By Mark Vester
Several days ago, Oscar De La Hoya appeared to have no interest in sharing the services of Floyd Mayweather Sr. Due to a lack of communication, Floyd Sr. agreed to train Ricky Hatton for his November 22 bout with Paulie Malignaggi. Floyd Sr. made his decision after De La Hoya had not contacted him for several months. De La Hoya now tells Dan Rafael that he will consider sharing Floyd Sr. to prepare for the December 6 bout with WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
Hatton, who is promoted by De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, will be training in Las Vegas with Floyd Sr, so a sharing arraignment is very possible. De La Hoya plans to train in Big Bear, California, meaning that Hatton would have to agree to train in the same location. Oscar hopes to hire someone in the next couple of days. Floyd Sr. has trained Oscar for the better part of the last eight years.
"I wouldn't mind sharing Floyd. Floyd Sr. is worth sharing if that is what it takes," De La Hoya said. "If it can't be worked out, I'm going to move on and get another trainer. It's going to take a call from me directly to Ricky and say, 'Hey, what do you think? Can we work something out?' I think it's still possible. But the time is coming where I have to make a decision and that decision has to be made in a few days."
Mayweather Sr. told Rafael that he was open to the idea of training both fighters at the same time.
"Of course, I can't be in two places at one time," Mayweather Sr. said. "I would love to train Oscar. But I did make a commitment to Ricky. I am not a person to make a commitment and back out. If I give you my word, it is my bond. I am hoping some kind of way I can get Ricky to come to Big Bear and train. I could train both of them. A lot of stuff can happen, man. A lot of stuff that happens in life, you have to roll with it."
If a deal is not made with Floyd Sr, De La Hoya revealed to Rafael, three possible names to land the job - Nacho Beristain (who trains Juan Manuel Marquez), Jesus Rivero (who trained Oscar at one time) and Rudy Perez (known for training Marco Antonio Barrera).
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