By Rick Reeno
Last weekend's knockout of Miguel Cotto was not the outcome that Oscar De La Hoya was banking on. Prior to last Saturday, the two candidates in the running to face De La Hoya in his farewell bout were Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. After Antonio Margarito pulled off the upset and knocked out Cotto in eleven-rounds, De La Hoya immediately set his sights on Pacquiao, and ignored Margarito as a possible opponent. HBO has reserved the pay-per-view date of December 6 for the final fight of De La Hoya's career.
Sergio Diaz, co-manager to Margarito, contacted BoxingScene.com and was not surprised with De La Hoya going back on his word. Last week, De La Hoya told reporters that he was willing to fight anyone, including the winner of Cotto-Margarito. He said a fight with the Cotto-Margarito winner "would be a great way to end my career."
“I told Richard Schaefer to get me the biggest fight possible,” De La Hoya said. “Whoever it is, that is who we want. There is no particular fighter. Sergio Mora is a possibility. The winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight would be a great way to end my career. There is a lot of options. I am willing to fight whomever.”
Since Margarito's win, De La Hoya has advised Margarito's promoter, Bob Arum, that he would rather face Pacquiao. The possibility of a De La Hoya-Pacquiao encounter is causing a lot of tension among boxing fans. Many are upset over the obvious size difference. Pacquiao fights at 135-pounds and would have to move up by two weight-divisions to make the fight at 147-pounds.
"You know, I read this article last week on BoxingScene where De La Hoya says 'I'll fight anyone.' He calls out Cotto, Margarito, Pacquiao, Mora - just about everyone. But after he saw what Margarito did to Cotto - he said 'bring me Pacquiao.' He forgot about Tony real quick," Diaz said.
"De La Hoya vs. Margarito is a fight the public wants to see. But Oscar doesn't want to get hurt. He doesn't want to fight a guy his size. He doesn't want that. He wants 135-pounders to move up to 147 or 150-pounds to fight him. That's what Oscar wants. What we know is that Mr.De La Hoya is afraid to fight Antonio."
The obvious question was asked as to the recent comments made on BoxingScene by George Peterson, manager/trainer of WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams. A few days ago, Peterson called for a rematch between Margarito and Williams to settle the issue on who is the best welterweight in the world. Williams won a close decision over Margarito in 2007. Diaz is never one to negotiate over the internet, he says Margarito is willing to face whoever Arum puts in front of him.
"He has Bob Arum's number. All they have to do is call Bob Arum. He's the one who will decide what's next for us. We are looking for another big fight this year," Diaz said.
According to industry insiders, Margarito's next fight may come against the winner of this weekend's welterweight title bout between Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah, or September's bout between Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga.