Three years ago he made a brief and ill-fated comeback of his own against Vyacheslav Senchenko, so perhaps former British world champion Ricky Hatton is perfectly placed to offer advice to old friend Oscar De La Hoya on the pitfalls of such a plan?
With De La Hoya seemingly still conflicted and publicly considering the idea, Hatton has spoken to Sky Sports to say that while he isn’t really surprised, he thinks De La Hoya could be potentially flirting with disaster.
He was heavily criticized for over-shooting the 172 lb catch-weight limit against Andre Ward last weekend by 4.4 lbs in a fight that from before the first bell, there was only ever one winner – and come the 9th round a bloodied and battered Smith was mercifully halted in what, according to trainer Joe Gallagher, should be the last fight of Paul Smith’s long career.
He said in the Liverpool Echo;
“I’ve told Paul to probably consider retiring now.”
Following David Lemieux’s all-action win against Frenchman Hassan N’Dam at the weekend, which saw the French-Canadian capture the IBF 160 lb strap, Gennady Golovkin took to his twitter and issued an open challenge to both Lemieux and promoter Oscar De La Hoya, insisting now is the right time – not later – to make a fight between the two heavy-hitting middleweights.
Sadly for the fans it seemed an imminent clash was some way off as De La Hoya spoke out to insist that his fighter was due to fight a mandatory defence later this year that would keep the two punchers apart – at least until 2016.
This Friday at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, arguably the leading the light of the “next-gen” of British 168 lb fighters, Callum Smith, looks to make a statement in the next step toward his world title ambitions when he fights Frenchman and former George Groves victim Christopher Rebrasse.
After his labored victory over light-hitting Chris Algieri recently, and with welterweight rivals Kell Brook and Keith Thurman questioning his suitability for the Floyd Mayweather Sep 12th slot – Amir Khan may finally have realized his credibility has taken a damaging hit and that he is NOT going to be the man in the opposite corner for Floyd’s 49th pro outing.
But fear not.
Speaking in ‘The National’ ,Khan has realised the next biggest money fight for him may be against former Wild Card stablemate Manny Pacquiao – and while seemingly attempting to dismiss speculation from Bob Arum that the fight could take place in Dubai – and continuing to assert it is Mayweather he wants – he seemingly concedes he will take 2nd prize and fight the Filipino star if needs be.
This Saturday, “Desert Storm” Tim Bradley makes his first in-ring appearance of 2015 when he faces unbeaten Jessie Vargas for the interim WBO welterweight title, after Floyd Mayweather didn’t end up vacating the full version. A decision on what Floyd plans to do with that belt is still a way off with Mayweather yet to pay the WBO sanctioning fees from his clash with Manny Pacquiao last month.
The situation surrounding that title will become clearer with time, yet ahead of the fight Saturday, Bradley has spoken to ThaBoxingVoice to suggest that he has been working on his technique and power following his draw with Diego Chaves last December, as he no longer feels as comfortable leaving things in the hands of the judges.
After his impressive 3rd round stoppage victory over late replacement Phil Lo Greco on last weekend’s Broner v Porter undercard, Errol Spence Jr earned himself yet more new fans, home and abroad. The 2012 US Olympian was composed, methodical and ruthless in his attack against the Canadian fighter, who had previously extended Shawn Porter the distance 2 years ago.
After an aggressive start from Lo Greco, Spence maintained clinical poise and accuracy to gradually break his man down, finally forcing referee Robert Byrd to stop the action as the Texan fighter unloaded on the ropes.
He hasn’t been in the ring since avenging his 2011 loss to Nathan Cleverly in their snooze-fest of a fight last November, yet this Friday Liverpool’s Tony Bellew (23-2-1, 14 ko) once again boxes in front of his hometown fans when he fights aging Czech cruiserweight Lubos Suda (33-9-1, 25 ko) at the Echo Arena, live on Sky Sports.
Ahead of the fight, Bellew – who has recently returned from filming the new Rocky spin-off ‘Creed’ – has insisted he cannot wait to get back between the ropes and under the bright lights, telling the channel that he has sorely missed punching people in the face.
If British super middleweight Carl Froch is the will he/won’t he retire guy, then Mexican-American modern great and Hall of Fame inductee Oscar De La Hoya is fast becoming the will he/won’t he come back guy – with another new twist in the saga emerging from multiple sources that are quoting the Golden Boy as saying that any comeback is now 50/50.
After being linked to a potential fight with Kazakh puncher Gennady Golovkin and also a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, De La Hoya took to Instagram to quash those rumours – however, it is looking like the now 42 year old Oscar has had something of a change of heart.
Matchroom Sport will make their return to Leeds on September 5th, when hometown favourite Josh Warrington takes on Australia’s Joel Brunker in what represents a stern test for the British 126 lb #2 as he defends his Commonwealth title from the First Direct Arena live on Sky Sports.
It certainly will be a good fight for comparative purposes as to how far behind Warrington is in relation to new IBF 126 lb champion Lee Selby, who boxed and outclassed Brunker himself in October of last year, securing a 9th round stoppage – although the tough and experienced Aussie gave the Welshman a little trouble early on depsite the Welshman rarely getting out of first gear.