Oscar De La Hoya has a nice stable of fighters.
Many of them, like Jason Quigley, Joseph Diaz Jr. and Antonio Orozco, are future stars.
Saul Canelo Alvarez of Mexico is already a star, making his Nov. 21 fight with middleweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view) a really big deal for De La Hoyas Golden Boy Promotions.
A loss for Alvarez would mean De La Hoyas top fighter would have lost the two biggest fights of his career Alvarezs only current loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.
That would scare a lot of promoters. Not De La Hoya.
We are not gambling, De La Hoya said Tuesday during a conference call that included Alvarez. This is a great event for all the fans and for all of boxing; I dont see it as a game. We feel that Canelo and the people deserve the best fights, period.
The most important thing is that the fans are very happy with the fight. We know Canelo is very well prepared. Cotto will be well prepared and I can imagine that the fight will be very entertaining for all the fans.
Win or lose, De La Hoya says it will have no effect on his company.
Not at all, he said. Its not about winning or losing, its about making the best fights for the people.
What De La Hoya is saying is true. Boxing does need promoters who will risk their best fighters.
But you better believe whats most important to Alvarez is winning.
Absolutely, all my fights are necessary to win, Alvarez said. Im here. Im ready to win and Im willing to win.
Of course, there would be some icing on the cake for Alvarez if he does emerge victorious against Cotto because of the boxing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico.
At the same time, a loss would mean a letdown for his countrymen.
Alvarez embraces that pressure.
We understand, obviously, the magnitude of this fight, said Alvarez, 25. We must consume that responsibility with hard training, and we must win the fight.
De La Hoya, a Mexican-American, knows a little bit about fighting Puerto Ricans. He had victories over John John Molina, Hector Macho Camacho and Wilfredo Rivera in championship bouts, but lost to Felix Trinidad Jr.
History shows when you put a Puerto Rican fighter and a Mexican fighter inside the ring, you are guaranteed to get excitement and fireworks, De La Hoya said. So everyone across the globe is really, really excited.
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Alvarez, a former junior middleweight champion, is 45-1-1 with 32 knockouts. Cotto, 35, is 40-4 with 33 knockouts. Cotto has won titles in the junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions.
De La Hoya blasts Mayweather
De La Hoya has an open letter to Mayweather in the December issue of Playboy. He leaves no stone unturned in ripping Mayweather.
But there is some hypocrisy. In one segment, he writes, Another reason boxing is better off without you: You were afraid. Afraid of taking chances. Afraid of risk. A perfect example is your greatest triumph, the long-awaited, record-breaking fight between you and Manny Pacquiao. Nearly 4.5 million buys! More than $400 million in revenue! Headlines worldwide! How can that be bad for boxing?
Because you lied. You promised action and entertainment and a battle for the ages, and you delivered none of the above. The problem is, thats precisely how you want it. You should have fought Pacquiao five years ago, not five months ago. That, however, would have been too dangerous. Too risky. Youve made a career out of being cautious. You wont get in the ring unless you have an edge.
There was plenty more. But we remind De La Hoya that in September 1999 he promised the world the his title-unification fight with Trinidad was going to be a great one between the two best welterweights in the world. Yet, De La Hoya and his then-trainer Robert Alcazar had no intention of any toe-to-toe action with the powerful Trinidad.
De La Hoya stuck and moved and literally ran the last three rounds. Trinidad wanted a ring war, De La Hoya did not.
The judges didnt like what De La Hoya did, either, scoring Trinidad the majority-decision winner. There was nothing great about this so-called super fight, and De La Hoya was responsible for that. He robbed fans of what could have been something explosive and memorable.
ETC
The undercard to Cotto-Alvarez will include two other world-title fights. Randy Caballero (22-0, 13 KOs) of Coachella will defend his bantamweight belt against Lee Haskins (32-3, 14 KOs) of England. Takashi Miura (29-2-2, 22 KOs) of Japan will defend his super featherweight title against Francisco Vargas (22-0-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico.
Frank Galarza (17-0-2, 11 KOs) of Brooklyn will tangle with Jarrett Hurd (16-0, 10 KOs) of Accokeek, Md. in the super welterweight main event Saturday at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (on Showtime).
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20151113/de-la-hoya-canelo-vs-cotto-is-great-for-boxing-fans
