De La Hoya speaks up on Pacquiao-Floyd fight

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya is willing to work with Top Rank chief executive Bob Arum to put together and promote a bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather – potentially the richest fight in the history of the sport.

Mayweather finally spoke out in an Showtime interview last weekend and said he is ready and willing to fight Pacquiao on May 2, 2015.

"I know he is not on my level. The fans would love to see the fight, and of course, I want to go out with a bang," said Mayweather, who also claimed that Arum is to blame for the collapse in negotiations.

De La Hoya, in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN North America, said he has long dreamed of witnessing a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown.

"Obviously, this fight should've taken place five years ago," said De La Hoya. "A lot of people say that they're not the same fighters they once were."

"Obviously, five years ago they were younger, they were faster, they were stronger. But the fight is still intriguing, even at this point, because you have the best against the best," he added.

"Manny Pacquiao is a tremendous, tremendous champion, a global superstar, and Mayweather is a guy who brings a lot to the table."

De La Hoya even said he is open to working with Top Rank's Arum – his longtime rival – to promote the fight next year.

"I would love to work with Bob and promote that event, absolutely," he said. "There is something that I bring to the table, obviously the Hispanic factor, which we know is probably the biggest fan base that generates tons of numbers. It's something to think about."

Arum, for his part, claimed that Showtime network executives are pressuring Mayweather to accept the fight.

"It's pushing, you know, but it takes a lot to push Mayweather because he is not anxious to fight Manny," Arum said. "I know why – Manny figures not only to win, but to knock him out."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

De La Hoya wants to patch things up with Arum

Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar de la Hoya plans to reach out and make peace with his former promoter, Top Rank Inc.’s Bob Arum.

The two have been at odds since figuring in several acrimonious lawsuits over the promotional rights of Manny Pacquiao. Several high-profile fights, including the supposed Pacquiao-Mayweather bout, failed to materialize due to their differences.

De la Hoya, however, said he wanted to end the conflict for the boxing fans.

“Look, all the animosity, all the bad words that have been going back and forth; there's no need for it. Boxing is a sport that I love dearly and we're both adults. Bob Arum did a lot for my career and I really appreciate it. I can honestly say that I love the guy because he's someone who did a lot for my career ad really catapulted my career and did a tremendous job in promoting my career. He's a master at what he does,” the former boxer-turned promoter said in Boxing Scene.

De la Hoya said he plans to sit down with Arum and have a heart-to-heart talk with his former promoter.

“I will meet with Bob Arum one day and I will sit down with him and I do hope things get worked out and patched up because that's what the fans need. The boxing fans want to see all these great fights happen. So Hopefully one day it'll happen," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

De La Hoya expects Canelo to KO Floyd

MANILA, Philippines – Former world champion and now Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya believes Mexican prodigy Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will not just beat Floyd Mayweather, but knock him out cold as well.

In an interview with Boxing Scene, De La Hoya expressed his confidence that the 22-year-old Alvarez can stop Mayweather, the premier defensive fighter of his generation. [http://www.boxingscene.com/de-la-hoya-i-beat-mayweather-canelo-ko-him--69043]

“If he doesn’t knock Floyd out in less than eight rounds, I will be very surprised,” De La Hoya said.

Boxing pundits believe that Alvarez’s youth and punching power make him a threat against Mayweather, but the unbeaten American is still the favorite, thanks to his edge in experience and skills.

But De La Hoya thinks Alvarez can pull off the upset.

“Canelo is so calm and mature. Nothing gets to him,” he said. “He is focused. I tell him to stay focused, and keep pumping your jab. That is the key.”

What De La Hoya is guaranteeing is that the Mayweather-Alvarez clash will be a “good fight.”

“You have the two biggest names in boxing facing each other,” he said. “There will be fireworks. You will see a good fight, a solid fight.”

“You have the guy with the torch, and the guy who is going to get the torch – and everyone knows it,” he added.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Pacquiao, Donaire staying with HBO'

Boxing promoter Bob Arum assured that most of Top Rank’s fighters, including its biggest superstar Manny Pacquiao, will remain with HBO.

Arum has guaranteed HBO a steady supply of action-packed fights following the cable giant’s split with Top Rank’s rival company Golden Boy Promotions.

“As far as we’re concerned we’re a big supplier of product to HBO,” the promoter said in Boxing Scene.

Among their “products” are Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Filipino boxing attractions Nonito Donaire Jr. and Pacquiao.

Arum believes HBO decided to ditch Golden Boy for giving them “appearance bouts.”

“You can’t do appearance fights anymore,” Arum said. “You can’t do [Andre] Berto fights, like they did for years, anymore. You can’t do that. It’s a waste of money and it doesn’t give the people an opportunity to see exciting action.”

On the other hand, Arum pointed out that Top Rank has been giving out "thrilling matches" just like the recent scrap between Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov.

“You’ve got to give them fights which, at least on paper, look like they’re going to be the kind of battles like we saw on Saturday night (Bradley-Prvodnikov),” he said.

Arum added that more engaging battles are still on HBO’s way this March and April.

“If you look at the next fights we have on HBO, the [Brandon] Rios-[Mike] Alvarado fight, well, we know that’s a war. And then [Nonito] Donaire and [Guillermo] Rigondeaux ought to be a classic,” he said.

Pacquiao and Donaire are among Top Rank’s biggest stars.

Save for the Shane Mosley fight, which was aired on Showtime, most of Pacquiao’s high-profile bouts were aired by HBO. His fourth clash with Marquez garnered over 1.15 million pay-per-view buys.

Donaire has also been gaining attraction for his recent exploits in the ring. In 2012, he scored a string of victories over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Jeffrey Mathebula, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

HBO splits up with Golden Boy

MANILA, Philippines – American cable giant HBO is splitting up with Golden Boy Promotions after the promotional firm’s biggest attraction, Floyd Mayweather Jr., signed a multi-year deal with CBS’ Showtime.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported that HBO’s relationship with Oscar dela Hoya’s Golden Boy has deteriorated in the past year when the company’s output deal with the cable firm has not been renewed since 2011.

Since 2012, most of Golden Boy’s stars, like as Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, have been fighting on Showtime.

The last straw for HBO was Mayweather’s multi-fight contract with CBS’ Showtime, whose sports division chief is headed by former Golden Boy chief counsel Stephen Espinoza.

"In order to achieve our goal of the best fighters in the most compelling matchups we've decided to focus our efforts and resources on those strategic relationships where we better share common goals and business philosophies," HBO sports division president Ken Hershman said.

Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard Schaefer said he was not surprised by HBO’s announcement, noting that he hasn’t spoken with HBO Sports since November last year.

“It is clear that in the aftermath of the biggest names in the sport, Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez, leaving HBO for Showtime that HBO is obviously upset at [Mayweather adviser] Al Haymon and me, and this is their way of getting back at us,” he said.

The Golden Boy executive added that HBO’s move will hurt the cable company’s subscribers.

"I think it's an ill-advised strategy because the only ones that are getting hurt are the HBO subscribers, which were used to seeing the best fighters on HBO. That will obviously no longer be the case. Having said that, I wish HBO well. They're a terrific company, and life goes on. For us, it's business as usual," Schaefer said.

source: abs-cbnnews.com