Floyd-Oscar II likely for September

by Scott Christ on Jan 17, 2008 7:11 AM EST in Boxing News Analysis

It's gonna happen. The biggest money fight in boxing history will run one more time.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Oscar de la Hoya are close to a deal for a fight in September. From Rafael:

"We are still discussing things but we have almost finalized it," said (Richard) Schaefer, who heads De La Hoya's promotional company. "I think an announcement will be forthcoming."

Schaefer said the fight would be Sept. 13 or Sept. 20 on HBO pay-per-view. He said the site for Mayweather-De La Hoya II has not been settled but he is holding the September dates at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center, the outdoor home to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. He said other venues are also interested, including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

A source also told ESPN.com Wednesday night that Dodger Stadium was interested in hosting the fight after L.A. native De La Hoya suggested he'd like to fight there before retiring.

...

"Floyd is agreeable to do the fight and so is Oscar," Schaefer said. "Now it's just me working through everything."

Although De La Hoya has said he planned to return to the welterweight division and Mayweather is the welterweight world champion, Schaefer said the weight for a rematch hadn't been determined. He said it could be at a catch weight somewhere between the 147-pound welterweight division and 154-pound junior middleweight class.

"It's something we are discussing," he said.

It's a fight that will come with mixed anticipation, much like Jones-Trinidad, but something entirely different. Even those of us that felt the fight was entertaining and close don't really seem to want to see it. Many felt the fight wasn't entertaining or particularly close, that Mayweather outclassed Oscar, fighting at a weight at which he had no business.

The weight is a minor issue, particularly if they go for a catchweight, which I figure would be 150 pounds. You probably remember that Mayweather weighed in at 150 for the first fight, anyway, and the only thing that could be different is probably a little less power for Oscar.

Can de la Hoya beat Mayweather? You never say never. He's tough and he's good, and if Floyd, Sr., is back in his corner, he'll work with the trainer that he knows well and who is probably best-equipped to talk strategy on neutralizing Floyd's superior speed, incredible accuracy, and amazing defense.

But I wouldn't bet a dollar on Oscar. And I don't think this fight will be as close as the first one was. Mayweather is doing nothing from here on out but establishing his legend and making his money.

The boxing fan in me demands a fight with Miguel Cotto and sees Floyd-Oscar II as something of a slap in the face, but the guy who understands business in me realizes there's too much money to pass up. Who can really blame them?

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Noooooooo!!

Damn it. The first fight was close, and it was a decent to good fight, but there was nothing there that required a rematch. This does absolutely nothing for PBF's legend. He already beat DLH. Beating him again proves nothing. I'd rather see either one, preferably PBF, fight Miguel Cotto. DLH is just going to add another L to his record with this one. Bringing Sr. back into his corner will do nothing for Oscar IMO but add some drama to the fight in a ploy to boost sales.

I will not order this fight.

by erod on Jan 17, 2008 9:34 AM EST reply actions

RE:

Same as erod.

Whats the reason we not getting Mayweather-Cotto?

Money..Money...Money....
Its there braincells end of day and they big enough to fight who they want.

I got to admit i will be buying the fight if it happens. Big DLH fan.

Mainstream is brought to you..Underground you got to go there

by mrdink on Jan 17, 2008 12:31 PM EST up reply actions

Isn't it lovely

I wish I were able to curse here so I won't. But... do you smell that? Do you smell that? I think I smell Pus... Are you kidding me! Mayweather fighting Oscar once again, what a great way to avoid fighting Cotto? Wow this amazes me, after some one was asked after beating Hatton if he [or she] would like to fight the up and rising Cotto before he [or she] takes a leave of absence and the answer was stutterstutterstutter Cotto's a great boxer stutterstutterstutter But I need to take a rest*stutter*stutterstutter
stutterstutterstutter and more stutter. Now I am not mentioning any names, but Mayweather is scare of Cotto probably got even more scared after he saw Mosly bleeding from his ear. From his ear! Why do you think Oscar opted from fighting Cotto in May? Probably the same reason that as of yet Cotto does not have a single opponent on his waiting list. I think Mayweather should change his name to "take the money and run" from pretty boy. "Take the money and run" will not last in the ring with Cotto. And if he does, I guarantee "take the money and run" will spend the night in the ER just like the rest of his last eight fighters. Mayweather you Pus...

