) didn’t rule out a fight with undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs). This would, of course, be taking place after De La Hoya’s fights with Steve Forbes, scheduled for May 3rd, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 20th in Las Vegas. De La Hoya, now 35, would be looking for a bout with Cotto likely to take place in December. However, for such a fight to take place, a lot of things would have to come in line before it could happen.
By John Dower: With so many fighters to choose from for his May 3rd tune-up bout, Oscar De La Hoya (38-5, 30 Kos) must feel like he’s in a giant candy store, especially when the opponent is very likely going to be one that he can literally beat the stuffing out of and look good in the process. However, in selecting the opponent, De La Hoya, 35, has to make sure that he doesn’t make the mistake up drifting too far down in the chain for quality opposition, for both the boxing public and general fans will let him know about with complaints.
With Ricky Hatton’s recent defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr., it essentially wiped out Oscar De La Hoya’s leading candidate for his next opponent, whom he has plans on fighting on May 3rd, whomever that may be. Hatton, however, due to his knockout loss to Mayweather, is no longer a viable opponent for De La Hoya, since the public wouldn’t likely enjoy watching a bout with two fighters coming off of losses, especially a one-sided knockout loss, like in Hatton’s case.
Now that Ricky Hatton has been flattened by Floyd Mayweather Jr., the prospect of a mega bout between the once-great Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton appears to be all but finished. The bout was always considered a long shot from the very beginning due to the odds against Hatton defeating Mayweather, but the one-sided nature of the fight, and the final finish – Hatton being brutally stopped in the 10th round – makes it nearly impossible to interest the boxing public.