HBO reserves date; De La Hoya's division undecided

"HBO reserves date; De La Hoya's division undecided By Dan Rafael ESPN.com Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out for the first time in his career last fall by undisputed middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins, is plotting his return to the ring. De La Hoya, who has held titles in six weight classes from 130 to 160 pounds, plans to fight Sept. 17. HBO PPV has reserved that date for him. "The good news for boxing fans is that Oscar De La Hoya's intention is to come back and fight Sept. 17," Richard Schaefer, CEO of De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, told ESPN.com on Thursday. While Schaefer and De La Hoya (37-4, 29 KOs) were in El Paso, Texas, last week promoting Marco Antonio Barrera's junior lightweight title defense against Mzonke Fana, they had a meeting to talk about De La Hoya's plans. "He told me what his plans are and now I am going to see if we can put everything together in the next few weeks and see what kind of opponents are available," Schaefer said. Although De La Hoya has publicly talked about going back to welterweight, Schaefer said De La Hoya has not ruled out the fight being at junior middleweight. It will depend on the opponent and the financial terms. "He'll fight someone between 147 and 154," Schaefer said. "He gave me some names of guys between 147 and 154." Although a rematch with Felix Trinidad, who is now fighting at middleweight, seems unlikely for the fall, there are several potential opponents for De La Hoya. Among them: Fernando Vargas in a rematch; junior middleweight titlist Daniel Santos of Puerto Rico; undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah; or a third match with Shane Mosley if Mosley wins his return to the welterweight division on April 23. "Oscar's career is winding down and we are looking at the last few fights," Schaefer said. "We don't have an opponent yet for September but we all know the names that are out there." Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com."