Just KC
08-28-2006, 08:35 PM
It’s not everyday that Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions gives you a jingle to shoot the breeze so imagine my surprise when we at Doghouse Boxing heard that ‘The Golden Boy’ himself wanted to give us the lowdown on the throwdown regarding his upcoming HBO pay-per-view telecast on September 16 featuring the main event between WBC Super Featherweight titlist Marco Antonio Barrera, 62-4 (42) with 1 No Contest, and Houston’s favorite fistic son Rocky Juarez, 25-2 (18). The Fight is a sequel to their first battle last May, that saw an odd ending in a post-telecast win granted to Barrera after an intense heated bout that first ended in a draw, thanks to incorrectly tallied scorecards.
Accompanying the much-anticipated rematch (live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada) will also be a pretty spectacular undercard, if I do say so myself, involving the likes of WBO Super Featherweight titlist Jorge ‘La Hiena’ Barrios, Joan Guzman, World Junior Featherweight Champion Israel Vazquez and WBO Bantamweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez. And only here, can you get the straight dope from the horse’s mouth.
But that’s not all, kids, Oscar also opens up on his new heavyweight acquisition, Sultan Ibragimov, and who he’d like to see Ibragimov face in the near future as well as how and when pay-per-views go wrong and who’s responsible when they do. Plus welterweight Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams, Floyd Mayweather’s pay-per-view appeal, HBO’s Boxeo De Oro and who he’d might prefer facing INSTEAD of Floyd Mayweather Jr………..
Well, what the hell are you staring at, fight-freaks? Read on, if you want the jam-packed info!!
Coyote Duran: The September 16 HBO Pay-Per-View featuring Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Rocky Juarez in their rematch has got a really good undercard stapled to it. Was it easy to get all that talent together on one night?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, lets’ just say it wasn’t one of the easiest things I’ve done in my life as a promoter. You know, nowadays, fighters don’t like facing other champions or they don’t like facing threats and that’s one of the biggest problems we have in boxing today. That’s why this card is so special; because every televised fight is a main event in itself. I mean, you have (WBO Bantamweight titlist) Jhonny Gonzalez going up to 122 fighting (The Ring Magazine World Junior Featherweight Champion) Israel Vazquez and that’s gonna be a barn-burner! That’s gonna be a tremendous fight. And then you have (WBO Super Featherweight titlist Jorge) Barrios, who was in the “fight of the year” against (Then-WBO Super Featherweight titlist Acelino) Freitas, going up against (Joan) Guzman. Again, it’s a main event in itself! So, we’re just truly, truly excited and what can I say about Marco Antonio Barrera? When he told me he wanted to take this fight, obviously, everybody was shocked. But that’s Marco for you. He obviously wants to prove to his fans and to everyone else that the first time around wasn’t a fluke.
Coyote Duran: Now with the twist ending that followed Marco and Rocky’s first fight, how would you assess each fighter’s performance, in retrospect?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, I have to give it up to Rocky Juarez. He put up a tremendous performance. I believe Marco Antonio Barrera allowed him to put up a tremendous performance. I truly feel, deep down in my heart, being a fighter myself, you have your days where you’re not going to perform up to par and I believe that Marco Antonio Barrera was not 100% going into that fight. Comments that Marco Antonio Barrera made to me weeks before the fight kind of made me worry a bit because knowing that he’s not gonna be 100%, he was going into a tough fight with Rocky Juarez.
Coyote Duran: Was it an issue of not feeling well or was it a training issue?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, it was a combination of feeling under the weather and having had to skip a few days of training camp. That can take a toll on your mind. When you don’t train a few days and you know you have a big fight ahead of you and you still wanna continue, it kind of plays these little psychological games on you. And I can understand that.
Coyote Duran: Now, in regards to the rematch, as a fighter, have you talked to Barrera or offered advice on how to handle Juarez this next time around, or would this be a situation, where as a promoter, you tend to stay out of it?
Oscar De La Hoya: As a fighter, obviously, I love interacting and exchanging ideas with Golden Boy fighters. I talked to Marco Antonio Barrera the other day and he says that everything is perfectly fine so don’t worry about nothing. He’s in tremendous, tremendous shape. He’s focused. He knows that Rocky Juarez is gonna come in probably stronger and hungrier so he’s up for the challenge, obviously, and he said that he’s not gonna disappoint nobody. He always shows a great performance in every fight that he has. I’m very confident that Barrera will give it his all this time around.
Coyote Duran: The breadth of the undercard, not unlike the main event, is pretty badass. You’ve got some real fan-friendly fights going on and with all of them being potentially explosive, what fight are you specifically looking forward to seeing the most and what’s your overall assessment of the undercard?
