Schaefer Talks Mosley-Margarito and De La Hoya-Pacquiao

Sep 26, 2008 • 12:00 AM ET

by T.K. Stewart

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, says that should Shane Mosley make it by Ricardo Mayorga on Saturday night that preliminary talks will likely begin next week for a Mosley versus Antonio Margarito match for early in 2009.

"Well, you know 'Sugar' Shane Mosley, he never turns down any opponent," said Schaefer when asked about the possibility of a Margarito vs. Mosley fight.

"I will be, next week, on the tour with Arum for Oscar De La Hoya - Pacquiao, and I will be discussing with him, assuming everything goes well here, I will have the opportune moment to discuss with Bob the possibility of a Margarito fight."

That is sweet news for 'Sugar' Shane who had been angling for a rematch with Miguel Cotto before the Puerto Rican hero was vanquished by Margarito.  However, once Cotto was beaten, Mosley immediately turned his attention toward Margarito. Over the course of the past several weeks, Mosley has brought up Margarito's name on numerous occasions and has indicated that is a fight he is eager to pursue.

In other news, Schaefer also indicated that he does not believe that Oscar De La Hoya will retire after he fights Manny Pacquiao on December 6th.

"Who said he is? (going to retire), asked Schaefer. "Assuming that everything goes well, I'll be surprised to see that that is Oscar's last fight. Oscar has already indicated that if everything goes well and plays out well that he would fight maybe a couple of more times."

However, Schaefer claims that nothing is for certain when it comes to De La Hoya's boxing career and that the future for the 'Golden Boy' when it comes to boxing will be a process of continuous evaluation.

"He really wants to take it fight-by-fight," said Schaefer. "He doesn't want to be: 'Is this your last one or not?'

"One day will be his last one," continued Schaefer. "Maybe this will be his last one, but there doesn't need to be the pressure of the last fight. When it is going to be his last one, it will be his last one. But right now, the focus is on beating Manny Pacquiao."

Even though the De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao fight has been criticized by some, Schaefer says that Manny is no longer the little guy who turned pro at only 106 pounds.

"I don't think you can look back where people start off," said Schaefer. "You really have to look where they are today. In his last fight, on the night of the fight, when he went on the unofficial HBO scales he was at 147 pounds and he looked pretty spectacular against Diaz. So, he's not the little 108-pounder anymore. I think anybody who thinks that, they're really not giving him enough credit."

Schaefer was ecstatic with the news that over $17 million worth of tickets had been sold for the fight (in less than an hour) making it the second highest grossing boxing gate of all time.  Schaefer claims the buying public knows a good fight when it comes along and that Pacquiao is a worthy challenger.

"He is fast, he is exciting, he throws punches in bunches. It's going to be a very, very interesting match-up. I can assure you that fight fans from around the world are looking forward to it."