According to the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, Freddie Roach, Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) “Ain’t going to happen,” he said to the Manila Bulletin. Apparently, the weight differences between Pacquiao, a 130 pound super featherweight, and De La Hoya, a light middleweight, would be too extreme for Pacquiao to handle. Based on reports, De La Hoya, 34, is highly interested in the bout, knowing perhaps the huge amount of money that could be made off a bout of this nature.
Oscar De La Hoya
Should De La Hoya Retire?
With Oscar De La Hoya’s (38-5, 30 KOs) recent announcement of his intentions to fight on May 3rd, 2008, I thought this would be a good time to discuss whether or not De La Hoya should hang up the gloves. For me, I’m not precisely sure why he continues to fight, since he reportedly has a fortune of over a $100 million, and clearly doesn’t need the money. If he was still a successful fighter, I could understand why he would want to continue boxing. However, he’s lost three out of his last five fights, and realistically he should have lost a fourth fight to Felix Sturm.
De La Hoya To Fight On May 3rd
At the press conference following the Shane Mosley vs. Miguel Cotto fight, Oscar De La Hoya stated that he plans on fighting next on May 3rd, against an unnamed opponent. However, when pushed on the subject, De La Hoya, 34, said that he hoped it would be Ricky Hatton, whom he’s had considerable interest in fighting for the past couple of months. No doubt, De La Hoya sees huge dollar signs, with a worldwide audience. However, unlike many boxing experts, who don’t give Hatton much of a chance at beating Mayweather, De La Hoya seems oblivious to what they’re saying, still thinking that Hatton will pull off the upset somehow.
Cotto – What’s Next? De La Hoya, Williams, Margarito or Hatton?
With the dust barely settled following World Boxing Association welterweight champion Miguel Cotto’s narrow decision over Shane Mosely on Sat6urday night at Madison Square Garden, the question in most people’s minds is who should Cotto fight next? As Cotto puts it, he’d be interested in fighting “all the top guys,” like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya. However, the chance of him actually fighting either of them is slim and none, unfortunately.
De La Hoya has strict marching orders from his Puerto Rican wife, telling him that he can’t find fighters from Puerto Rico, for which Cotto is from. It’s unclear whether that De La Hoya would go against his wife’s wishes, but unless I miss my guess, this is probably a convenient excuse for him not to have to face the embarrassment of losing badly, likely by knockout by the hard-punching Cotto. So, De La Hoya’s basically out of the picture, no matter how much Cotto might want to fight him.
De La Hoya To Make Ring Return in May 2008
Oscar de la Hoya (38-3, 30 KOs) wants to get back in the ring in early 2008 against a fighter that “doesn’t run,” he says, possibly taking a swipe at Floyd Mayweather Jr., who recently defeated De la Hoya by 12-round split decision in May 2007, in a fight that Mayweather employed his usual hit and run fighting style, causing De la Hoya to become very frustrated late in the fight as he attempted to engage him. De la Hoya, 34, plans on moving back down to the welterweight division, fighting there for the first time in seven years since beating Arturo Gatti in 2001.
It’s unclear why De la Hoya has opted to move back down to the welterweight division, but one can only guess that it’s because he has his eye on someone in particular, likely Kermit Cintron or Ricky Hatton. Though Hatton fights as a super lightweight, he has formerly fought as a welterweight, albeit not very effectively, for a short period of time and would have no qualms about gaining a little weight to fight De la Hoya at that weight, especially if it meant that he was going to get a huge mult-million dollar pay day in the process. His reputation, however, will be a little tarnished by them, considering that Hatton will have already fought – and lost badly – to Mayweather by then, but that matters little to most of the public, who don’t care how many times some of their heros lose.