Oscar De La Hoya: I’m probably equally excited about all the fights. I mean, it’s just that type of card. You don’t see these cards come by often. I think the last time we had a card like this in boxing was several years ago, 10, 15 years ago. This is something very, very special and I think when people are making the choice of buying the pay-per-view or not buying it, I think it’s gonna be easy for them to click on that ‘buy’ button and watch some good fights that night.
Coyote Duran: That’s kind of how I feel because I’m not a huge fan of pay-per-view but to me, this has the potential of being a ‘five-course’ meal and you’d be loath to miss it.
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, this one is well worth it! When you order a pay-per-view fight these days, you’re obviously looking for the main event and now when you turn on a pay-per-view fight, you’re looking forward to the first fight, the second fight, AND the main event so this is gonna be a real treat.
Coyote Duran: I think the last pay-per-view that I saw that really encapsulated that excitement was the first Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao fight. That one had excellent undercard wars besides a great main event.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! Great fights. That was a tremendous show.
Coyote Duran: Sycuan Promotions, who promotes Israel Vazquez and Joan Guzman, of course, is one of the smaller promotions that’s achieved that rare ability to run with the big promoters. What was working with Sycuan like for you?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, it’s wonderful working with Sycuan. We do have as co-promotion with Guzman and Israel Vazquez as a 50/50 with both fighters. It’s been tremendous working with them. It’s been a great pleasure and they’re really true professionals when it comes to looking for the talent and putting on shows so it’s exciting to be on board with them.
Coyote Duran: In the aftermath of the Barrera-Juarez rematch, whoever holds the WBC 130-pound belt has to defend against the mandatory challenger Humberto Soto. Is there a possibility that a fight between the winner of Barrios-Guzman could wind up facing the winner of Barrera-Juarez as well?
Oscar De La Hoya: That’s the beauty of it. We do now have choices. Obviously now with having a Jesus Chavez who’s also a natural 130-pounder who’s currently the IBF 135-pound champion, you could take the winner of Barrios-Guzman and have another choice there (for a match up) so you’re not limited to the Pacquiaos and the Moraleses of this world. You have a variety of different fighters out there to choose from so it’s gonna be exciting to see who the winner of Barrera-Rocky Juarez wants to fight next. It’s gonna be very intriguing to see the 130-pound weight division go ‘heads up’ against each other. That’s something I would love to see and that’s everybody FIGHT THE BEST and that’s the way boxing should be structured. The best fighting the best.
Coyote Duran: I think that’s always an exciting concept. And sometimes we have to ask ourselves “Who cares if the mainstream doesn’t understand this sport anymore?” At least we get to experience these great fights for ourselves.
Oscar De La Hoya: Exactly.
Coyote Duran: As opposed to September 16th’s card, we recently had the Oleg Maskaev-Hasim Rahman WBC Heavyweight title rematch………..
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughs)
Coyote Duran: (Laughs)………Exactly. With as much the sale bomb as Maskaev-Rahman II was (Oscar chuckles), what would you have done differently, promotion-wise, to make is a success?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, for one, you don’t call it ‘The Last Line Of Defense.’ I didn’t really understand that whole promotion.
Coyote Duran: Dude, it was terrible.
Oscar De La Hoya: I mean, I just didn’t understand where (Top Ranks Promotions President) Todd duBoef was taking it to. Obviously, it didn’t work. When you have 50-60,000 pay-per-view buys on a heavyweight championship title fight with Rahman, what’s wrong with that picture? You know, the heavyweight division right now is at its slowest point here in America. Obviously, overseas it’s the biggest thing now. And that’s probably one of the biggest reasons why we did get involved now with the heavyweight division, having to promote Sultan Ibragimov, who I think is probably the most exciting fighter you’ll see today in the heavyweight division. Two guys that I’m really excited about are Samuel Peter and Sultan Ibragimov. I think if you have those two fighters fighting anybody, you’re gonna see exciting, exciting fights. That’s the reason we got involved with him (Ibragimov).
Coyote Duran: What do have planned for Ibragimov now that he’s under the Golden Boy banner?
Oscar De La Hoya: The plans are to fight the WBO champion. He does wanna face the best and I believe now, the best right now in the world is the WBO champion who beat Lamon Brewster.
Coyote Duran: Sergei Liakhovich.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! He’s exciting and young. So, it’s a matter of challenging the best and he wants to go after the best, Sultan does, and that’s what we believe in, So in order to get a true, heavyweight champion of the world, you’re gonna have to face the very, very best and that’s what he wants to do.
