Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.Mayweather's last (and possibly final) match was the long-anticipated superfight against six-division champion and current World Boxing Council Light Middle titleholder Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya's belt was on the line, which required Mayweather to move up in weight from 147 pounds to 154, before a sellout crowd at the Grand Garden Arena.
Despite De La Hoya's insistence that money is not a factor, the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout figures to be one of the biggest money-making fights in boxing history. Mayweather stands to make at least $10 million to De La Hoya's $25 million, with possibly much more for each if pay-per-view sales satisfy predictions. Early speculation indicates that the fight could flirt with the all-time record for pay-per-view buys. The current record comes from the 2002 bout between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, which took in 2.03 million. De La Hoya's fight with Felix Trinidad in 1999 generated 1.4 million buys, which stands as the record for a non-heavyweight bout. De La Hoya has been quoted as saying his goal is 2 million buys, which, given the amount of time still remaining to promote the fight, is a definite possibility. Rapper 50 Cent is a close friend of Mayweather's, and won $1 million betting that Mayweather would win. At the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout, 50 Cent performed the lead single, Straight to the Bank, from his upcoming album Curtis for the first time live. The event sold out 3 hours after opening. Tickets sales reached a record breaking 19 million dollars.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. "I was having fun in there," a Mayweather said after winning a world title in his fifth weight division.
At one time, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Mayweather Jr.'s father, was in talks to train Oscar De La Hoya and be in his corner during the fight but he decided to train with Freddie Roach. Roger Mayweather, Mayweather Sr.'s brother, was in Mayweather Jr.'s corner and trained him for the fight. It is not known how much money Roger Mayweather made from the fight.
"I could see I was hurting him," De La Hoya said. "I was pressing the fight, and if I hadn't pressed the fight there would be no fight. I'm a champion, and you have to do more than that to beat a champion."
"After a fight you either feel like a winner or a loser and, standing here and in the ring immediately afterwards, I didn't feel I lost," said De La Hoya. "I came out to do what I had to do. I had to fight and put the pressure on him and I feel like I did that for much of the fight. My jab failed me tonight, I didn't throw it enough and I don't know why but perhaps it has to do with Mayweather's style. He was difficult to pin down but I constantly made the running. If I hadn't pressed forward constantly, there wouldn't have been a fight."
Mayweather Jr. won the bout by a split decision, winning the title and improving his record to 38-0. The official judges scores were 116-112 Mayweather, 115-113 Mayweather, and 115-113 De La Hoya.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement after registering a split decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya to claim the World Boxing Council super welterweight title: "I don't have anything else left to prove. I want to spend more time with my children."
"Now I am going to retire," added Mayweather, who climbed into the ring at the start of the fight wearing a Mexican sombrero, a cheeky reference to his opponent's heritage on Cinco de Mayo.
Video: Oscar de la Hoya vs Floyd Mayweather Round 12
Sources: HBO, Wikipedia, Times Online
Foto: HBO
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