With Floyd retired, What’s Oscar to do?

Another fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. would probably resemble their rather boring fight in May 2007 won by Mayweather via split decision. Mayweather was never going to go toe-to-toe with De La Hoya in that fight and would not have done so in a rematch.

That said, De La Hoya’s quest for a memorable final year in the ring didn’t necessarily take a big hit when Mayweather retired Friday. Monetarily, it hurt some. But if De La Hoya wants to have two more noteworthy fights before retiring, he can still achieve this goal.

We spoke with Richard Schaefer, CEO of De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, on Friday evening. It was just a few hours after Mayweather, 31, had sent out a letter announcing his departure from the ring.

“We’re not surprised he retired, we’re just surprised at the timing,” he said about Mayweather.

The timing was not good. Most experts believed only the wrinkles in the contract for a rematch needed ironing out and the rematch would have been a done deal for Sept. 20. Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Golden Boy, gave his take on it Tuesday, four days after Mayweather’s revelation.

“Obviously, we are still in shock over Mayweather retiring,” Gomez said. “We still don’t know why. But we respect that. You have to respect them in the ring and also after they retire. He is going to go down as one of the greats. But we are still in shock and everything is still up in the air. There are a bunch of different things, a bunch of different options.”
The plan was for De La Hoya, 35, to fight three times this year and call it quits. He defeated Steve Forbes on May 3. Then it was supposed to be on to Mayweather with the finale tentatively slated for December. Schaefer indicated he plans on sticking with that September date.

“We are still committed to the date of Sept. 20 and we are still committed to putting on a mega fight,” Schaefer said.

In speaking with Gomez on Tuesday, we told him of a couple of possible scenarios. First of all, Schaefer told this reporter months ago that he was not thrilled with De La Hoya wanting to fight three times this year in the first place. Especially considering the September and December fights would be just three months away.

Schaefer’s concerns are valid. De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) fought twice in 2004, not even once in 2005 and once each in 2006 and 2007. Someone like that suddenly fighting three times in a year is a risky proposition.

So, what about De La Hoya not fighting in September and just finishing his career by taking on the winner of the July 26 welterweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito? That fight could take place in December and De La Hoya could then sail off into the sunset. If he were to win over either guy, that would be considered a most impressive farewell fight.

“Time-wise, it’s the only way that would make sense,” Gomez said of that scenario.

If De La Hoya still insists on three fights this year, he could make a September challenge to Sergio Mora and the super welterweight title he won Saturday from Vernon Forrest. Then De La Hoya could fight the Cotto-Margarito winner in December.

De La Hoya-Mora would do well at the box office and on pay-per-view. You’d have two fighters from East Los Angeles. One is the biggest money-maker in boxing history, and on his way out. The other is just beginning to make a name for himself, and Saturday he became the first fighter from “The Contender” to win a major title.

And it goes without saying that De La Hoya against either Cotto or Margarito would do huge numbers.

Gomez said it’s all on De La Hoya.

“He’s the boss and he’ll decide,” said Gomez, who said De La Hoya has expressed interest in fighting Cotto. “The thing is we’re supposed to be talking to Oscar when he comes in, but he hasn’t made any indication to us exactly what he wants to do. We’re supposed to get together with him next week and start talking to him about different scenarios.”

De La Hoya is currently on a book-signing tour for his recently released autobiography. He was in New York City on Tuesday. He is scheduled to speak to his people when he makes his way to L.A.

There is still another name in the fold as far as September is concerned. That is Ricky Hatton. There have been reports in the past couple of days that Hatton will not accept an offer to fight De La Hoya, his promoter. Gomez said that was news to everyone at Golden Boy.

“We read the same thing, but we haven’t talked to Ricky’s dad (Ray) or to Ricky himself,” Gomez said. “We are waiting for a call back from him. We haven’t heard it from them directly.”

De La Hoya-Hatton would be an easy sell. De La Hoya could fight his sister and get a million pay-per-view buys and Hatton’s popularity in his native England is through the roof. But Hatton did not look terrific against Juan Lazcano last month, even though he won a wide decision. We’re just not sure how much a victory over Hatton would mean for De La Hoya’s legacy. It would go down as another win over a smaller guy, and De La Hoya has a few of those already.

If De La Hoya could work it out to where he fights Mora in September and then the Cotto-Margarito winner in December, the feeling here is that would provide him the closure to his career he is looking for.