by CRAZEDANG1280 on Jan 17, 2008 3:00 PM EST reply actions

you can curse here

Just don't go nuts with it and turn into an old Ice Cube song or anything. The only real rules are:

No racism
No "homophobic" comments (I know most people aren't even meaning to be homophobic by describing something as "gay" or someone as a "fag," but there are a lot of other ways to say the same thing and not really offend people)
No attacking of other users -- responses like, "You're a fuckin' idiot," are totally pointless. Disagree all you want, but I'm more into discussion and debate than flamewars. What I hate about so many other boxing forums and sites, even the really good ones, is that the discussion inevitably devolves into that sort of crap. We're trying to keep it out of here, because I think there are a lot of boxing fans that really can have great conversations with each other if they'd just tone it down a bit and not act like 13-year olds.

If you want to call Mayweather a pussy for avoiding Cotto and fighting Oscar instead of taking his alleged two years off and coming back rested, then I would have to say you have a leg to stand on there. I wouldn't even really disagree.

by Scott Christ on Jan 17, 2008 9:56 PM EST up reply actions

DLH-Mayweather

I have no problem saying that Mayweather is the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, but, to me, this rematch is ridiculous. Sad thing is, I can almost already see how it will all play out: In what will be more of a publicity move than anything else, De La Hoya will get Floyd Mayweather Sr. to train him. HBO will do another 24/7, and the Mayweather Sr. / Mayweather Jr. rivalry will be the main focus. Floyd will say the nastiest things about his father and viceversa. In order to sell the fight, they'll push their conflict more than they've ever had in the past, and we, the public, will start to wonder how much of it is real and how much of it is for publicity. Among the things Floyd Sr. will say is that he made his son into the fighter he is, and that he knows what his weaknesses are. Meanwhile, we'll hear that Oscar is in the best shape of his life. That he's refocused and HUNGRY (gotta love this term, as if that gold WBA belt was filled with chocolate). ESPN and the rest of the national sports media will jump on the bandwagon. If ESPN had given a fifth of the attention they gave both Mayweather fights this year (or anything regarding Mayweather, such as his supposed move to MMA) to so many better fights that happened last year (Calzaghe-Kessler, Cotto-Mosley, Vasquez-Marquez, Pavlik-Taylor), the sport of boxing would have more than just two real superstars.

Ask any boxing fan in the world: Would you rather see Mayweather fight De La Hoya again, or would you rather see him face Cotto? You know what they'll tell you. At the same time, are we seeing anything new from Mayweather here? Ever since moving up to light welterweight, he has continually evaded what the public percieves to be the most difficult fights. Just look at the welterweight division right now, here's a top-ten off the top of my head: Cotto, Williams, Mosley, Cintron, Margarito, Clottey, Judah, Quintana, Collazo, Berto. Floyd has been at 147 since 2005. In five fights at this weight, the only actual top-ten welterweight he's fought has been Judah, and at the time, Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir.

It's simply been a very long time since Mayweather was in a fight in which I didn't think the outcome was obvious from the get-go (meaning: from the time the fight was announced), or a fight in which he was an overwhelming favorite. Everyone knew he was going to pummel Hatton, Gatti, Bruseles and Mitchell. Everyone knew he was going to beat Baldomir and Oscar by decision (just like he'll do again in September). I have so much more respect for fighters who take on the toughest fights, or fights that I consider to be actual risks (see: Vasquez/Marquez, Cotto/Mosley, Calzaghe/Hopkins, Taylor/Pavlik). Those fights are out there for Mayweather, he just won't take them. I'm not saying he wouldn't be favored to beat Cotto, Mosley or Paul Williams (he definitely would, and I personally would give him the upper hand on all of them), but these fights would be the biggest risks. Isn't that how you build a legacy?

