Oscar De la Hoya announcement Saturday

[andrewb94]

Will De La Hoya retire or fight Mayweather on Sep 16 for a massive pile of cash? We'll find out tomorrow, when Oscar will announce his plans.
The original conference due last Saturday was canceled.
Kassim Ouma will fight Floyd instead if he does retire.

Friday, June 09, 2006
By David Mayo
The Grand Rapids Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It's just a hunch that Oscar De La Hoya will announce his retirement and leave Floyd Mayweather holding a bag lightened $750,000 by the pursuit.

None of this can be said with any conviction, save that De La Hoya will announce Saturday at a special media brunch here which option he has chosen, and whether Mayweather's years of yearning to fight him reach fruition.

Granted, we are talking about a boxing retirement. A classic oxymoron. But we also are talking about a different breed in De La Hoya, who never has toyed with the public with pseudo-retirements, in the way Sugar Ray Leonard did in announcing his 1982 retirement by pointing at Marvin Hagler and proclaiming that a fight between them "unfortunately would never happen."

Never lasted five years.

De La Hoya has a similar choice. He can fight the pound-for-pound king from Grand Rapids, or leave a king's ransom on the table.

To say the money isn't important would be foolish. If De La Hoya decides to take the fight, money is at the top of the list of reasons, regardless of his quarter-billionish (give or take a mid-eight-figure pittance) earned through boxing.

There are suggestions that De La Hoya-Mayweather could surpass Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson's record $103 million in pay-per-view sales. De La Hoya would keep a big chunk of that money through base purse, television percentages and his promotional rights.

Yes, the money matters.

Another reason would be the outrageous challenge of De La Hoya retiring -- there's that silly word again -- with a fight against boxing's best.

The third reason, just in case De La Hoya loses, would be to try locking Mayweather into a contract with Golden Boy Promotions. De La Hoya used the same formula in his 2004 loss to Bernard Hopkins to sign the former middleweight champion. And the 29-year-old Mayweather has far more years of productivity ahead.

Still, I suspect De La Hoya already has weighed the reasons for not taking the fight and determined them to be predominant.

One reason is a looming deadline for the proposed Sept. 16 fight. The industry standard is 90 days' lead time for a pay-per-view event, and a non-refundable payment to reserve the date often is required at that point.

You can look at the timing of De La Hoya's decision either way. He could be saying yes just before the soft deadline. Or, he simply could be extending a business courtesy to HBO and Mayweather by announcing his retirement as early as possible.

Still, if contract negotiations have been finalized, then a lot of people are doing a pretty good job keeping the results quiet. And if there is no contractual agreement, or immediate promise of one, that harkens the question of what De La Hoya possibly could announce, if not his retirement.

De La Hoya also is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., though they work on a fight-by-fight basis. They have no agreement in place for the proposed fight, although the elder Mayweather tepidly has agreed to work against his son if asked. He hasn't been asked.

There also is the risk.

De La Hoya admits the fight can go either way. But if he never fights Mayweather, he walks away with an enormous bankroll, a growing young family, a prospering promotional company, and few questions about why he declined to finish his career with such a risky fight after years at the game's highest level.

I suspect De La Hoya will decide that challenge -- one of the core reasons he might take the fight -- is not worth the risk. He tried it against Hopkins. He ended up with a good client, but a bad loss.

Every apparent obstacle to the fight has been removed. Mayweather bought out his contract with promoter Top Rank for $750,000 to facilitate negotiations. His estranged father, after waffling, decided he would work with De La Hoya if they can reach terms.

It has taken years to get to this point, closer than ever to De La Hoya vs. Mayweather, or perhaps farther than we think.

One man knows. Finally, he is ready to tell.

 

[MrAaron]

Unfortunately he will retire. he doesnt have to prove anything else, he is and always will be a superstar. He'll go into coaching next year without a single doubt.

 

[andrewb94]

No retirement yet, but he wont be fighting Mayweather until May 07.
The Sep 16 date is being filled by the Barrera vs Juarez rematch.
Mayweather will be fighting Nov 4, probably against the winner of Mosely vs Vargas 2

BY JAY HEATER
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Saying that his body still has some gas left in the tank, Oscar De La Hoya announced on Wednesday that he hopes to end his career with a fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., possibly next May.

De La Hoya, speaking from Puerto Rico on a conference call, said that he was ready neither to announce his retirement nor to commit to a bout in September.

"I started to realize more and more that I had put tremendous pressure on myself to make a decision (whether to retire) because of the pay-per-view deadline for a Sept. 16 fight," De La Hoya said. "Decision time was coming up, yet I feel that retirement should be a final decision.

"Too many times you see fighters retiring, just to come back after a couple of years, mostly because of financial reasons or to hear the cheers of the people. When I retire, it's going to be definite, for sure, no ifs, ands or buts. Today is not that day."

Although he will continue to consider retirement, De La Hoya (38-4) said he wants to fight one more bout. "If I decide to have one more fight, it would be Floyd Mayweather, Jr. That is the only name that would satisfy me to train for three months and to prepare myself."

De La Hoya, 33, is coming off a sixth-round TKO of Ricardo Mayorga on May 6 in Las Vegas. De La Hoya added the WBC light middleweight title to the eight other major crowns he has held. It was his first fight since he lost to Bernard Hopkins (KO-9) on Sept. 18, 2004.

"I have been known to take a year off between fights, and obviously, I can do it again," De La Hoya said.

Mounting injuries (hands, back, elbows) make it likely De La Hoya will stick to his plan for just one more bout. De La Hoya said he can't spar as many rounds in preparation for bouts as he did 10 years ago. He doesn't want to become an over-the-hill fighter.

"Think of all the fighters who have retired and come back, just to be humbled in the ring," he said.

A multi-millionaire, De La Hoya doesn't need a big payday. "I am a competitor," he said. "I've spent 27 years of my life training and stepping into the ring. This is what I love. Yes, I do want to fight. This is a sport that drives me, that keeps me alive.

"Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world so beating him would make me the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Many years ago, I was on top of that list, at least for a brief moment."

 

[JohnF]

Fights I'd love to see which will probably never happen

DLH v Wright @ 154

Hopkins v Wright @ 160

Taylor v Calzaghe @ 168

Mayweather v Hatton @ 140

If DLH fights Mayweather, give me Floyd by comfortable decision.