Coyote Duran: Golden Boy’s been known for promoting the smaller fighters who, in turn, usually contribute to the most exciting fights. With promoting Ibragimov, is this more a Litmus test for, if it goes better than expected, would you consider promoting other heavyweights?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely. We have no doubt that whoever we match up with against Sultan, it’s gonna be a barn-burner. That’s what Sultan brings to the table. He’s an explosive fighter. He hits hard with either hand. He’s exciting. He throws more than 10 punches, more than these heavyweights do now these days. (Chuckles) This guy is an exciting heavyweight fighter. He’s kind of like the old heavyweight fighters that you’ve seen in the past, in the 60s, the 70s and the 80s. Very fast and elusive and strong. That’s the way Sultan is so anyone we match him up against, it’s gonna be a tremendous fight. This is gonna be a big test for us, promoting our first heavyweight fight. Obviously, we at Golden Boy wanna make it a very intriguing, enticing and very exciting one for the fans so I can assure you one thing: Whoever fights Sultan is gonna fight or HAS to fight Sultan’s style.
Coyote Duran: Getting back to poorly contrived pay-per-views, Oscar, when a pay-per-view falls flat like Maskaev-Rahman II did, does that look bad for the promoter, solely, or should the network take a little heat for it?
Oscar De La Hoya: I believe it’s all on the promoter. The promoter is the one that’s promoting the fight. The promoter comes up with the name (of the card) and the promoter comes up with the strategy and obviously the strategy did not work. We are in a very sensitive period of time where we (as a country) are at war and it’s a very sensitive issue and I believe that there was just no direction whatever and that’s surprising coming from a promoter like Top Rank.
Coyote Duran: This month, we also saw the ‘Sons Of Legends’ pay-per-view featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Jorge Paez Jr. Are fans getting screwed by paying 25 bucks to watch Jr., as a main event, knock out a guy (Jermaine White) who lost his last fight by knockout?
Oscar De La Hoya: Me, myself, being a huge, huge boxing fan, and fighting my whole life since I was five, I didn’t watch the fight and I didn’t pay for the fight so I guess that has to show something.
Coyote Duran: That makes two of us. (Laughs)
(Both laugh)
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughing) I mean, you just don’t do that to the fans. You either put it on free TV or no TV at all. Fighters who are fighting on pay-per-view should be fighting because first, it’s gonna be an intriguing match up and secondly, it’s a marquee name. It’s a name that people wanna pay for. Not a name that people have to pay for.
Coyote Duran: The last time we spoke, we discussed how interesting the welterweight division was and, like the dork that I am, I left out mentioning Paul Williams. Did you see his win over Sharmba Mitchell?
Oscar De La Hoya: Yes, I did. I’m pretty impressed by him! He keeps on proving everybody wrong. He’s kind of like a sleeper. He doesn’t look all that much in his appearance and when he step in the ring, you kind of have a feel like, “OK, this guy’s gonna get beat sooner or later.” but he just doesn’t! He doesn’t go anywhere but up. It’s gonna be very interesting to see who he fights next and obviously he is the #1 contender to (WBO Welterweight titlist) Antonio Margarito, so that should be an interesting match up! Have those two guys fight each other and then you have something in the welterweight division, in the mix with (Floyd) Mayweather and all the other guys.
Coyote Duran: Williams says that Margarito doesn’t want that fight but it’s a mandatory for Margarito’s WBO strap. Margarito’s basically up against the corner (should he defeat Joshua Clottey in December). I think those most stern of Margarito’s critics could be somewhat satisfied that he could truly prove his mettle by facing a Paul Williams.
Oscar De La Hoya: I think so! I mean, he’s (Margarito) a young fighter. He should stay active. He still has a lot to learn obviously in this game. You’re never too old to learn. He’s young, he’s strong, he’s motivated. Keep him active! Don’t wait for that one big payday. Just keep on going, keep fighting! That would be my advice to him. It’s like Mayweather wanting to fight me. Just keep fighting, keep going. ‘Cause one thing that Mayweather’s saying about Margarito is “Who have you fought? Why do you deserve this?” You know, I can say the same thing about Mayweather! Who have YOU fought and why do you deserve to fight me? You’ve done what, 350,000 pay-per-view buys? 400, tops?? I’ve done a million-four with (Felix) Trinidad so why should you fight me? It’s the same thing over and over. Look, (to Mayweather) keep on fighting, stay active, stay busy and if the fights come, they come. Don’t keep pushing for them. They will happen. If the fans demand them, they will happen. If those fights are the best, those fights will happen. Fighters sometimes have to be very patient.
