Oscar De La Hoya Fights Again
The Golden Boy Wants to Fight in Dodger Stadium
The president of GoldenBoy Promotions says he wants a May 3rd bout at Dodger Stadium. Ricky Hatton was mentioned as a possible opponent.
Oscar De La Hoya didn't get where he is by thinking small. The pride of East Los Angeles has chosen May 3rd, 2007 for his next fight. The LA Times reported that his first choice of venue is historic Dodger Stadium.
De La Hoya Eyes Hatton
The De La Hoya also said that his preferred opponent would be Ricky Hatton, should Hatton do well against Floyd Mayweather Jr. One will notice that he did not say he wants Hatton only if he wins, but that it is enough if he does well against Mayweather.
De La Hoya's Legacy
De La Hoya, always concerned about his boxing legacy, has been heard grumbling about his lack of a signature fight, a war that will be remembered for posterity like Leonard / Duran or Hagler / Hearns. He might see Hatton as his perfect foil--a fighter who comes forward with punches in bunches, but is too small to be a serious threat.
Another consideration is that De La Hoya wasn't too fond of seeing the recent Joe Calzaghe / Mikkel Kessler fight draw over 50,000 boxing fans to Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales while The Golden Boy--the supposed biggest draw in boxing-- has never filled even one quarter that amount of seats. Sure, his fight with Mayweather set a record for pay-per-view buys, but there would be undeniable ego stroking if he could look out into a sea of over 40,000 people and know that they paid to see him in person.
While it's true that De La Hoya is a pay-per-view draw, it's also true that he needs a proper opponent in order to convince fight fans to throw down fifty bucks for 45 minutes of boxing. De La Hoya / Mayweather wouldn't have been a record setter without Mayweather. In fact, the "De La Hoya / Mayweather 24/7" documentary on HBO that lead up to their fight was Mayweather's idea. It was so successful that HBO is reprising the concept for Mayweather / Hatton.
"The Pride of Wales," as Calzaghe is called, also drew 30,000 fans to see him blitz former "Contender" star Peter Manfredo Jr. European boxing fans, and British fans in particular, adore their heroes. Which brings us back to De La Hoya's preferred opponent, Ricky Hatton.
De La Hoya and Hatton Would Draw a Crowd
9,000 Hatton fans made the flight from Great Britain to Las Vegas Nevada to see their man from Manchester KO Jose Luis Castillo this past summer. Even if Hatton loses to Mayweather in December, his British minions would gladly make the pilgrimage to Los Angeles see him fight De La Hoya.
It's also worth noting that De La Hoya has important physical advantages over Hatton: He's naturally bigger, taller, has greater reach, has greater punching power, and is, by far, the better technician. All of which means that he could have the perfect opponent for an entertaining, yet relatively safe, fight; a huge gate, and at least 750,000 pay-per-view buys.
The 34-year-old Golden Boy may not be the fighter he once was, but he's as shrewd a businessman as ever.
