by James Slater: Originally, Oscar De La Hoya was going to have three fights is this, his final year in boxing. Oscar had the Steve Forbes “tune-up” bout as planned in May, he was then going to have a big fight rematch with Floyd Mayweather Junior in September, and then, in the last month of 2008, De La Hoya would box a “farewell” fight – before hanging up his gloves for good after having had one of the greatest boxing careers in recent years.
Now, however, Oscar’s plans have changed – no doubt largely because of Floyd Mayweather’s decision to retire. Instead of two more fights and then out, “The Golden Boy” will now box only one more time this year and then hang up the gloves. Speaking to Reuters recently, Oscar gave a few hints on just who his very last fight might be against.
“One more and that’s it. This is my final year,” De La Hoya said. “I’m doing one fight and then hanging up the gloves. Time is running out. If [Floyd] Mayweather [Junior] is playing these little games thinking he can catch me at an older age next year, it’s not going to happen. It has to happen this year.”
Clearly, Oscar still wants a second fight with Mayweather, but only if it comes before 2008 is over. De La Hoya is also quite clearly at least a little bit sceptical about “Money’s” latest retirement. Is Floyd indeed playing games in an attempt to secure a second fight with De La Hoya – in a “comeback” fight next year? It looks as though Oscar has given such a notion some thought. Besides Mayweather, though, the 35-year-old legend also mentioned a few other fighters in relation to their possibility of being his final opponent.
“Manny Pacquiao is calling me out,” Oscar said. “He can jump two or three weight classes and challenge me. And there’s an interesting fight happening, with Miguel Cotto against [Antonio] Margarito – that should be interesting to watch. Maybe I can get the winner. We’ll see.”
It’s likely the majority of fight fans would most like to see De La Hoya go out with a fight against July 26th’s winner. However, a fight with “Pac-Man” would also be a definite seller. Whoever Oscar fights, and whenever it is that he has his very last bout, it is sure to be a huge occasion.