Coyote Duran: Oscar, you also mentioned before how you thought that the bet fight for Floyd was against (The Ring Magazine World Welterweight Champion) Carlos Baldomir. Called that one solid now, didn’tcha, now that they’re fighting in November?
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! It’s a great fight. I think the fans are gonna enjoy it. I think Mayweather beating Baldomir is gonna make him, obviously THE Welterweight Champion Of the World. And then you have something. If he wants to fight me, we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll have to wait and see. You know, there is some rumblings I’ve heard that Trinidad wants to sit down with me and talk………
Coyote Duran: What, are we talking rematch here?!
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. It’s now interesting with me, for instance. Who would I rather fight? A Floyd Mayweather who’s coming up and wants to prove to everyone that he’s the best and make a point or do I go after the rematch where, obviously, we had a controversial decision with Trinidad? So it’s very, very intriguing now. It’s getting interesting for me now so I now kind of have a smile on my face! It’s getting very interesting!
Coyote Duran: With Trinidad in mind, I mean, of course, he lost to Winky Wright in his last fight out. His father decided to quit as his trainer. Honestly, do you think that you can get the very best Trinidad possible in front of you in a rematch seven or eight years after the fact?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! You know, when Trinidad fought Winky Wright, he (Trinidad) would’ve walked right though anybody but Winky Wright’s style is just a very difficult one to beat and anyone will tell you that! Look at (Undisputed Middleweight Champion) Jermain Taylor. I thought that Winky Wright pulled it off. It’s just a very difficult style to beat. Obviously, if you put my style and Trinidad’s style together, you’re gonna get two Mack trucks just crashing against each other. (Chuckles) If it happens, it should be a good fight.
Coyote Duran: Do you think Trinidad would wanna come down to 154 or would it be a middleweight fight?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, I’ve seen him around and from what I’ve heard here in Puerto Rico, he’s looking pretty good. I feel comfortable at 154 and I think when he fought Ricardo Mayorga, he weighed in at 157, I believe. It’s a possibility. Nothing’s impossible in this game!
Coyote Duran: Ron Borges of The Boston Globe reported that Golden Boy Promotions together with Winky Wright extended a $ 6,000,000 offer to Jermain Taylor for a Taylor-Wright rematch. If this indeed were substantiated, would you prefer this rematch to happen instead of Taylor possibly defending his middleweight championship against Kassim Ouma, another Golden Boy fighter?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, this is what happens. In this game, obviously, you don’t know if you’re gonna get cut, if you’re gonna get knocked out. You can get beat by anybody. You know, the first (Taylor-Wright) fight was such a good fight and somewhat a controversial fight. Why not do it again? This is first of all great visibility for both of them, a great payday for both fighters and it’s great for the sport because you have two of the best fighters facing each other so, in my perfect world I would love for them to fight each other and show who is the best.
Coyote Duran: Hey, I’m dying for the rematch, myself. I know Winky was discouraged with the drawn and he proclaimed he didn’t wanna do it again. I think I wasn’t alone because I know almost everyone else who enjoyed the fight was hoping he would change his mind.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! Right. Well, he’s done so and obviously, he’s open to the idea and again, that goes to show you that Winky Wright wants to fight the best and prove once again that he IS the best.
Coyote Duran: Back to Baldomir vs. Mayweather, should Mayweather beat Baldomir in November, of course, you know he’d win the real World Welterweight Championship, which is, as we know, The Ring Title. You did mention before that you’d love another Ring belt. Do you think this would be enough incentive for you to maybe drop down to 147 for a fight with Floyd?
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughs) Well, it’s funny because, uh, (Both laugh) I’ve been working out everyday and after I do my cardio everyday, I’m weighing 149, 150 and, you know, feeling great. You know, I mean, I’m not saying that I’ll do it……… (Laughs)……….
Coyote Duran: But it wouldn’t be hard!
Oscar De La Hoya: ……….With a little extra mile, here and there, I can make 147, so we’ll see! I don’t wanna say yes or no, but I can walk around easily at 150 right now as we speak.
Coyote Duran: Ah, but can’t you just see that belt on your mantle?………..
Oscar De La Hoya: Hey, I’m tellin’ you, I truly feel that Ring belt is the most prestigious belt any fighter can have today.
Coyote Duran: Now, as it stands, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s got a promotional arrangement with Goossen-Tutor, currently. Whether or not you step into the ring with each other, with the firepower that you have in your business contemporaries like Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, would you ever entertain the idea of maybe even inviting Floyd to join the Golden Boy family?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! I mean, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a one of the top names today in boxing. You know, it would be interesting to talk to him and see if he would be interested. We would definitely wanna work something out if we had the opportunity. Obviously, we know that he is tied up with Goossen-Tutor so we don’t wanna interfere whatsoever with them.
