De La Hoya: "Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Will Not Be My Last Fight"

[DLT]

Man, if he beat Mayweather and Trinidad in his next two fights he'd have to go down as the best fighter since Duran.

Hell no. How do you come to that conclusion? There have been so many guys better then Oscar since Duran. How does beating Tito prove anything when he has been killed in 2 of his recent fights and is clearly starting to get washed up? Its a good win for Oscar but there's nothing historical about it.

Then if he beats Floyd, its a good win but it wouldnt be a huge shock. He is much bigger then him. Duran was way better then Oscar and there have been so many guys since, better then Oscar.

Thats not to take anything away from him because he's been a very good fighter but he's not the super elite. You could easily argue that he got stopped by Hopkins, lost twice to Shane, lost to Sturm, lost to Tito, lost to Sweet Pea, lost to Ike, and I think there's another one Im missing. Now you could definatly go alot of different ways in those fights but there are alot of people who think that he lost all of them and he's never ever had that dominant performance in a big fight like all the greats have. You could argue that he had it against Vargas but he was halfway shot by then.

[cupcrazy01]

Hell no. How do you come to that conclusion? There have been so many guys better then Oscar since Duran. How does beating Tito prove anything when he has been killed in 2 of his recent fights and is clearly starting to get washed up? Its a good win for Oscar but there's nothing historical about it.

Then if he beats Floyd, its a good win but it wouldnt be a huge shock. He is much bigger then him. Duran was way better then Oscar and there have been so many guys since, better then Oscar.

Thats not to take anything away from him because he's been a very good fighter but he's not the super elite. You could easily argue that he got stopped by Hopkins, lost twice to Shane, lost to Sturm, lost to Tito, lost to Sweet Pea, lost to Ike, and I think there's another one Im missing. Now you could definatly go alot of different ways in those fights but there are alot of people who think that he lost all of them and he's never ever had that dominant performance in a big fight like all the greats have. You could argue that he had it against Vargas but he was halfway shot by then.

So many guys better SINCE Duran than De La Hoya? So many? If you had said a couple or a few, I'd let it go. But so many??? Please name some of these 'so many' SINCE Duran that have been/are better.

Many would argue DLH's best performance was rounds 1-8 vs. Tito (in his BIGGEST fight), and yeah, he lost officially, but most think he won clearly, the last 4 rounds notwithstanding. He came up big in the last round vs. Quartey. You mentioned Vargas, who was much bigger than De La Hoya, and DLH had a great performance there. Alot of people believe he beat Mosley in the rematch (including me, and I was strongly rooting for Mosley).

I know this goes both ways (the controversial wins over Sturm and Whitaker come to mind), but you can't just take a one-sided glass-half-empty view of his career and throw it out as not super-elite because you are giving none of the benefit of these doubts. That's boxing, you will have controversy. Leonard-Hagler anyone? Leonard-Hearns II? Leonard doesn't get half the criticism for these decisions that DLH does for his, and Leonard wasn't on the wrong side of as many controversies as DLH was. I'm not here to argue about the Sturm and Whitaker fights, I think he lost to Sturm (not sure about Whitaker), but I'm just making a point.

Don't cast off DLH as a well-marketed simply solid fighter who got lucky because of his profile. You can't ignore his resume. Adding Mayweather to it is like icing on the cake, and another big fight to come? Perhaps another hall of famer (Winky, Tito II, Mosley III?) will be on it when it's all said and done.

Sure, Oscar is bigger, but he started at 130 lbs. too, just like Mayweather. So even though he's taller, it's not like he's got a tremendous size advantage. You can't beat a fighter as great as Mayweather just because you're bigger. You have to be able to catch him. Baldomir couldn't, and Castillo had limited success (read: because he's actually very good and a much better boxer than Baldomir).

[.::|ULTIMATE|::.]

He's semi-retired and he is still making tons of money, no reason for him to call it a day. He isnt getting hurt or anything life threatening.

