Mayweather, then Pacquiao? Plenty of options for De La Hoya
Like a good boxer will touch an opponent with his left jab before unloading the right cross, it's time to touch on a few things as we near the end of the second month of this boxing year:
De La Hoya: Forbes and beyond
You have to like Eric Gomez, perhaps the most congenial of all the executives working at Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. An affable guy who treats people with humility, Gomez is always happy to help.
We spoke with Gomez on Tuesday via telephone from Mexico City. Gomez was there as part of a contingent promoting the March 1 trilogy between Mexico City natives and super bantamweight greats Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
As of Tuesday, Gomez said the deal for a De La Hoya-Steve Forbes fight at Home Depot Center on May 3 was not yet done. We might find out soon what the holdup is, in regards to Forbes signing his contract, when De La Hoya and Co. play host to a Los Angeles news conference promoting Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe on April 19 in Las Vegas. All indications, however, are that De La Hoya-Forbes is almost certainly a go.
De La Hoya -- again, no formal announcement has been made -- would then take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September in a rematch of their May 2007 fight. And, whereas De La Hoya had previously said he would fight just twice more, there has been talk of him finishing his career with a third fight.
It's no secret that Manny Pacquiao, all 130 pounds of him, has been mentioned as a possible opponent for De La Hoya. Crazy as it sounds, this could happen. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, recently told this reporter that this is well within the realm of possibility, in spite of the difference in weight.
True, Pacquiao could conceivably work himself into a 140-pounder, but anything higher than that would likely take too much away from what he does in the ring. It's hard to imagine him being as fast even at 140, let alone 147. And De La Hoya can't fight at anything lower than 147.
Being slower would also mean that Pacquiao could lose some of his natural punching power. Let's say he lifts weights to get to 140 or 147. Being muscle-bound doesn't automatically translate into hard punching.
But, hey, Gomez loves the thought of De La Hoya-Pacquiao.
"I would welcome it," said Gomez, vice president and matchmaker at Golden Boy and De La Hoya's childhood friend. "I mean, Oscar is so much bigger. I wish Oscar had all his fights against 130-pounders. First of all, because he's my friend and he's like my brother. And secondly, because it's a mismatch. If they're really serious about it, I don't see why it can't happen.
"They're two big stars. Both of them bring a different kind of crowd and atmosphere to a show. I'm sure it would be interesting and a lot of people would want to see that."
Not to mention the money that fight would make. Don't think for one second that both Arum and De La Hoya, who would co-promote that fight, aren't thinking along those lines. Perhaps even more so for De La Hoya because Golden Boy Promotions has a financial interest in Pacquiao as well. Arum makes the promotional decisions in regards to the Filipino superstar, but Golden Boy gets a cut of the pie, as per their out-of-court settlement for the rights to Pacquiao.
Gomez also said something that came across as very interesting. He said that even De La Hoya isn't sure exactly how many more times he wants to fight.
"Sometimes he tells me, 'I'm thinking of hanging it up, I think maybe that's it. I just want to concentrate on all my different business ventures that I have going on right now,'" Gomez said. "And then other days we'll be having lunch or something and he'll be like, 'You know what, I still feel good, man. I can still beat a lot of these guys out there.'
"Obviously, he's not in his prime anymore. But he's right, he can still compete at the highest level."
De La Hoya turned 35 on Feb. 4.
Louis' legacy
A handful of us boxing writers were fortunate enough to break bread with Joe Louis Barrow Jr. on Saturday afternoon at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, just hours before Kelly Pavlik would defeat Jermain Taylor in a rematch there.
The occasion was to promote this Saturday's premiere of Joe Louis: America's Hero ... Betrayed. The HBO documentary will chronicle, among other things, the legendary heavyweight champion's rise to status as one of the greatest heavyweights in history; his impact on segregated America; and the financial troubles that plagued him in his later years and the way he was treated by the IRS in that regard.
During a luncheon, Joe Jr. was asked in what way he is most proud of his father, who died in 1981 at 66. Louis was 69-3 with 55 knockouts from 1934-51 and made a record 25 title defenses.
"I am most proud of my father in the influence he had on people's lives," said Joe Jr., 60. "That he motivated them to do things, gave them confidence to do things that they might not otherwise have done. I was on a radio talk show once and we were talking about my father's influence on the black community.
"And this voice comes on and says, 'I used to be one of those black kids who banged the pots and pans and celebrated any time your father won. I lived in Pittsburgh, I worked in the steel mills. That's all that I could do, that's all that I was expected (to do).'
"But then he went on to say that yet today he's a college dean in New York because my father gave him a sense of self worth and respect that he could be more than what was expected of him."
Not that Joe Jr. isn't incredibly proud of his father's accomplishments in the ring, which are unmatched.
Parting thought on Pavlik-Taylor
Congratulations to Taylor and trainer Ozell Nelson, who made Pavlik work tremendously hard to get a second consecutive victory over Taylor.
Not only did Taylor go the distance, unlike their first fight when he was stopped by Pavlik in seven, but Taylor came close to winning Saturday's rematch.
This reporter had Pavlik winning 115-113. Others also had Pavlik winning a narrow decision. But more than one reporter had Taylor ahead at the end of 12 rounds. It was that close. And any time a fighter can come back from a vicious beating and do so much better against the fighter who doled out that beating, he is deserving of big kudos.
Perhaps the smartest piece of strategy came in the form of Taylor staying off the ropes. Whereas Taylor was stopped while being battered on the ropes in the first fight, on Saturday he would spin off the ropes almost as soon as he was on them.
Don't be surprised if we see these two cats fight a third time. According to Taylor's promoter, Lou DiBella, Pavlik told Taylor after the final bell that they will do it again.
Source: CBS sportsline.com
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