With his potential opponents list dwindling, Oscar de la Hoya's next fight will be announced in "less than ten days," says Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.
Bob Arum says that Oscar won't fight a Mexican in his last bout, which rules out Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., and newly-crowned WBA welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito.
What are we looking at here?
With Chavez or Margarito out, that narrows it down. Felix Trinidad won't fight below 164 pounds, which probably rules him out. Miguel Cotto's loss rules him out. Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is retired.
So you know who's left?
Manny Pacquiao. Believe it, y'all. The fight was talked about last year when Larry Merchant brought it up to Dan Rafael, who brought it up to Bob Arum, who liked it. Now it seems like every time Rafael mentions it, he qualifies it with, "It's not as crazy as you might think!"
It's really not crazy at all. Oscar is not naturally a whole lot bigger than Manny, and let's be honest: Oscar isn't all that great anymore, either. Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, has said recently that the idea would be for him to weigh in at around 140-145 pounds and re-hydrate up, and just accept the few pounds of weight difference.
Roach thinks Pacquiao would knock out Oscar. I can't say as though I totally disagree.
It's an interesting fight because of the dynamics involved, and because it's a huge global affair. If Pacquiao beats Oscar, he's legitimately a phenomenon the likes of which we've really never seen.
This is what I'm expecting, but hey, you never know. It's gotta be the biggest money fight, the one that will attract the most interest, and it sort of gives him a shot to be the Mexican to beat Pacquiao, too.
We'll see.