Photo by Alex Cruz
Bill Dwyre:
De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight is set
Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to a December 6 boxing match with rising superstar Manny Pacquiao.
The biggest bout in years, supposedly called off 10 days ago, will take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.
The biggest boxing match in years will, indeed, take place. Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to a Dec. 6 match with rising superstar Manny Pacquiao.The official announcement, barring last-minute reversals, will be made in a conference call Thursday morning.The match, the grand finale of 35-year-old De La Hoya's unprecedented career as the box-office king in a sport that has survived on his back for more than 10 years without a dominant heavyweight, will be held at the MGM Grand Hotel Garden in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view will be available on HBO.Ten days ago, Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya's partner in the operation of Golden Boy Promotions, and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank had announced that negotiations for the much-anticipated fight had broken down and it would not take place. Schaefer and De La Hoya wanted a 70-30% split of receipts, which would include a projected 2-million-plus pay-per-view buys. Arum and Pacquiao had balked and the deal was off.In the interim, as recently as two days ago, stories had appeared that the front-runner to replace Pacquiao on De La Hoya's farewell card was promoter Dan Goossen's Paul Williams, who had a victory over Antonio Margarito. Margarito, who is from Mexico, was the recent surprise winner over Miguel Cotto in a fight that was to set up De La Hoya's next opponent.But when Margarito won, that took the Puerto Rican Cotto out of the picture and De La Hoya had said all along that he did not want his farewell fight to be against a fellow Mexican. De La Hoya, of Mexican heritage, was raised in East Los Angeles and won an Olympic gold medal for the United States.But the Williams talks apparently were mostly wishful thinking, and De La Hoya agreed to drop his percentage of the take in a Pacquiao bout to a two-thirds/one-third arrangement.They will fight at 147 pounds.Pacquiao, 29, the most celebrated and recognized athlete in the Philippines, has won titles at five lower weights and is more comfortable around 136-140 pounds. De La Hoya has won multiple titles and is more comfortable around 154.The largest pay-per-view fight in boxing history was the 2007 match between De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., won by the now-retired Mayweather. That drew 2.4 million buys. De La Hoya previously was involved in the largest non-heavyweight pay-per-view fight when he suffered his first loss, in 1999, against Felix Trinidad.De La Hoya will take a record of 39-5 with 30 knockouts into the fight. Pacquiao's record is 47-3-2, with 35 knockouts.bill.dwyre@latimes.com
De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight is set
Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to a December 6 boxing match with rising superstar Manny Pacquiao.
The biggest bout in years, supposedly called off 10 days ago, will take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.
The biggest boxing match in years will, indeed, take place. Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to a Dec. 6 match with rising superstar Manny Pacquiao.The official announcement, barring last-minute reversals, will be made in a conference call Thursday morning.The match, the grand finale of 35-year-old De La Hoya's unprecedented career as the box-office king in a sport that has survived on his back for more than 10 years without a dominant heavyweight, will be held at the MGM Grand Hotel Garden in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view will be available on HBO.Ten days ago, Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya's partner in the operation of Golden Boy Promotions, and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank had announced that negotiations for the much-anticipated fight had broken down and it would not take place. Schaefer and De La Hoya wanted a 70-30% split of receipts, which would include a projected 2-million-plus pay-per-view buys. Arum and Pacquiao had balked and the deal was off.In the interim, as recently as two days ago, stories had appeared that the front-runner to replace Pacquiao on De La Hoya's farewell card was promoter Dan Goossen's Paul Williams, who had a victory over Antonio Margarito. Margarito, who is from Mexico, was the recent surprise winner over Miguel Cotto in a fight that was to set up De La Hoya's next opponent.But when Margarito won, that took the Puerto Rican Cotto out of the picture and De La Hoya had said all along that he did not want his farewell fight to be against a fellow Mexican. De La Hoya, of Mexican heritage, was raised in East Los Angeles and won an Olympic gold medal for the United States.But the Williams talks apparently were mostly wishful thinking, and De La Hoya agreed to drop his percentage of the take in a Pacquiao bout to a two-thirds/one-third arrangement.They will fight at 147 pounds.Pacquiao, 29, the most celebrated and recognized athlete in the Philippines, has won titles at five lower weights and is more comfortable around 136-140 pounds. De La Hoya has won multiple titles and is more comfortable around 154.The largest pay-per-view fight in boxing history was the 2007 match between De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., won by the now-retired Mayweather. That drew 2.4 million buys. De La Hoya previously was involved in the largest non-heavyweight pay-per-view fight when he suffered his first loss, in 1999, against Felix Trinidad.De La Hoya will take a record of 39-5 with 30 knockouts into the fight. Pacquiao's record is 47-3-2, with 35 knockouts.bill.dwyre@latimes.com
4 comments:
Here is A copy of the letter I mailed to the writer of this article at the LA Times:
In your article you stated and I quote--- " the grand finale of 35-year-old De La Hoya's unprecedented career as the box-office king in a sport that has survived on his back for more than 10 years without a dominant heavyweight"...more than 10 years on De La Hoyas back???your joking right?? Granted that he has fought the who's who of the welter and super welterweight divisions over the last ten years, but just forget guys like Bernard Hopkins who made his bones long before he dropped Oscar like a step child or Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Moral es, Arturo Gatti, Manny Pacquao All of whom fought many great fights that had nothing to do with Oscar and these fighters were on the map long before any of them fought him. And oh yeah the DOMINANT HEAVYWEIGHT Lennox Lewis who last fought in June of 2003, which is only five(5) years ago (you can probably use one hand to count that high) Thats just a few fighters. Oscar is batting .500 in his last 6 fights and would be worse if he hadn't gotten that gift decision against Felix Sturm. Making statements like that makes the LA times an embarrassment to sports writing.
Scott, To some degree, what you say is true.But I think they were talking about his ability to draw fight fans, both to the live gates and the PPV records that he set. He did more than just fight and to some degree at least for a while, he did carry the sport, at least in keeping interest.
Even for a die hard Oscar De La Hoya fan like yourself, it's hard to deny that De La Hoya has had an unprecedented career, an Olympic gold medalist, a medal won under the same scoring system that is currently in use by the Olympics, a system that you say is flawed, a Multiple world champion, a fight promoter that has put himself on the level of Don King and Bob Arum, the new owner of the Ring Magazine, the biggest non heavyweight money maker in boxing, and he's given most of them a run for their money. Even more so, considering the fate of most Los Angeles area Chicano fighters after their careers are over, Oscar has been a shining star. What's more, he fought them all. While the rest of them were playing musical chairs jockying for a fight with Oscar and chance at the big money, it was Oscar that fought them all. He was never afraid to lay it on the line. So he lost a few. It was only because he was willing, while the rest were waiting. If he did get a gift, he wasn't the first. That may be the only real argument that you have. And it ain't much.
No, Oscar didn't win all his fights, neither did Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Felix Trinidad, Roberto Duran and just about any other great you can name. Like most fighters, his losses came at the back end of his career. So what sets Oscar apart? His brains! He's nobody's fool. He deserves at least a modicum of respect from his critics.
I have nothing but respect for him, and I am a fan and have seen most if not all of his fights also. But, since he won't fight another Mexican considering he's an American, just goes to show you how he knows not to split the hardcore Latino boxing following. Besides as I said earlier Margarito would beat him like he beat Chavez which would be pathetic.
Maybe he can fight Duran...he's Panamanian//lol
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