Coyote Duran: Wouldn’t that just make Bob Arum piss himself?
(Both laugh)
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughing) Awwwww…….
Coyote Duran: OK, on a serious note now, another reason that I’m pleased that we got to talk again is because I forgot to ask you about the demise of HBO’s Boxeo De Oro. I really, really liked that show and although I couldn’t understand Thing One of what anybody was saying, I loved it. What happened?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, we had a meeting with everyone at HBO and at Golden Boy and they (HBO) threw out the idea of……..I don’t wanna say ‘eliminating the idea of HBO Latino (Boxing).’ What we did was ‘upgraded’ to HBO’s Boxing After Dark (with In-Spanish announcing by Mario Solis and Raul Marquez). I mean before we didn’t have those HBO ‘After Darks’ when we had the HBO ‘Latinos.’ What they (HBO) did was upgraded them so there’s no more ‘Latino’ and we have ‘After Darks’ so, I think that it’s good for boxing and obviously having more English TV brings in the viewership, but I did enjoy the HBO Latino shows. A lot of people did. They always had great fights. We had some great fights on that show and hopefully one day down the road we can do something similar to that on TV once again.
Coyote Duran: Speaking of things that are missing, whatever happened to Juan ‘El Pollo’ Valenzuela? Wasn’t he a Golden Boy fighter?
Oscar De La Hoya: He was a Golden Boy fighter. You know he had such a bright future ahead of him. We were handling him good. We put him in some good fights. We had him on ESPN. We showcased him on ‘Latino’ and he just said one day, “You know what? I’m gonna retire.” He got himself a job. He’s married and has a wife and family and so he said, “You know what? I’m gonna hang up the gloves. I think I’ve had enough.” Obviously, we respect any fighter’s decision and he never came back.
Coyote Duran: Man, I miss that dude.
Oscar De La Hoya: Yeah, I know! He was such an exciting, great fighter! He really could’ve done something at 140 and 147.
Coyote Duran: Oscar, I appreciate this opportunity to talk to you. Is there anything else you’d like to cover or add?
Oscar De La Hoya: I think we got it all!
Coyote Duran: You wanna interview me?………
Oscar De La Hoya: I think we’re set! Thank you very much for the opportunity!
Credit Maxboxing.com
(side note) Yes i kno its a long post but i hope u read it all :)
Accompanying the much-anticipated rematch (live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada) will also be a pretty spectacular undercard, if I do say so myself, involving the likes of WBO Super Featherweight titlist Jorge ‘La Hiena’ Barrios, Joan Guzman, World Junior Featherweight Champion Israel Vazquez and WBO Bantamweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez. And only here, can you get the straight dope from the horse’s mouth.
But that’s not all, kids, Oscar also opens up on his new heavyweight acquisition, Sultan Ibragimov, and who he’d like to see Ibragimov face in the near future as well as how and when pay-per-views go wrong and who’s responsible when they do. Plus welterweight Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams, Floyd Mayweather’s pay-per-view appeal, HBO’s Boxeo De Oro and who he’d might prefer facing INSTEAD of Floyd Mayweather Jr………..
Well, what the hell are you staring at, fight-freaks? Read on, if you want the jam-packed info!!
Coyote Duran: The September 16 HBO Pay-Per-View featuring Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Rocky Juarez in their rematch has got a really good undercard stapled to it. Was it easy to get all that talent together on one night?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, lets’ just say it wasn’t one of the easiest things I’ve done in my life as a promoter. You know, nowadays, fighters don’t like facing other champions or they don’t like facing threats and that’s one of the biggest problems we have in boxing today. That’s why this card is so special; because every televised fight is a main event in itself. I mean, you have (WBO Bantamweight titlist) Jhonny Gonzalez going up to 122 fighting (The Ring Magazine World Junior Featherweight Champion) Israel Vazquez and that’s gonna be a barn-burner! That’s gonna be a tremendous fight. And then you have (WBO Super Featherweight titlist Jorge) Barrios, who was in the “fight of the year” against (Then-WBO Super Featherweight titlist Acelino) Freitas, going up against (Joan) Guzman. Again, it’s a main event in itself! So, we’re just truly, truly excited and what can I say about Marco Antonio Barrera? When he told me he wanted to take this fight, obviously, everybody was shocked. But that’s Marco for you. He obviously wants to prove to his fans and to everyone else that the first time around wasn’t a fluke.