Honestly, while I think the money itself has a lot to do with it (and, yes, it's the main reason why this fight is happening, and why the Hatton fight happened), I think there's something beyond that. I honestly do think Mayweather is afraid of losing that "0" he has in the loss column. I he keeps avoiding the biggest risks out there, to me, at least, he'll never get to the level of Leonard, Duran, Whitaker, Chavez, or even Bernard Hopkins, despite the fact that all of them lost more than one fight.

by Kevin Gonzalez on Jan 17, 2008 4:30 PM EST reply actions

this is pretty spot-on

I was considering doing a follow-up thing today, but you pretty much just said everything I was going to say. And I actually like Mayweather.

I was OK with him fighting Judah even though Zab lost to Baldomir because it was a fight we wanted to see. I was OK with him fighting Baldomir because whatever he really is or was, Baldomir was the legitimate welterweight champion. I was OK with him fighting Oscar because it was another title quest and a huge fight. I was OK with him fighting Hatton because I got it -- a lot of money, public demand, etc.

But fighting Oscar again is nothing but money and, as you said, a way to avoid tougher fights. I think this actually goes for both of them, too. Either one of these guys could've had Miguel Cotto in the ring. And I don't want to hear any bullshit from Floyd about Cotto not being that good or not offering up enough cash. If Cotto can't offer up enough cash, then Floyd is saying the only person he wants to fight is Oscar de la Hoya, or maybe Manny Pacquiao or a "Great White Hope" like Kelly Pavlik. I mean, it's absurd.

This fight isn't going to do 2.4 million again, and I think in some ways, it will negatively affect the very positive impact that the first fight had. When Oscar-Floyd came off doing such enormous business, the game changed. Suddenly, the top fighters wanted to fight each other. We got Cotto-Mosley, Calzaghe-Kessler, Taylor-Pavlik, Pacquiao-Barrera II, now we're getting Hopkins-Calzaghe. And I even think Oscar-Floyd had something to do with the Top Rank-Golden Boy Cold War ending. They thought, "Well, Jesus, look what we can do. We need to get our top guys lined up with their top guys and make these fights."

Money fuels every sport, and I have no fundamental problem with that. But this is purely about money and both fighters taking on each other to avoid taking on anyone else. When Oscar loses again, it will still have been to the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. When Floyd wins again, he'll have to take his usual lumps from the fans and media, while most of us -- some begrudgingly -- will still be forced to admit that he's the man.

And at this point, I do think Floyd is scared of Miguel Cotto. Not because he can't beat him -- I think he'd dominate Cotto. But Mayweather doesn't have the balls to find out.

He is a great, great boxer. And honestly, if he'd fight all the top guys, I think he'd beat every one of them. But we've seen it so many times. Even the greatest fighters, the ones that took the tests and the challenges, lost fights. Hopkins is a brilliant fighter and has lost four times. Roy Jones had speed, power and reflexes in his prime that I think make Mayweather's look like second-rate crap, and he's got four losses on his record, though they did come when he got old and he'd put his body through too much.

But like you said -- Chavez, Duran, Trinidad, Whitaker, Leonard, Hearns, Mosley, Ali, Frazier, fuck, even Oscar himself, and the list goes on and on and on and on. Those guys lost fights because they fought top opponents. Maybe on another night they beat the same guy. Do we think less of these guys because of their losses? Of course not. We think more of their fights and careers because of the great risks they took. Because they fought the best. Mayweather is stuck with the mindset that almost ruined HBO boxing -- no losses = money, and it's the fighter, not the fight, that sells. Bullshit. It's the fight. That's why 2007 was boxing's comeback year.

I do not think Miguel Cotto is better than Mayweather. But no one, even the biggest Mayweather defender, can say that it really doesn't look like Floyd wants Cotto. I get the business part, and I don't really blame Floyd and Oscar. They'll make a ton of money for their rematch, even if it doesn't do half of what it did on PPV the first time.

And you can't dispute this either: In the last year, Miguel Cotto has taken more very big risks than Mayweather has in the last...I don't know how long. I'll tell you the truth: The last time I really thought there was a chance Floyd would lose a fight was against Diego Corrales. That was seven years ago. I'm not trying to say he hasn't fought good fighters since then, but there's always been that fight he could have taken. He's never taken it. And he beat the shit out of Corrales. I think he could do the same thing to Cotto (not knock him down five times, but really dominate him). But I don't think we'll find out.

by Scott Christ on Jan 17, 2008 10:16 PM EST up reply actions