Tweet
Oscar De La Hoya said he’s optimistic that the proposed May 1 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley, both of whom De La Hoya represents, and the failed Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight will happen.
De La Hoya also said that Antonio Margarito, who is applying for a license in Texas, should be banned for life for loading his hand wraps but would support leniency if Margarito would admit wrong doing.
The representatives of Mayweather and Mosley have been in negotiations for more than a week.
“They’re going great, actually,” De La Hoya told reporters at a news conference to promote the Fight Night Club card on Feb. 25 in Los Angeles. “The camps are working extremely hard to make that fight happen.
“… I have to tell you: (An agreement) is not too far away. Is that fight going to happen? I’m very confident it will.”
The question-and-answer session centered around testing for performance-enhancing drugs in boxing – the issue that scuttled the March 13 fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao – and then drifted to Margarito.
De La Hoya said that the inability of Mayweather and Pacquiao to come to terms was a missed opportunity for Pacquiao and boxing.
“I think people are realizing, ‘Wow, these people are bashing each other’s brains in,'” he said. “If one fighter is on something, it can be devastating. It could even be fatal. … It should be mandatory that fighters go through these extensive tests to make sure they’re clean.
“… That was the perfect stage to show the world us fighters have nothing to hide.”
Still, De La Hoya believes the strong public demand for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight and the money the fighters stand to make – as much as $40 million each, according to some estimates – will make the fight a reality.
One or both of the fighters would have to give ground for that to happen, though. Mayweather demanded blood testing two weeks before the fight but Pacquiao – promoted by De La Hoya’s rival Bob Arum – drew a line at 24 days.
“The public will hopefully make him change his mind,” said De La Hoya, referring to Pacquiao. “Why would you not want to make $40 million? Why would you not want to show the public that this speculation [about whether Pacquiao might be taking any illegal substances] is nonsense?
“Go ahead. Be the king and the master and say, ‘Hey, what are you talking about? I’m clean, I’m a clean athlete.'”
That discussion led to Margarito, who was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for at least one year after he was caught with a illegal pads in his wraps before his fight against Mosley last January.
De La Hoya didn’t mince words when asked what he thought about the prospect of Texas granting Margarito – also promoted by Arum – a license to fight on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard March 13 in Dallas.
“I’m actually disgusted,” he said. “The fact they’re going (around) California, weaseling their way in through Texas, I’m disgusted by it. I just finished watching a documentary [about Luis Resto’s infamous glove tampering]. Whatever type of cheating you’re doing, it’s just wrong. It’s wrong because you’re messing with somebody’s life. When you mess with somebody’s life in the ring, you should be banned for life. That’s my opinion.”
Mosley has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs before his fight against De La Hoya in a 2003 rematch but said he didn’t know what he was taking at the time. Now, Mosley not only is promoted by De La Hoya but they are also friends.
Should Mosley also be banned for life for cheating?
“Shane came forward and talked about it,” De La Hoya said. “… When he said he didn’t know he took it, that they gave it to him, I believe him. In the second fight, did he feel different to me? He did. I was lucky to have enough talent not to get hit as much and stay away from him.
“With Shane, he admitted it. He said, ‘Yes, I did it. This [convicted steroid distributor Victor] Conte guy is a bad guy. When you have loaded hands and you're throwing punches … it’s a different level.”
Margarito said he didn’t know that his trainer, Javier Capetillo, inserted the illegal pads into his wraps. De La Hoya, echoing the opinion of most fighters, doesn’t believe him.
“These are your weapons,” he said, pointing to his hands. “If a trainer puts one more wrap on, you know it. … If Margarito comes clean, if he says he did this and is sorry, then that’s a different story. … Then maybe the commission will have some kind of sympathy.”
Comment