This Would Have Been A Good Fight Ten Years Ago

Being a boxing fan, I always like a good match up. These two guys are legends of their time, but it's a little too late for all the hoopla of a PPV fight. I'd watch it, but paying for it on Pay Per View .... well, not so much...

David Santos Picks Jones to Win By Knock




Probably a good fight....

Plans for Mayweather-De La Hoya rematch near completion



An announcement of a September fight is expected by next week, at the latest. It's likely to be held at the Home Depot Center or at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
By Lance Pugmire
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

January 18, 2008

Negotiations for a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Oscar De La Hoya rematch are nearing a conclusion, and an announcement of a September fight between the pair is expected by next week at the latest, Golden Boy Promotions executive Richard Schaefer said Thursday.

Carson's Home Depot Center and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas have emerged as the finalists for the site, after De La Hoya said in November he would like to fight in May at Dodger Stadium.

"Nothing's finalized, nothing's signed, but it will be in September, and [De La Hoya's] going to wait to fight until then," Schaefer said. "It's too big of a fight."

Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts) beat De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) by split decision May 5 at MGM Grand, a bout that featured a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys and the publicity boost of HBO's four-part reality series, "24/7."

De La Hoya hasn't fought since. Mayweather, meanwhile, scored an impressive 10th-round knockout win Dec. 9 over England's Ricky Hatton in a welterweight title defense at MGM Grand to reinforce his stature as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter.

The Mayweather-Hatton bout drew 850,000 pay-per-view purchases, and a De La Hoya rematch probably would fall between Mayweather's last two pay-per-view totals because the first bout was criticized for segments of inaction.

Schaefer said the current negotiations include discussions about the fighters' weights. It could be a non-title bout with a weight limit between welterweight (147 pounds) and super-welterweight (154 pounds).

The impending Mayweather deal removed unbeaten World Boxing Assn. champion Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KOs) from De La Hoya's list.

Cotto's promoter, Bob Arum, said Tuesday that his champion will meet former reality television fighter Alfonso Gomez of "The Contender," April 26 in Atlantic City.

Although a De La Hoya bout would've secured a massive payday for the talented but uncharismatic Puerto Rican, Arum said the fight would've been lopsided.

"Anyone who wants to see Cotto-De La Hoya is a sadist," Arum said. "Oscar realized at this stage of his career, what does he want a Cotto for? Even if he didn't have a business career waiting on him, he has a life."

The Cotto fight will give Arum's three stars fights in consecutive months, starting with the Feb. 16 rematch between Kelly Pavlik and dethroned champion Jermain Taylor, and the March 15 rematch between World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Arum's Filipino star, Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the first round of their 2004 meeting, but Marquez rallied to claim a draw. He's vowing to keep his belt and stop Pacquiao's claim as the "Mexican Assassin," after Pacquiao's triumphant series over Mexico legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.

"I don't know why people think he's the Mexican killer," Marquez said Tuesday at a news conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "He didn't beat me. This fight is for me, my fans, and the Mexican people."

Pacquiao, with ideas of fighting for two more belts, including Hatton's light-welterweight title, later this year, is taking the Marquez challenge seriously. Instead of training again in his home country, where distractions are a constant, he'll spend the next two months at trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

"I need to train hard and have 100% into my conditioning," Pacquiao said.

News item: The year's first pay-per-view fight is Saturday night, pitting former champions Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr.

Reaction: This shows how far all involved have fallen. Trinidad's career was sealed in 2005 after a one-sided loss to Winky Wright. Jones, 39, has lost three of his last five fights. And promoter Don King has sunk to new lows of greed, charging $15,000 for some ringside seats, and placing the bout on pay-per-view.