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De La Hoya: Mayweather will fight Mosley, then Pacquiao
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar De La Hoya thinks his promotions company will soon wrap up a deal for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Sugar Shane Mosley in May.
And after that, De La Hoya still believes Mayweather will meet Manny Pacquiao in the not-too-distant future.
"That fight has to happen," De La Hoya said Tuesday of Mayweather-Pacquiao, which fell apart earlier this month in a drug-testing dispute. "It's too big not to happen. We just have to cross one hurdle."
De La Hoya weighed in on the state of the welterweight division at a news conference to announce the next fight for Victor Ortiz, one of his junior welterweight proteges. Ortiz will headline the first Fight Night Club show of the new year at the downtown Club Nokia on Feb. 25.
De La Hoya, who runs Golden Boy Promotions with chief executive Richard Schaefer, says Mayweather and Mosley are in negotiations to meet May 1, likely in Las Vegas. De La Hoya is eager to match Mosley, a Golden Boy partner, with Mayweather, who has been represented by Golden Boy in his recent negotiations.
"The various camps are working extremely hard to make it happen," De La Hoya said. "That's the fight that could really take boxing to another level, because it's two great American fighters meeting each other."
No matter the outcome of that proposed bout, De La Hoya believes Mayweather's path ultimately must cross with Pacquiao, the Filipino pound-for-pound king who will fight Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Texas on March 13. Mayweather and Pacquiao were achingly close to a deal this month, but couldn't close a 10-day gap in their preferences for the last session of drug testing before their proposed March 13 bout.
"The public will hopefully make him change his mind," De La Hoya said. "Why would you not want to earn $40 million? Why would you not want to show the public that all this speculation is nonsense? Be the one to stand up and say it."
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