By Mark Vester
Oscar De La Hoya has made a bold call, he predicts Ricky Hatton will upset WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He was quoted by The Daily Mirror as saying that a lot of people betting on Mayweather will their lose money on Dec. 8. De La Hoya fought Mayweather to a split-decision loss in May.
"A lot of people are backing Floyd and a lot of people are going to lose a lot of money in Vegas," said De La Hoya. "I've been in there with Floyd. We fought at 154lbs and Floyd doesn't rely on power, he relies on speed. Ricky Hatton relies on both speed and power and that is the difference between him and any other fighter Floyd has fought. Hatton puts intelligent pressure on an opponent, and the key word is 'intelligent'."
Like De La Hoya-Mayweather, the upcoming Dec. 8 pay-per-view has plenty of boxing drama outside of the ring and behind the scenes. De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, is the lead promoter of the event, and also the man who wants to face Hatton in 2008. He's been very open about wanting to fight Hatton next year, and also about his desire to see "The Hitman" win. Not only did he help Hatton with his selection of sparring partners, he also gave him advice on what ring tactics work and don't work againt Mayweather.
"Oscar has shared a ring with him and has given me some little bits of advice on what works and what doesn't work," said Hatton. "Me and trainer Billy Graham have our own ideas on what to do and we are 43 fights unbeaten together, but I take great encouragement from someone like Oscar giving me advice. It does make you feel good when someone like Oscar, who knows boxing, believes you can do it."
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