Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya voluntarily misses “The One” – a bizarre publicity stunt or a necessary urgent measure?

Canelo and OscarOscar De La Hoya has stolen the lime light from Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez for a moment by going public with his personal demons and choosing a climatic stage of the hype to “drop his bomb”. What kind of an emergency could not wait for several days and prevented him from attending an event of such magnitude? Has he become so dysfunctional that he has to be removed from the scene as a liability to the joint venture? Was there an “intervention”?

He is the owner and founder of Golden Boy Promotions and even if he has only representative status at the company, he is hardly expendable. Even if his attendance at the Sept. 14 card is not of vital importance, his absence will be very conspicuous. The internal conflict transpires even in the press release where a public announcement calls for privacy in a vocally publicized personal dilemma.

Oscar De La Hoya making a lot of pre-fight predictions ahead of “The One!”

dela hoya12It’s always both very interesting and a great honour being a call in participant whenever a big fight is preceded by a teleconference; especially an international one ahead of a massive, massive fight such as the fast approaching Floyd Mayweather-Saul Canelo Alvarez clash. Yesterday, with big name scribes such as Dan Rafael and Lem Satterfield asking Canelo and Oscar De La Hoya questions regarding “The One,” it was hugely exciting being on the line.

I listened to the ESPN.com scribe ask his questions, along with writers for USA Today, Ring Magazine and other instantly recognisable publications, and the thing that struck me most, well actually there were two things – they were: Canelo’s amazing maturity and quiet self confidence, and Oscar De La Hoya’s bold pre-fight predictions.

De La Hoya: Canelo is on his way to becoming great

Canelo arrives(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Without a knockdown and some very generous scoring for his last fight, WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) would have ended up losing his last fight to Austin Trout last April in San Antonio, Texas in their open scoring fight. As it was, Canelo won a fight that looked to be more of a draw than a victory in the minds of a lot boxing fans.

Don’t tell that to Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, because he feels Canelo is on his way to achieving greatness in his career.

De La Hoya said to the press today “With the help of the people surrounding him, Canelo is on his way to becoming great.”

De La Hoya doesn’t see Mayweather as having changed from 2007

mayweather3423Oscar De La Hoya thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the same fighter now that he was when they fought in 2007. De La Hoya believes Mayweather is still essentially as good as he was back then, but the difference now is he’s fighting who De La Hoya feels is a better fighter than himself in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 14th.

De La Hoya doesn’t know how Mayweather will deal with someone hitting him with six-punch combinations with the kind of power that Canelo throws his punches with.

De La Hoya said to RingTV “When I fought him in 2007, he might be the same Floyd. Fresh, better shape, young, strong, I don’t see any difference. I still see the same movement.”

De La Hoya: Who do you want to see this super hero [Canelo] fight?

canelo22It looks like Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions is referring to WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as a “super hero” now following his controversial 12 round decision win over Austin Trout last month in a fight that Canelo appeared to be greatly helped by the open scoring, as well as some very, very generous scores by the three judges that worked that fight. A super hero that failed to prove that he’s better than Trout.

De La Hoya said tonight on his twitter “Who wants to see this super hero [Canelo]? And with who?”

De La Hoya was immediately bombarded with people saying that Canelo should fight WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and that he should fight someone his own size [172 lbs]. That probably wasn’t the answer that De La Hoya was hoping to get because Golovkin is a fighter that Golden Boy appears to be steering a wide path around him when it comes to matching Canelo up.

Oscar De La Hoya Says He Thinks About Coming Back “Every Single Day” – Almost Came Back For Return Fight With Felix Sturm

Oscar De La Hoya Says He Thinks About Coming Back “Every Single Day” - Almost Came Back For Return Fight With Felix SturmBy James Slater: Comeback fever must be in the air; only some fighters are able to resist the irresistible temptation. Right now, we have the very real possibility of former 140-pound king and Manchester, U.K legend Ricky Hatton lacing ‘em up again (even Boxing News, the prestigious trade paper and Boxing Bible in the U.K has Hatton, and his will he won’t he comeback, as a front cover story this week), and Oscar De La Hoya has just revealed to ESPNNewYork that he came oh, so close to coming back himself, this October.

De La Hoya, aged 39 and, like Hatton inactive since being badly and comprehensively beaten by Manny Pacquiao, said he “thinks about coming back every singe day,” and that he began training for a planned rematch with current WBA middleweight champ Felix Sturm, the man he controversially out-pointed over 12-rounds to win the WBO 160-pound belt back in 2004.

Oscar had hoped to push his body through one last training camp and fight Sturm this coming October 20th – as the headline to the Brooklyn card that will instead be topped by Danny Garcia-Erik Morales II.

“I went running, I went training, did that for a few days,” De La Hoya said. “But my body couldn’t handle it. I’m 39, but I’m an old 39. If I have the desire of coming back, I go and work out, and there go those plans.”