Coyote Duran: Now with the twist ending that followed Marco and Rocky’s first fight, how would you assess each fighter’s performance, in retrospect?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, I have to give it up to Rocky Juarez. He put up a tremendous performance. I believe Marco Antonio Barrera allowed him to put up a tremendous performance. I truly feel, deep down in my heart, being a fighter myself, you have your days where you’re not going to perform up to par and I believe that Marco Antonio Barrera was not 100% going into that fight. Comments that Marco Antonio Barrera made to me weeks before the fight kind of made me worry a bit because knowing that he’s not gonna be 100%, he was going into a tough fight with Rocky Juarez.
Coyote Duran: Was it an issue of not feeling well or was it a training issue?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, it was a combination of feeling under the weather and having had to skip a few days of training camp. That can take a toll on your mind. When you don’t train a few days and you know you have a big fight ahead of you and you still wanna continue, it kind of plays these little psychological games on you. And I can understand that.
Coyote Duran: Now, in regards to the rematch, as a fighter, have you talked to Barrera or offered advice on how to handle Juarez this next time around, or would this be a situation, where as a promoter, you tend to stay out of it?
Oscar De La Hoya: As a fighter, obviously, I love interacting and exchanging ideas with Golden Boy fighters. I talked to Marco Antonio Barrera the other day and he says that everything is perfectly fine so don’t worry about nothing. He’s in tremendous, tremendous shape. He’s focused. He knows that Rocky Juarez is gonna come in probably stronger and hungrier so he’s up for the challenge, obviously, and he said that he’s not gonna disappoint nobody. He always shows a great performance in every fight that he has. I’m very confident that Barrera will give it his all this time around.
Coyote Duran: The breadth of the undercard, not unlike the main event, is pretty badass. You’ve got some real fan-friendly fights going on and with all of them being potentially explosive, what fight are you specifically looking forward to seeing the most and what’s your overall assessment of the undercard?
Oscar De La Hoya: I’m probably equally excited about all the fights. I mean, it’s just that type of card. You don’t see these cards come by often. I think the last time we had a card like this in boxing was several years ago, 10, 15 years ago. This is something very, very special and I think when people are making the choice of buying the pay-per-view or not buying it, I think it’s gonna be easy for them to click on that ‘buy’ button and watch some good fights that night.
Coyote Duran: That’s kind of how I feel because I’m not a huge fan of pay-per-view but to me, this has the potential of being a ‘five-course’ meal and you’d be loath to miss it.
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, this one is well worth it! When you order a pay-per-view fight these days, you’re obviously looking for the main event and now when you turn on a pay-per-view fight, you’re looking forward to the first fight, the second fight, AND the main event so this is gonna be a real treat.
Coyote Duran: I think the last pay-per-view that I saw that really encapsulated that excitement was the first Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao fight. That one had excellent undercard wars besides a great main event.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! Great fights. That was a tremendous show.
Coyote Duran: Sycuan Promotions, who promotes Israel Vazquez and Joan Guzman, of course, is one of the smaller promotions that’s achieved that rare ability to run with the big promoters. What was working with Sycuan like for you?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, it’s wonderful working with Sycuan. We do have as co-promotion with Guzman and Israel Vazquez as a 50/50 with both fighters. It’s been tremendous working with them. It’s been a great pleasure and they’re really true professionals when it comes to looking for the talent and putting on shows so it’s exciting to be on board with them.
Coyote Duran: In the aftermath of the Barrera-Juarez rematch, whoever holds the WBC 130-pound belt has to defend against the mandatory challenger Humberto Soto. Is there a possibility that a fight between the winner of Barrios-Guzman could wind up facing the winner of Barrera-Juarez as well?
Oscar De La Hoya: That’s the beauty of it. We do now have choices. Obviously now with having a Jesus Chavez who’s also a natural 130-pounder who’s currently the IBF 135-pound champion, you could take the winner of Barrios-Guzman and have another choice there (for a match up) so you’re not limited to the Pacquiaos and the Moraleses of this world. You have a variety of different fighters out there to choose from so it’s gonna be exciting to see who the winner of Barrera-Rocky Juarez wants to fight next. It’s gonna be very intriguing to see the 130-pound weight division go ‘heads up’ against each other. That’s something I would love to see and that’s everybody FIGHT THE BEST and that’s the way boxing should be structured. The best fighting the best.
Coyote Duran: I think that’s always an exciting concept. And sometimes we have to ask ourselves “Who cares if the mainstream doesn’t understand this sport anymore?” At least we get to experience these great fights for ourselves.
Oscar De La Hoya: Exactly.
Coyote Duran: As opposed to September 16th’s card, we recently had the Oleg Maskaev-Hasim Rahman WBC Heavyweight title rematch………..
