When they fought in a pay-per-view monster that was dubbed “The World Awaits,” Floyd Mayweather Junior was 34 years of age, Oscar De La Hoya was 34. This, De La Hoya said then and says now, was the difference – the main reason “Money” was able to punch his way to a close (very close in the opinion of a good number of fans; some of whom had the fight a draw, or had De La Hoya winning close) points victory.
Speaking yesterday with TMZ Sports, De La Hoya – a man unafraid to speak his mind even if he comes out with some pretty outlandish things on occasion – said that had he met Mayweather when he was in his physical prime, at age 28 or age 29, he would definitely have won – by KO.
“It’s no secret that I fought Floyd when I was over the hill, past my prime. If I was about 28 or 29 years old, I would have knocked that a** out easy,” De La Hoya said.
Now, as we know, no fighter has ever KO’d Mayweather; in fact no fighter has ever really come anywhere close to doing it. “Sugar” Shane Mosley probably belted Floyd the hardest, in their 2010 fight, yet Mayweather showed, when he had to do so, that he has a good chin. For De La Hoya to say he would have KO’d Mayweather “easy,” it shows the former champ was not really thinking seriously about the fight, it was more a case of him talking tough for the cameras.
Maybe, had they met in, say, 2002, instead of in 2007, De La Hoya would have been able to punch out a close decision win over Mayweather, but there is nothing to suggest De La Hoya would have iced Mayweather. Had the two met at lightweight it would have been extremely interesting, but of course Mayweather left the 135 pound ranks in 2004, and De La Hoya moved up from lightweight in 1996, so that was never going to happen.
Mayweather and De La Hoya finally met, up at 154 pounds, in May of 2007. Was De La Hoya really “over the hill” by then? If so, De La Hoya should be proud of the fact that he pushed a 37-0 Mayweather all the way in dropping a 12-round split decision. Not bitter over the fact that Mayweather defeated him.
