Oscar De La Hoya still hasn’t given up thinking about getting a return fight with fellow superstar Floyd Mayweather. De La Hoya, soon to turn 49, was to have put the gloves back on for an exhibition bout with Vitor Belfort, but Covid spoilt his plans and Evander Holyfield came in and took a bad fall against Belfort. Now, De La Hoya is talking up a potential rematch with “Money.”
Speaking with DAZN News, “The Golden Boy” said fans are hungry for fights that see “legend versus legend,” and he stated that a return go between he and Mayweather “can easily generate five million homes.” The “World Awaits” fight between Mayweather and De La Hoya, back in May of 2007, was a smash hit on pay-per-view but now De La Hoya says a sequel could break the current pay-per-view record held by the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight; which did a staggering 4.6 million buys.
“Obviously, he’s all about the money,” De La Hoya said of Mayweather. “This would probably be the biggest fight out there for him. I believe it would be bigger than him fighting [Conor] McGregor. It would be bigger than him fighting Logan Paul or whoever he’s bound to fight next. I think that people want to see real fights. People want to see legend versus legend, champion versus champion. This is what we do. Fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, and myself, we are real legends who put it out on the line.
“I strongly feel a fight with Mayweather would be massive, would be huge. I strongly feel a fight with me and Floyd can easily generate five million homes.”
De La Hoya explained how, with the different ways fans can watch a fight these days, the publicity would be huge – “with all the technology, there’s so so much that you can integrate in terms of publicizing the event,” he said.
There is no doubt a Mayweather-De La Hoya II would attract fans, maybe even a lot of fans. But break 4.6 million? Not a chance. Mayweather, however, will fight again, in some capacity or another – after his upcoming exhibition affair with “Money Kicks.” For what it’s worth, I’d much rather see Mayweather get in there with a De La Hoya instead of a mega-rich kid who basically has no boxing credentials.
De La Hoya seems determined to have some fight or another before he finally hangs up his gloves for keeps. Will Mayweather show any interest in facing De La Hoya, who he closely decisioned all those years ago?