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughs)
Coyote Duran: (Laughs)………Exactly. With as much the sale bomb as Maskaev-Rahman II was (Oscar chuckles), what would you have done differently, promotion-wise, to make is a success?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, for one, you don’t call it ‘The Last Line Of Defense.’ I didn’t really understand that whole promotion.
Coyote Duran: Dude, it was terrible.
Oscar De La Hoya: I mean, I just didn’t understand where (Top Ranks Promotions President) Todd duBoef was taking it to. Obviously, it didn’t work. When you have 50-60,000 pay-per-view buys on a heavyweight championship title fight with Rahman, what’s wrong with that picture? You know, the heavyweight division right now is at its slowest point here in America. Obviously, overseas it’s the biggest thing now. And that’s probably one of the biggest reasons why we did get involved now with the heavyweight division, having to promote Sultan Ibragimov, who I think is probably the most exciting fighter you’ll see today in the heavyweight division. Two guys that I’m really excited about are Samuel Peter and Sultan Ibragimov. I think if you have those two fighters fighting anybody, you’re gonna see exciting, exciting fights. That’s the reason we got involved with him (Ibragimov).
Coyote Duran: What do have planned for Ibragimov now that he’s under the Golden Boy banner?
Oscar De La Hoya: The plans are to fight the WBO champion. He does wanna face the best and I believe now, the best right now in the world is the WBO champion who beat Lamon Brewster.
Coyote Duran: Sergei Liakhovich.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! He’s exciting and young. So, it’s a matter of challenging the best and he wants to go after the best, Sultan does, and that’s what we believe in, So in order to get a true, heavyweight champion of the world, you’re gonna have to face the very, very best and that’s what he wants to do.
Coyote Duran: Golden Boy’s been known for promoting the smaller fighters who, in turn, usually contribute to the most exciting fights. With promoting Ibragimov, is this more a Litmus test for, if it goes better than expected, would you consider promoting other heavyweights?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely. We have no doubt that whoever we match up with against Sultan, it’s gonna be a barn-burner. That’s what Sultan brings to the table. He’s an explosive fighter. He hits hard with either hand. He’s exciting. He throws more than 10 punches, more than these heavyweights do now these days. (Chuckles) This guy is an exciting heavyweight fighter. He’s kind of like the old heavyweight fighters that you’ve seen in the past, in the 60s, the 70s and the 80s. Very fast and elusive and strong. That’s the way Sultan is so anyone we match him up against, it’s gonna be a tremendous fight. This is gonna be a big test for us, promoting our first heavyweight fight. Obviously, we at Golden Boy wanna make it a very intriguing, enticing and very exciting one for the fans so I can assure you one thing: Whoever fights Sultan is gonna fight or HAS to fight Sultan’s style.
Coyote Duran: Getting back to poorly contrived pay-per-views, Oscar, when a pay-per-view falls flat like Maskaev-Rahman II did, does that look bad for the promoter, solely, or should the network take a little heat for it?
Oscar De La Hoya: I believe it’s all on the promoter. The promoter is the one that’s promoting the fight. The promoter comes up with the name (of the card) and the promoter comes up with the strategy and obviously the strategy did not work. We are in a very sensitive period of time where we (as a country) are at war and it’s a very sensitive issue and I believe that there was just no direction whatever and that’s surprising coming from a promoter like Top Rank.
Coyote Duran: This month, we also saw the ‘Sons Of Legends’ pay-per-view featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Jorge Paez Jr. Are fans getting screwed by paying 25 bucks to watch Jr., as a main event, knock out a guy (Jermaine White) who lost his last fight by knockout?
Oscar De La Hoya: Me, myself, being a huge, huge boxing fan, and fighting my whole life since I was five, I didn’t watch the fight and I didn’t pay for the fight so I guess that has to show something.
Coyote Duran: That makes two of us. (Laughs)
(Both laugh)
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughing) I mean, you just don’t do that to the fans. You either put it on free TV or no TV at all. Fighters who are fighting on pay-per-view should be fighting because first, it’s gonna be an intriguing match up and secondly, it’s a marquee name. It’s a name that people wanna pay for. Not a name that people have to pay for.
Coyote Duran: The last time we spoke, we discussed how interesting the welterweight division was and, like the dork that I am, I left out mentioning Paul Williams. Did you see his win over Sharmba Mitchell?
