Yahoo! Sports boxing analyst Kevin Iole is reporting that Oscar de la Hoya and trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr., have again parted ways, meaning that Floyd won't train Oscar for his December 6 money showdown with Manny Pacquiao, and that Oscar will be fighting under a third trainer in as many fights.
Mayweather was absent from de la Hoya's corner when "The Golden Boy" fought his son in May 2007, but returned a year later for Oscar's next fight, the win over Steve Forbes. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach coached Oscar for the Mayweather fight, but obviously isn't going to return to his role now.
Iole says that the leading candidate to train de la Hoya for the December clash is Marquez brothers ring genius Nacho Beristain, who is among the most gifted trainers in the world today. Not much of a businessman, but a very, very respected trainer who seems a splendid replacement to me. That deal could be closed soon, since both men are in Las Vegas preparing for Golden Boy's pay-per-view this Saturday.
Iole is also saying that Mayweather "intimated it was over money," while Oscar prefers to take the stance that Floyd is simply busy with Joan Guzman this weekend and new client Ricky Hatton in November. Yahoo! did reach Mayweather in Biloxi, Miss., and as always, he was a quote machine:
“I’ll be honest with you,” Mayweather Sr. said. “Nobody can do what I do. Don’t get me wrong. But Oscar doesn’t need me to beat Pacquiao. He really doesn’t. For this fight, Oscar can beat Pacquiao with just about anyone training him. When he hits him with that first left hook, it’s all going to be over. Ain’t no way Pacquiao can beat Oscar. No way.
“So, I’ll be honest, Oscar doesn’t need to pay the price to get me in this fight, because he’ll win this with me or without me.”
Senior is certainly ever the optimist, ain't he?
This will likely take a lot of the color out of the press conferences, given how critical Mayweather has been of Freddie Roach since Roach replaced him with Oscar last year. I was expecting some great Senior quotes, and some sniping Freddie comebacks. But on the other hand, if Beristain does take the reins, it's not like those two are strangers to one another, either. They have been in opposite corners for both fights between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, as well as round one of the Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez trilogy.