And they called Oscar De La Hoya chicken?
Floyd Mayweather, who is 48-0 and estimated he just made $275 million from his fight with Manny Pacquiao, has courageously offered to fight the Golden Boy.
That’s right, the same De La Hoya whose only fight since 2008 has come in a courtroom battle with Mayweather’s promoter. The same De La Hoya who is 42 years old, who has progressed from Golden Boy to Golden Middle Aged Man — all while battling substance abuse issues. The same De La Hoya whom Mayweather had a rematch lined up with, only to pull out to go into retirement – for seven weeks.
That De La Hoya.
“Oscar … he’s coming back,” Mayweather said, in video posted to Instagram by BlackSportsOnline. “I mean if he wants to, we can rock ‘n’ roll in the same gym. … He said he wanted a rematch, so if Oscar wants it, he can get it.’’
Mayweather edged De La Hoya in a split-decision for the WBC 154-pound title back on May 5, 2007.
“Our first fight had a rematch clause,” De La Hoya said in an Instagram post, sounding as if he still had some hard feelings over Mayweather ducking him. “It had to take place within the year. He retired in a year and one day.”
It was closer to a year and a month, Mayweather retiring in June 2008. Sure, he lost a $20 million purse from that potential fight, but he came out of retirement in 2009 to make made $52 million in his comeback fight.
“I’m happy, I’m content, I’m never coming back,” De La Hoya said. “I’m going to continue growing Golden Boy [Promotions].”
So who’s next for Mayweather, in what he has maintained will be the final fight of his controversial career?
When challenged by middleweight menace Gennady Golovkin (33-0 with 20 straight knockouts), who said of Mayweather, “Of course I’d beat him,” the pound-for-pound No. 1 balked.
“Congratulations for everything he’s done but even at my weight he can’t beat me,” Mayweather said in an interview on Fight Hype. The Mayweather camp told TMZ: “Everyone in boxing wants to fight Floyd. It’s the biggest payday they could possibly have.”