21.02.07 – It’s the fight everyone is talking about. On May 5th the whole world will be watching. De La Hoya — Mayweather: The World Awaits. It will be an unprecedented super fight between two boxing superstars and former Olympians, an event poised to shatter records. Golden Boy Promotions announces, The World Awaits–six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya versus unbeaten, four-division world champion Floyd Mayweather–for the junior middleweight championship. The anticipated match-up will take place Saturday, May 5 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
The fight features two former United States Olympians with a combined 14 world championship belts, unquestioned talent and charisma not seen since the days of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. This is more than a fight; this will be a spectacle that transcends a mere boxing event.
Tickets for the fight sold out in only three hours establishing a live gate record of $19 million. This broke the previous record of $16,860,300 for the November 13, 1999 Lennox Lewis vs. Evander Holyfield II championship event at the Thomas and Mack Center.
“This is what boxing is all about. Fighting Floyd Mayweather is the type of fight that truly gets me motivated to go through a hard training camp and make the sacrifices I have to make to be the best,” said De La Hoya. “We’ve talked about it, the press and the fans have asked for it, and now we’re going to put it all on the line and fight. I can’t wait for May 5.”
Mayweather followed by saying, “I’m excited to get this opportunity to once again show why I’m pound-for-pound the best in the world and to add another title to my collection. I respect everything Oscar has accomplished in this sport but this time he’s in over his head.”
Richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions, said, “This fight will be unlike any fight anyone has ever seen, in and out of the ring, from the initial press conference to the final bell. Given the caliber of the fighters and the high stakes involved, we have no doubt this will be the biggest boxing event of all-time and one that will go down in the history books as such.”
A 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist for the United States, De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs) has shattered stereotypes while becoming not only one of the premier boxers of this era, but a true crossover star. A champion in every division in which he has competed from 130 to 160 pounds, ‘The Golden Boy’ has faced boxing’s elite for 14 years including Julio Cesar Chavez, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Fernando Vargas, Arturo Gatti, Genaro Hernandez, Jesse James Leija and Hector Camacho. In his last fight May 6, 2006, the 33-year-old De La Hoya destroyed two-division world champion Ricardo Mayorga in six rounds to win the WBC junior middleweight championship.
Mayweather (37-0, 24 KOs), one of the most gifted fighters to ever step between the ropes, represented the United States in the 1996 Olympics and was on his way to a gold medal before a controversial loss forced him to accept the bronze medal. Once ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ entered the pro ranks, he would not be denied as he won his first world title at the age of 21 in 1998 by stopping Genaro Hernandez. He later defended that title eight times including wins over Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez and Jesus Chavez. In 2002, Mayweather added a lightweight title to his trophy case by beating Jose Luis Castillo. Junior welterweight and welterweight championships would follow when he defeated Arturo Gatti and Zab Judah, respectively. In November 2006, the 29-year-old Mayweather won yet another 147-pound title by defeating Carlos Baldomir.
The De La Hoya vs. Mayweather pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $54.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 56 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry.
The two fighters will be featured in an unprecedented four week prime time all-access series on HBO. “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” will premiere Sunday, April 15 at 10.30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO immediately following the new episodes of “The Sopranos” and “Entourage.”
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar De La Hoya vs. Bernard Hopkins and George Foreman vs. Michael Moorer; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, Sting, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena is also home to the annual FOX Billboard Music Awards, the annual Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Benefit and the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA). For room packages and availability at MGM Grand, call (800) 929-1111 or (702) 891-7777 or log onto the World Wide Web at www.mgmgrand.com.