By Chris Thomas: According to the latest rumor mill, Oscar De La Hoya is considering fighting former junior welterweight Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs) for his May 3rd tune-up bout. Nothing has been nailed down at this time, but the 30 year-old Forbe’s name has rose to the head of the list for potential opponents. At 5’7,” Forbes would be at a considerable disadvantage against the taller 5’11” De La Hoya, who could stand back and pound away at him all fight long without even getting a scratch. Though it’s quite normal for fighters to fight less than impressive fighters in their tune-up bouts, I had expected a little better from De La Hoya than this, if this indeed turns out to be his opponent for his tune-up bout.
Oscar De La Hoya
De La Hoya To Fight Tune-Up On May 3rd
In the latest boxing news, former six-time champion Oscar De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) will be fighting a tune-up bout on May 3rd against an un-named opponent before Oscar takes Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch which will likely be held on September 20th. Best of all, De La Hoya’s tune-up fight will be shown on regular HBO, giving the fans a break from not having to fork over $49.95 for a PPV bout.
Who Will Be The Next Opponent For De La Hoya?
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.
Of course, you never know, De La Hoya may still opt to fight Hatton, since he’s the less imposing fighter that De La Hoya could face without having to dip down into the lighter weight classes and try to line up a fight with someone, say, Manny Pacquaio, a super featherweight (130 lbs). Previously, De La Hoya has stated that he’s not interested in fighting Miguel Cotto, the Puerto Rican welterweight boxing star, because of Oscar’s promise to his wife that he would never fight a Puerto Rican fighter. However, there’s not too many big-named fighters for De La Hoya to pick over, at least ones that won’t beat him into coma, that is. Clearly, he’s looking for a fighter with a big name, but not the ability to beat the stuffing out of him, like Felix Sturm did, or stop him within the distance like Bernard Hopkins did with him.
Looks Like De La Hoya Is Out Of The Picture For The Defeated Hatton
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.
It seems as if most boxing fans, even casual ones without much knowledge, would have a prerequisite that the fighter in the ring with De La Hoya should have a mystique of invincibility, even if it’s one build up on less than impressive fighters. Now, however, that’s been removed from the equation with Hatton’s humiliating loss to Mayweather. The fight was never remotely close from the very beginning, which will make it difficult to justify a bout with De La Hoya. It could still happen, but only if it receives a different kind of billing, something on the lines of “former champions go at it,” or something to that effect.
De La Hoya Striking Out
Oscar De La Hoya, the CEO of the promotional outfit Golden Boy, has had big run of bad luck as of late with losses of fighters Shane Mosley, who was defeated recently by Miguel Cotto, Marco Antonio Barrera, who was easily defeated by Manny Pacquiao, once again, and De La Hoya himself, in his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr earlier this year. There’s not much to look forward for De La Hoya, the promoter, in terms of immediate wins in the near future. Bernard Hopkins, another one of Golden Boy’s fighters and also a manager in the company, has been playing cat and mouse with super middleweight Joe Calzaghe.
De La Hoya – Pacquiao: “Ain’t Going To Happen”
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.
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.