Floyd Mayweather Jr. Punks Oscar De La Hoya — Again! Times Announcement To Upstage ‘Golden Boy’
Floyd Mayweather Jr. punked Oscar De La Hoya for the third time in their two storied careers on Thursday, when he timed the much-anticipated announcement of his next fight to upstage a press conference hyping Saturday’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara Pay Per View fight, which is being promoted by Oscar De la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Pay Per View boxing sales are driven largely by last-minute publicity, as fans who may have been hesitant to shell out the hefty cost of buying the broadcast succumb to the anticipation generated as the fight draws closer. The Alvarez-Lara fight, to air July 12 on Showtime PPV, comes with a substantial price tag of $59.99 — and that sum is less than the going rate for most major PPV cards over the last couple of years.
So De La Hoya needed that last-minute rush of publicity to drive fans into buying the fight — and Mayweather went out of his way to quash it.
On Thursday, Mayweather announced through his smartphone app (yes, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has his own smartphone app) that he’ll fight a rematch with the iron-jawed Argentine brawler Marcos Maidana, who, on May 3, gave Mayweather one of the most brutal tests of the undefeated champion’s career.
Ultimately, Maidana lost a majority decision. But he insisted that he’d been robbed, while fans and the boxing media — though most agreed that Mayweather did enough to win — gave the fight overwhelmingly good reviews.
The result: Mayweather vs. Maidana II, September 13, 2014, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather’s adopted hometown and the same site as their first fight.
Mayweather’s announcement came at about 10 am Pacific Time Thursday. De La Hoya’s press conference was scheduled for 1 pm that same day. But by the time De la Hoya took the podium, the boxing media was busy reporting the Mayweather-Maidana story.
When Mayweather and De La Hoya fought on May 5 of 2007, Mayweather won a split decision as the “Golden Boy” De La Hoya faded down the stretch after finding it impossible to penetrate Mayweather’s defense.
Then just as the two were set for a 2008 rematch, Mayweather announced that he was “retiring” from boxing. While few at the time took the retirement announcement seriously, Mayweather left De La Hoya unable to avenge the stain on his legacy of the first bout.
And now, Mayweather has rubbed it in, one-upping De La Hoya again.
But in a twist proving that business always wins in boxing, Floyd Mayweather then chose the company run by Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions, to take the lead in promoting the September 13 Maidana rematch.
