By Mark Vester
WBC junior middleweight champ Oscar De La Hoya is taking no chances on May 5 in Las Vegas when he collides with the number-one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
According to scribe Dan Rafael, De La Hoya revealed during the Washington stop of the 11-city media tour, that the boxing public will be surprised to see a new kind of De La Hoya in the ring against Mayweather, a De La Hoya that will fight ugly, fight rough, and make the referee earn his money in the ring that night.
"Mark my words when I tell you, I am going to make him fight. I am going to make it an ugly fight. I've never been warned up in the ring [for rough tactics or fouls]. I'm gonna be warned several times. I am going to be rough. I am going to take him into a fight. He's never been in a fight. I'm going to take him into a fight. This guy thinks he is the best? We'll see," De La Hoya said.
Never at a loss for words, Rafael notes that Mayweather chopped up De La Hoya's record and then promised his own brand punishment in the form of a brutal beating.
"When I go back and look at [De La Hoya's] record and do my homework, I say, 'Yeah, he beat [Hector] Camacho, but he was over the hill. He beat Pernell Whitaker, but he was over the hill. He beat Julio Cesar Chavez, but he was over the hill.' I beat all the fighters of my era. I am the top dog in boxing," Mayweather said. "I'm not gonna rush. I'm gonna take my time and give you a brutal beating, a brutal beating. You could have Bill Gates' money and you couldn't buy this talent."