By Miguel Rivera
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya says he was already past his best when faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their 2007 junior middleweight fight. Mayweather (47-0, 26KOs) needed a few rounds to find his rhythm and rallied in the later rounds to win a close twelve round split decision. Two judges saw it 116-112, 115-113 for Mayweather and the third had it 115-113 for De La Hoya.
De La Hoya had two more fights before retiring from boxing in 2008, following his TKO defeat to Manny Pacquiao.
If he had been a few years younger, De La Hoya believes he would have beaten Mayweather easily and scored a knockout.
"It was a good close fight where the victory could have been given to me. One of the judges, in the final round, gave the round to Mayweather and that is why he won. The other two judges gave it to me. If I had been 28-years-old - I would have won easy, knocked him out - but obviously age does not forgive anyone," De La Hoya told Ricardo Juarez.
