While searching for those articles I stumbled across this one, so I can see I'm a little late when it concerns this.
http://www.tigerboxing.com/articles/index.php?aid=1001245642
BREAKING NEWS...OSCAR DECIDES NOT TO DECIDE YET
Lyle Fitzsimmons
06/21/2006 - Philadephia
BUT IF HE DOES FIGHT AGAIN IN 2007, THE OPPONENT WILL BE FLOYD MAYWEATHER, JR!
Oscar De La Hoya, the gold medal-winning amateur who went on to become the sport’s signature performer as a professional, announced at least a temporary extension for his career today during a media teleconference from his home in Puerto Rico.
The 33-year-old Mexican-American, who turned pro after the 1992 Olympics amid nearly unprecedented hoopla and won his first championship belt less than 16 months later, didn’t say he’d fight again, but instead said the pressure to complete a fight negotiation by Sept. 16 was too soon to make a final up or down call on his career.
And in a subtle bombshell, he claimed his next and final fight, if it happens, would be against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
A dream matchup with the consensus pound-for-pound champ — who holds the IBF and IBO welterweight titles — was forecast by many following the Mayorga win, but De La Hoya initially squashed the idea out of loyalty to lead trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., his prospective opponent’s father.
Mayweather Sr. had initially said he’d not take part in training De La Hoya for the bout.
But De La Hoya said Wednesday that Mayweather Sr. had changed his mind.
“I felt retirement should be a final decision for a fighter,” he said. “When I retire it’ll be a definite and when I announce something it’ll be for sure, with no ifs and butts. Today is not that day. My next fight — if I decide to have a next fight — it will be Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I realize of course, that Mayweather can beat me. But I realize that I can beat him, too. And him coming up to 154 is a whole different ballgame. If I have to use his father to beat his son, I’ll do it. Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter in the world. And if I beat him, I’ll be the best fighter in the world. That’s a motivation.”
De La Hoya’s last in-ring appearance came May 6 in Las Vegas, when he stopped Ricardo Mayorga in six rounds to win the WBC’s 154-pound title. De La Hoya reportedly suffered an injured left shoulder during that fight, an issue that scuttled early talk of a subsequent bout in late summer or early fall.
However, he said lingering injuries will not be the cause for him to retire.
“I will not be making a decision because of injuries,” he said. “I don’t think injuries will have a factor in whatever I do. If you ask, yes, where I am leaning now, I am leaning toward fighting again. When I say I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire, win or lose.”
The Mayorga win was De La Hoya’s first in nearly two years, since a highly controversial 12-round decision over Germany’s Felix Sturm for the lightly regarded WBO middleweight championship in June 2004. That fight was a final tune-up for his challenge of longtime middleweight kingpin Bernard Hopkins, who stopped De La Hoya in nine rounds three months later.
Ironically, the two foes became partners shortly after their bout when De La Hoya hired Hopkins as an East Coast executive for Golden Boy Promotions, the fledgling company that bears his long-time nickname.
De La Hoya won his first championship — the WBO super featherweight title — with a 10th-round TKO of Jimmi Bredahl in March 1994 in Los Angeles. Title No. 2 came two fights later, when he stopped veteran Jorge Paez in two rounds for the WBO lightweight crown in July 1994.
De La Hoya defended his share of the lightweight crown three times before partially unifying the division with a brutal two-round stoppage of Rafael Ruelas in May 1995 in Las Vegas. Two more defenses followed before a venture to 140 pounds, which yielded a title — the WBC’s version — when he stopped Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez on cuts after four rounds in June 1996.
He defended the junior welter crown just once before again heading north in weight, decisioning Pernell Whitaker for the WBC’s 147-pound strap in April 1997. Seven defenses followed — including another stoppage of Chavez — before De La Hoya suffered his first loss, via heavily debated decision, to IBF champ Felix Trinidad in September 1999 at Mandalay Bay.
He lost another 12-round nod, this time to Shane Mosley, two fights later, then headed to junior middleweight to capture the WBC’s title with a decision over Javier Castillejo in June 2001. He picked up the WBA and IBA belts with a gritty 11th-round TKO of Fernando Vargas 15 months later, then defended the collection once before again falling to Mosley via the scorecards in September 2003.