Floyd could get $23 Million vs. DLH

LAS VEGAS — You know they already have the name picked out. Site, too. It will be “A Pretty Golden Night” when the ‘Pretty Boy,’ Floyd Mayweather Jr., takes on the “Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya, sometime later this year in Las Vegas with about $55 million or so to be divvied up between the two. Or at least I imagine that Mayweather is on his knees at night praying it turns out that way. Mayweather’s announcement the other day that he had bought his way out of his contract with promoter Bob Arum for three-quarters of a million caused a lot of raised eyebrows and “I told you sos.” But it was a fairly simple move to understand. Mayweather figures to make around $23 million, or about what he’s made up to this point in a career in which he’s punched his way to the top, if De La Hoya signs on the dotted line. When someone offers you $23 million for a night of work, which is more than you’ve made in a lifetime of work doing the same thing, you don’t think hard. You sign and then you find someone to protect the other guy to make sure nothing happens to him to scuttle the fight. Simple, really. Of course, this is boxing and in boxing, nothing is that simple. De La Hoya is no guarantee to get past Ricardo Mayorga in 10 days. If Mayorga bronzes the “Golden Boy,” Mayweather can forget that house next to Tiger Woods he’s had his eye on. And Arum is doing some of the best work of his career to muddy the waters. Arum took the $750,000 from Mayweather to avoid being in the way if De La Hoya came calling. Arum gets along with De La Hoya the way colors do with Clorox. I swear, Arum would prefer to see a De La Hoya fight lose millions rather than make millions from a fight of his own. But Arum is smart enough to know that, no matter what they say, a Mayweather-De La Hoya bout is unlikely. And Arum has nowhere else to go to get the big money that Antonio Margarito is starting to demand. Arum, you see, needs Floyd Mayweather if he’s ever going to do anything with Margarito. You didn’t think Margarito-Zab Judah would be big business, did you? OK. Now, there is this growing groundswell of support, fueled largely by Arum, that Margarito will be the guy who finally wipes the smile off of Pretty Boy’s face. Joe Frazier did it to Muhammad Ali. Roberto Duran did it to Ray Leonard. And, so the thinking goes, Margarito can do it to Mayweather. Of course, there is a large gap in that thinking. Margarito is a good, professional fighter whose style matches well with Mayweather. The way to beat Mayweather is to back him up, rough him up and stay closer to him than Evander Holyfield is to Edyta Sliwinska on “Dancing with the Stars.” And Margarito is a guy who can back you up, rough you up and hurt you badly when he gets you within range. Making the game plan to beat Mayweather is the easy part, though. Carrying it out is where it starts to get a little more challenging. That’s about as easy as changing the oil of Dale Earnhardt’s car as he’s doing 150 around a turn at Daytona. Mayweather’s hand is still tender from pounding it atop Judah’s head every five seconds or so when they met on April 8. It’s not bad enough that he wouldn’t say yes aboutthisdamnfast if De La Hoya stuck a contract in his face this afternoon, but it’s sore enough that it will make him wait before saying yes to anyone else. Nobody ever accused Mayweather of being a Harvard graduate, but he might lose his boxing license on the grounds of insanity if he accepted $8 million for a tougher fight rather than waiting 10 days or so to see if he gets $23 million for an easier one. Have no doubt, Margarito would be a handful for Mayweather, though Mayweather’s speed, defensive wizardry and instincts would turn the fight his way in the second half. There is no doubt of this: Margarito would be a tougher fight for Mayweather than De La Hoya. And there is no doubt of this: A De La Hoya fight would pay Mayweather a lot better than a Margarito fight. This is also true: If De La Hoya is washed up, as some are beginning to whisper loudly, Mayorga will whip him. And that would instantly make a Mayweather-Mayorga match more lucrative than a Mayweather-Margarito bout. Mayweather has finally gotten to the point where he’s the guy everyone else wants to fight. Except De La Hoya. And when you’re in that position, they always write you checks with enough zeroes to dry out the ink on your fountain pen. So it makes sense to wait 10 days and gamble $750,000 that you’ll get that $23 million payday. Even if you don’t and have to settle for $8 million, well, that’s not a bad fallback plan. At least you can pay the grocery bills with that. Seems like a no brainer, does anyone question Mayweather choosing to put a fight with Margarito on hold now? Hell even Margarito would turn down 8 mill to make 23 mill.