Floyd Mayweather retired and with that put an end to the possibility of a rematch between himself and Oscar De La Hoya. Thus, what would have been one of the biggest grossing fights in history has been cancelled...again.
Since that day De La Hoya has been actively looking for a replacement—a name which would be just as big and a fight which would garner just as much attention.
The first idea, Miguel Cotto, seemed perfect. He is an undefeated, highly popular Puerto Rican fighter with KO power in both hands. He has a vicious body attack and all the tools to set up a monstrous final fight for De La Hoya.
Even better was the fact that Cotto was set to face Antonio Margarito in July in a fight that would likely have determined the best welterweight on the planet.
The stage was set. Cotto would defeat Margarito and set up a huge mega-fight against De La Hoya for De La Hoya's final hoorah. But there was just one problem: Antonio Margarito.
Floyd Mayweather turned down $8 million rather than fight this man, and the same man ruined Oscar's plans by knocking out Miguel Cotto in the 11th round and giving him his first lost.
To be perfectly fair, Miguel Cotto was by far the technically superior fighter. He utilized better head movement, slipped punches, threw the more technical blows, and has had better hand and foot speed. Max Kellerman described the fight as a battle of "skill vs. will" and that was exactly what it came down to.
Antonio Margarito, though outclassed in the pure boxing aspect, simply was too big, too strong, and too determined. He bullied the smaller Cotto around by consistently applying a huge amount of pressure and backing him up the entire fight. It came down to the fact that Margarito couldn't be hurt while throwing a million punches.
This left Oscar searching for a new opponent, and somehow he came across former flyweight champion and current lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao. When it was first announced that Oscar De La Hoya would be facing Manny, I couldn't believe it.
At the very best, Oscar could get down to 147 lbs. which would be the welterweight limit—a full two weight classes over the weight class that Manny Pacquiao has just moved up to (135 lbs.).
Thankfully, Pacquiao's people wouldn't settle for a 70/30 split and (hopefully) this fight is off. It would be terrible for Oscar to go out against a fighter who is clearly much smaller than he is. So the question remains, who will Oscar fight?
One thing is for certain. Like Floyd Mayweather, he wants no piece of Antonio Margarito. This is a shame because Oscar has always built his entire career on facing the very best fighters out there and not ducking anyone.
If he indeed is looking for the best 147 lbs. fighter available for his final fight he need not look any further than Antonio Margarito.
3 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Pascal Peter 10 months ago
I really agree with you, Greg! Oscar is trying to exit the boxing industry with an easy fight. Unlike Floyd who took a tough fight from Brits finest, Hatton, Oscar is VERY SCARED to give us all the best fight of his life with The Turnado!
His is reason is very absurd though; instead of accepting that The Turnado (Margarito) would beat him down to the canvas in less than five rounds, he said that Mag has an unfinished business with Paul Williams. I though that comment from Oscar was lame and sorry! I never liked him anyway; so he should retire with no fight or face The Turnado!
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Christian 10 months ago
hey,
I agree with your article and now I dont have to write one of my own calling oscar out. You are on point though oscar has made a career out of fighting the biggest and the baddest and in this case it is most def Mr Tornado himself. The truth is oscar has a big ego and getting beaten up and retired on the same day is not something that the golden boy would ever let happen. He will probally fight a C class fighter and fight fans like me and you will have to settle for it. Great peice let me know when the next one drops
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Vitali Shaposhnikov 10 months ago
Hey Guys. I dont really agree. I think that this would not be an easy way out at all. I would predict a loss for Oscar in any case. Oscar is the future Holyfield, with a few retirements behind him already. What is he thinking ? He WAS one of the best fighters of all time, and as of now, he is slowly losing his name. Oscar's speed is not there, neither is his power. Manny would charge at him, quick in-n-outs, and before you know it, its round 9 or 10, Oscar's stamina is giving in, and he is throwing innacurate punches in little bunches! Bad fight for Oscar, great fight for Manny !
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