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By CompuBox - When he was still an amateur fighter, Oscar de la Hoya wanted to become an architect. Now, entering the 17th year of what will surely be a Hall of Fame boxing career, “The Golden Boy” has created a blueprint for what he hopes will be his personal golden parachute – a three-part farewell to the sport that has made him rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams.
The first part of that blueprint will unfold May 3 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., where the 35-year-old De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KO) fights former WBA super featherweight champion and “Contender” finalist Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KO) in a 12 round bout. De La Hoya is a prohibitive 20-1 favorite to move on to the next phase, a rematch with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.
The intriguing question surrounding this bout – as has been the case for every De La Hoya fight since he lost to Shane Mosley in their 2003 rematch – is what will Oscar bring into the ring? Against Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins, it took the form of “can he fight effectively as a middleweight?” The answer, largely, was “no” as he won a hotly disputed unanimous decision against Sturm and was stopped by Hopkins in nine rounds by a single body shot. Then, against Ricardo Mayorga in May 2006 and Mayweather one year later, the query morphed into “how much of a factor will ring rust and advancing age be for him?” [details]
The first part of that blueprint will unfold May 3 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., where the 35-year-old De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KO) fights former WBA super featherweight champion and “Contender” finalist Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KO) in a 12 round bout. De La Hoya is a prohibitive 20-1 favorite to move on to the next phase, a rematch with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.
The intriguing question surrounding this bout – as has been the case for every De La Hoya fight since he lost to Shane Mosley in their 2003 rematch – is what will Oscar bring into the ring? Against Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins, it took the form of “can he fight effectively as a middleweight?” The answer, largely, was “no” as he won a hotly disputed unanimous decision against Sturm and was stopped by Hopkins in nine rounds by a single body shot. Then, against Ricardo Mayorga in May 2006 and Mayweather one year later, the query morphed into “how much of a factor will ring rust and advancing age be for him?” [details]