06.02.07 – By Geoffrey Ciani: Every so often a professional boxer comes around who captures the public’s imagination in inexplicable ways. Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson are well-known examples. Each of these men symbolized the sport during their peaks. In fact, strong arguments can be made that they became even bigger than boxing itself. There’s one more thing all of them had in common—they were heavyweight champions.
Today, boxing’s biggest attraction is Oscar De La Hoya. What I find most interesting about De La Hoya’s unrivaled popularity is that, unlike the aforementioned icons, De La Hoya has never fought in the heavyweight division. That in itself makes him an exception amongst the exceptional. No doubt, De La Hoya has become a marketing icon who seemingly wrote the Golden Book when it comes to successful business decisions in his chosen profession. It’s almost as if everything he’s touched has truly turned to Gold.
The Golden Boy has already participated in many of the biggest pay-per-view fights in history. In fact, his 1999 welterweight unification bout against Felix Trinidad established an all-time record for a non-heavyweight PPV event, generating 1.4 million buys. On May 5, De La Hoya squares off against pound-for-pound “King”, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in a bout that will almost certainly break that record. There’s even a very high probability that this bout will trump all existing PPV records, including the record 1.99 million buys (Mike Tyson versus Evander Holyfield, 1997) and the record $112 million in revenue (Mike Tyson versus Lennox Lewis, 2002). The sold-out fight has even already managed to set a live gate record for $19 million—three months before the fight will take place. Additionally, De La Hoya and Mayweather will each be making career paydays in this bout.
De La Hoya is truly boxing’s Golden Goose.
De La Hoya’s most recent fight was Cinco de Mayo weekend of last year, when he squared off against Ricardo Mayorga. That bout sold 925,000 PPV sales without much in terms of sponsors and marketing. That’s the type of raw drawing power the Golden Goose possesses. Imagine how much better this fight has the potential for on that basis alone? After all, De La Hoya is the biggest name in boxing, and he’s squaring off against the greatest talent in boxing! It’s like a match made in heaven.
In order to promote the mega-event, De La Hoya and Mayweather will be launching an 11 city tour, starting February 20 in New York City. Following that, the two pugilists and their respective camps will then travel to Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, before capping things off in Los Angeles. Considering the target cities, it sounds a bit more like a Presidential campaign than a promotional tour for a prize fight.
In terms of the fight itself, this has the potential to be a good one. Mayweather is younger, faster, and in his prime; he’s the pound-for-pound “King”. De La Hoya has a lot more big fight experience and has several other key factors which may play in his favor. Most importantly, the fight is taking place in the 154 pound division—this is uncharted territory for Mayweather.
Additionally, Mayweather conceded to a few other conditions set forth by the Golden Negotiator, including a smaller ring size (making the ring easier to cut off) and Reyes gloves, which are known as punchers gloves (this may be a factor, because Mayweather has had a history of brittle hands). Then there’s the fact that this fight is happening on Cinco de Mayo (historically, De La Hoya has never lost a bout this weekend) in Las Vegas (De La Hoya’s home turf).
In addition to being a money-making record breaker, it’s got the potential to be a truly competitive fight. This, of course, would help pave the way to a mega-rematch! Oscar De La Hoya truly knows how to put a mega-bout together. Sometimes, it really does seem as if everything he touches turns to Gold.
To contact Ciani:
geoff@eatthemushroom.com
To read more articles by Ciani, please visit The Mushroom Mag, home of Seeking Madam Mushroom.
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