There was a time when Oscar De La Hoya was on his way to becoming one of the greats in Mexican boxing history. But then Floyd ”Money” Mayweather happened. Following a loss by split decision against Mayweather, and foreseeing an imminent future that spelled failure for his boxing career, De La Hoya resorted to becoming the thing he hates most about Floyd: a boxing sideshow.
As much as Oscar insists that Mayweather ruined boxing with his dodgy techniques on the ring, Floyd seems to be his favorite subject matter. The latest set of jabs by De La Hoya came shortly after a likely win by Mayweather over UFC’s very own trash-talker, Connor ”Notorious” McGregor. Oscar took to Twitter to vociferously let the world know that both Mayweather and McGregor were disrespecting the sport of boxing.
His obsession with Mayweather is not only making him lose credibility as a promoter, but it is also affecting the Golovkin-Alvarez bout on September 16th. De La Hoya assures this matchup is for real fans of the sport – that it sells itself. In fact, GGG and Canelo have been very quiet in all this time leading to the fight. The Golden Boy claims they are reverting to times where two gentlemen with mutual respect for each other get in the ring and only there lose that reverence.
While he may have a point, the fact of the matter is that Canelo’s showdown with Golovkin won’t generate even a fraction of the Money Fight. When it comes to pure boxing, though, there’s no doubt it will be a much better spectacle than MayMac’s. A frustrated Irishman couldn’t get the better of Mayweather for nine rounds, lost his legs, and Floyd’s three minutes of connecting punches were more than enough to win by TKO in the tenth.
For everybody watching, the Money Fight ended a minute and five seconds into the tenth round, but not for Oscar. It’s time to focus on promoting his upcoming fight that can’t seem to garner enough interest for one reason: the fighters barely speak English. This language barrier is De La Hoya’s to break, but he’s digging his own grave by focusing on Mayweather instead.
De La Hoya bitterly said the fight was a fraud and claimed Canelo would have knocked McGregor out in two rounds. These comments hurt his chances of properly promoting GGG vs. Alvarez, but they also distract Canelo from what’s at hand. Forget about generating PPV income, a critical loss for Canelo could put his future at stake.
Mayweather finally retired with a perfect 50-0 record and made an estimated $100M in his final appearance. The promotion business seems to come easy for Floyd, so he’ll be around a while longer to keep annoying De La Hoya. If Oscar doesn’t do something to change this now, he’ll lose off the ring just like he did on it a decade ago.