By César Pancorvo Rosazza: When Oscar de la Hoya announced his 2008 agenda, many started speculating about potential opponents and I thought that, apart from Forbes in May, De la Hoya was going to fight Mayweather in September (the tremendous dividends were enough to convince him about this rematch; apparently they couldn’t persuade Floyd) and then, in his last fight, the winner of Margarito-Cotto or Ricky Hatton. Also, I always had the idea that De la Hoya was/is going to fight in May 2009..
Fighting three times this year was probably a very unlikely task for someone like Oscar de la Hoya, who has been fighting two times per year, or one time per year, or not fighting at all, since 1999: he fought two times in 2000, also twice in 2001, once in 2002, twice in 2003, twice in 2004, once in 2006 and once in 2007 –he was inactive during 2005.
It would be an anomaly if he truly retired at 35 years old. Most legends, in this era, don’t retire at that age. Roy Jones is almost 40 and keeps fighting –a Calzaghe fight seems, again, very probable because Calzaghe wants no part of Kelly Pavlik–, Trinidad has been retiring and un-retiring since 2001, Hopkins is 43, Calzaghe is 36, etc. Retiring at 35 is a not so probable option in this era, that’s also why Mayweather’s retirement was so unexpected and has generated so much controversy –that could translate into more PPV buys in the comeback fight.
It is hard for a great fighter to retire and to stay retired, and the modern paradigm of this is Lennox Lewis, but it is even harder to retire with only 35 years old (Lewis retired when he was 38, in early 2004).
Even if he wanted to fight three times this year, making the second fight in September 20th (the scandalous rematch against Mayweather) and a final farewell fight in December was doubtful. Was De la Hoya going to take only two or three months between two colossal mega fights? Only two or three months to rest after the huge Mayweather rematch, get the –and I emphasise: the– opponent, promote the final extravaganza and train for it? The time, the dates, simply do not adjust. This is why there was always something suspicious, something that smelled wrong about all this.
Now, of course, Mayweather has retired and all those suspicious, distrustful, plans went to the toilet.
A second important announce was made some days ago: De la Hoya, considering that his rematch with Pretty Boy has been guillotined, will now fight only once this year. And that is it. He will fight once more and officially retire. This is something that has been celebrated by many fans, which hate him and say he’s a hypocrite, and not so celebrated by others, like me, who actually like him. Who will be the opponent for this final fight? Below, an alphabetical list of the candidates:
a.Julio César Chavez Jr. (who gave De la Hoya this idea? This would be a crime).
b.Miguel Cotto, if he wins his next fight. The best option. It would not be hard to make this fight.
c.Ricky Hatton, who rejected a bout with De la Hoya and then said that he would need some months to prepare for it (and who would have to cancel a fight with Malignaggi).
d.Sergio Mora, who recently won a belt in the apocalyptic 154 division (De la Hoya, who isn’t even fighting Light Middleweights, Verno “42-10” Phillips and Mora are the best fighters of that division!).
e.Manny Pacquiao. Another show. Thank god that Pacquiao is closer to a fight with Hatton than to a fight with The Golden Boy.
f.Tito Trinidad (a rematch that isn’t so possible…Oscar would have to go up to Middleweight, or maybe even higher, again).
Yes, the fight against Miguel Cotto is, so far, the most likely option for December. Only if Cotto beats Margarito, which is not easy. De la Hoya wants it. Cotto would apparently have no problems with it. Last December, at least, he and his people wanted to fight Oscar: “Right now a fight with De la Hoya is more marketable than one with Mayweather”, said Evangelista Cotto some months ago. Then, he continued: “Even though De la Hoya lost to Mayweather in his last fight and Mayweather won last night against Hatton, De La Hoya remains the most marketable….The other names that have been mentioned to fight with Miguel do not compare economically with a fight with De la Hoya”.
If he beats Margarito next month, Cotto would not have many choices (a fight against Williams can’t be compared to a fight against De la Hoya. And a Mosley rematch seems implausible if the De la Hoya option is around). His welterweight dominance would be almost complete.
Finally, we have to ask the following question: Would a fight against De la Hoya-Cotto winner bring Mayweather back to boxing? Assuming that De la Hoya wins, at a catch weight of 150 pounds, then Mayweather would not come out of retirement to fight him. De la Hoya will, in theory, retire this year, so fighting a rematch with Mayweather would be impossible. But you never know…The temptation could be too much to refuse.
Could a Mayweather-Cotto fight be made, if Cotto beats Margarito and De la Hoya? There is, today, too much pressure on Mayweather to make that fight. Imagine that pressure, multiplied by ten. The suggestion of making a comeback, like Robinson, Ali, or Leonard (or like The Golden Boy) would be too sweet.