[FuzzyBear88]

Does anyone know what weight class Oscar & Floyd will fight at? Also does any one know if its in Vegas or California????????

they will be fightinf for the wbc light middlewieght belt.

[FuzzyBear88]

Hell no. How do you come to that conclusion? There have been so many guys better then Oscar since Duran. How does beating Tito prove anything when he has been killed in 2 of his recent fights and is clearly starting to get washed up? Its a good win for Oscar but there's nothing historical about it.

Then if he beats Floyd, its a good win but it wouldnt be a huge shock. He is much bigger then him. Duran was way better then Oscar and there have been so many guys since, better then Oscar.

Thats not to take anything away from him because he's been a very good fighter but he's not the super elite. You could easily argue that he got stopped by Hopkins, lost twice to Shane, lost to Sturm, lost to Tito, lost to Sweet Pea, lost to Ike, and I think there's another one Im missing. Now you could definatly go alot of different ways in those fights but there are alot of people who think that he lost all of them and he's never ever had that dominant performance in a big fight like all the greats have. You could argue that he had it against Vargas but he was halfway shot by then.

Oscar accomplished alot while in his prime i believe it was 12 belts in 6 different wieght classes...you cant just say he was no good like that. Floyd Mayweather has almost just as many fights as Oscar but hasnt fought as many champions. or gained as many belts. Roberto Duran was ill though before he got all washed up. I dont respect him as much because of the second fight against Sugar Ray Leonard...just my opinion though.

[FuzzyBear88]

Cant wait for the Mayweather-Oscar fight! I think if PBF looses this one then he will be exposed for the fraud he is and if he wins he will have silenced all his critics that say hes no good..personally I think hes a great fighter, I dont really like his style or attitude though thats why im not a fan. Like manny have said though if Oscar wins it will be icing on the cake for his career. Im not shure if Oscar really has it in him to be fighting someone so young and quick though..I mean the fight against mayorga was ill but mayorga isnt great. He just talks alot of **** then gets knocked the **** out. I'll be routing for Oscar though. I just grew up and still am watching his fights. May 5th is too far away for me though....I cant wait for this fight! lol

[oshea1690]

i dont think dlh will beat mayweather

[K-DOGG]

I'm glad this fight finally got signed. While I will be the first to admit that DLH isn't what he used to be, this fight wll go a long way towards establishing PBF as the current p4p best among the masses. Boxing fans already know hos good he is; but this fight is the exposure his career has been needing. Oscar, while past his best, is still dangerous enough that PBF will have to be on his toes and skilled enough to take a few rounds; but the fight that keeps coming to mind for me is Oscar's fight with Pernell Whitaker. Pete was a southpaw; but just as slick as Mayweather and Oscar barely beat him.....actually, I had Whitaker winning that fight. If a young, prime of his life Oscar had trouble with a past his best Pernell....Mayweather's going to win this one.

After Floyd wins, and I am reasonably confident he will, he really needs to start focusing on the best of his era. He's done good beating Judah and Baldomir at 147; but he needs to do more if he wants to establish himself as an all-time p4p great. He's got the skills there's no doubt; but it takes more than skills to make it into the elite class. You have to take on and beat the best. For Mayweather, that means Margarito, Cotto, and Williams.....all of whom he should be able to beat, with Williams as my personal pick for a possible upset.

Anyway, DLH represents the "passing of the torch" which is a time-honored tradition in boxing....and a step Floyd needed to make. I'm glad the fight came off.

[rocco1252]

I always said that he wouldnt retire without Floyd and that even this fight wouldnt be his last. You can tell that he felt great after the Mayorga win and wanted to stay with it. There are also a ton of big fights out there now with guys he is bigger then. He could have a great chance against alot of these smaller guys.

If he loses to Floyd then he still wont want to go out that way and would have one more sure fight, maybe against Tito

yeah but then he would just be a blown up mayweather who hand picks ****ty champions

[IwatchBoxing]

So the fix is in, he will beat Floyd. Intresting to see if after this fight Floyd joins GBP...hmmm