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Op-Ed: Why Floyd Mayweather wants Oscar de la Hoya for Sept. 12 fight

The unexpected offer came after de la Hoya made a buzz about his intention to come out of retirement and singled out middleweight boxing sensation Gennady Golovkin for his comeback fight.

“I’ve seen the little thing Oscar talking about he’s coming back. I mean, you know, I mean, if he wants to, we can rock and roll in September,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather, who joined Adrien Bronner in his gym while on training for his fight against former Pacquiao’s sparring partner Shawn Porter, suggested that they do the fight at 154 pounds.

“We can do it at 54. He already know that. He said he wanted the rematch, so if Oscar want it, he can get it in September,” Mayweather added.

Mayweather and de la Hoya fought in 2007 with Mayweather edging de la Hoya via a split decision victory. The following year, de la Hoya fought Steve Forbes in what was intended as a tune up fight for a rematch against Mayweather. De la Hoya won over Forbes via a unanimous decision.

When de la Hoya was about ready for the rematch following his tune up fight, Mayweather surprised everyone with his announcement in June 2008, saying he has decided to retire from boxing. The announcement effectively ended the rematch talks.

In less than two years, Mayweather came out of retirement and fought Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009 to continue his unbeaten record.

While Mayweather should be praised for offering de la Hoya a rematch, he may have other reasons why he wants de la Hoya for his Sept. 12 fight.

First, Mayweather could be thinking that de la Hoya can be his insurance fight to assure him of victory to match Rocky Marciano’s career record of 49-0. At the same time, the public will see de la Hoya as a legitimate opponent, having dominated the sport both in amateur and professional level.

What the public may have forgotten is the fact that dela Hoya has been inactive for seven years. Without sufficient time to prepare for a fight that is taking place in about two months (considering that they have not even started talking), de la Hoya won’t last three rounds against Mayweather, who is fresh off a unanimous decision win against Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao.

Secondly, Mayweather knows that de la Hoya is a pay-per-view attraction and together they could mobilize their company’s resources and marketing expertise to duplicate — if not to surpass — their own record of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys in 2007.

Mayweather is the owner of Mayweather Promotions while de la Hoya owns Golden Boy Promotions (GBP). Mayweather has been using GBP before he got his own license for Mayweather Promotions to stage boxing fights in Las Vegas.

With their long and mutually fruitful business relationship, it would not take them a day to make arrangement for a fight contract.

The problem is Mayweather doesn’t know for sure if de la Hoya is serious about his comeback plan or he may just be joking to promote his company’s upcoming fights.

“So I hear Floyd wants to give me a rematch now. Our first fight had a rematch clause. It had to take place within the year. He retired a year and one day,” said de la Hoya in response to Mayweather’s rematch offer.

“Look, I’m retired, I’m happy, I’m content. I’m never coming back. I’m gonna continue growing Golden Boy,” de la Hoya added.

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