Oscar De La Hoya: Yes, I did. I’m pretty impressed by him! He keeps on proving everybody wrong. He’s kind of like a sleeper. He doesn’t look all that much in his appearance and when he step in the ring, you kind of have a feel like, “OK, this guy’s gonna get beat sooner or later.” but he just doesn’t! He doesn’t go anywhere but up. It’s gonna be very interesting to see who he fights next and obviously he is the #1 contender to (WBO Welterweight titlist) Antonio Margarito, so that should be an interesting match up! Have those two guys fight each other and then you have something in the welterweight division, in the mix with (Floyd) Mayweather and all the other guys.
Coyote Duran: Williams says that Margarito doesn’t want that fight but it’s a mandatory for Margarito’s WBO strap. Margarito’s basically up against the corner (should he defeat Joshua Clottey in December). I think those most stern of Margarito’s critics could be somewhat satisfied that he could truly prove his mettle by facing a Paul Williams.
Oscar De La Hoya: I think so! I mean, he’s (Margarito) a young fighter. He should stay active. He still has a lot to learn obviously in this game. You’re never too old to learn. He’s young, he’s strong, he’s motivated. Keep him active! Don’t wait for that one big payday. Just keep on going, keep fighting! That would be my advice to him. It’s like Mayweather wanting to fight me. Just keep fighting, keep going. ‘Cause one thing that Mayweather’s saying about Margarito is “Who have you fought? Why do you deserve this?” You know, I can say the same thing about Mayweather! Who have YOU fought and why do you deserve to fight me? You’ve done what, 350,000 pay-per-view buys? 400, tops?? I’ve done a million-four with (Felix) Trinidad so why should you fight me? It’s the same thing over and over. Look, (to Mayweather) keep on fighting, stay active, stay busy and if the fights come, they come. Don’t keep pushing for them. They will happen. If the fans demand them, they will happen. If those fights are the best, those fights will happen. Fighters sometimes have to be very patient.
Coyote Duran: Oscar, you also mentioned before how you thought that the bet fight for Floyd was against (The Ring Magazine World Welterweight Champion) Carlos Baldomir. Called that one solid now, didn’tcha, now that they’re fighting in November?
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! It’s a great fight. I think the fans are gonna enjoy it. I think Mayweather beating Baldomir is gonna make him, obviously THE Welterweight Champion Of the World. And then you have something. If he wants to fight me, we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll have to wait and see. You know, there is some rumblings I’ve heard that Trinidad wants to sit down with me and talk………
Coyote Duran: What, are we talking rematch here?!
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. It’s now interesting with me, for instance. Who would I rather fight? A Floyd Mayweather who’s coming up and wants to prove to everyone that he’s the best and make a point or do I go after the rematch where, obviously, we had a controversial decision with Trinidad? So it’s very, very intriguing now. It’s getting interesting for me now so I now kind of have a smile on my face! It’s getting very interesting!
Coyote Duran: With Trinidad in mind, I mean, of course, he lost to Winky Wright in his last fight out. His father decided to quit as his trainer. Honestly, do you think that you can get the very best Trinidad possible in front of you in a rematch seven or eight years after the fact?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! You know, when Trinidad fought Winky Wright, he (Trinidad) would’ve walked right though anybody but Winky Wright’s style is just a very difficult one to beat and anyone will tell you that! Look at (Undisputed Middleweight Champion) Jermain Taylor. I thought that Winky Wright pulled it off. It’s just a very difficult style to beat. Obviously, if you put my style and Trinidad’s style together, you’re gonna get two Mack trucks just crashing against each other. (Chuckles) If it happens, it should be a good fight.
Coyote Duran: Do you think Trinidad would wanna come down to 154 or would it be a middleweight fight?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, I’ve seen him around and from what I’ve heard here in Puerto Rico, he’s looking pretty good. I feel comfortable at 154 and I think when he fought Ricardo Mayorga, he weighed in at 157, I believe. It’s a possibility. Nothing’s impossible in this game!
Coyote Duran: Ron Borges of The Boston Globe reported that Golden Boy Promotions together with Winky Wright extended a $ 6,000,000 offer to Jermain Taylor for a Taylor-Wright rematch. If this indeed were substantiated, would you prefer this rematch to happen instead of Taylor possibly defending his middleweight championship against Kassim Ouma, another Golden Boy fighter?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, this is what happens. In this game, obviously, you don’t know if you’re gonna get cut, if you’re gonna get knocked out. You can get beat by anybody. You know, the first (Taylor-Wright) fight was such a good fight and somewhat a controversial fight. Why not do it again? This is first of all great visibility for both of them, a great payday for both fighters and it’s great for the sport because you have two of the best fighters facing each other so, in my perfect world I would love for them to fight each other and show who is the best.
Coyote Duran: Hey, I’m dying for the rematch, myself. I know Winky was discouraged with the drawn and he proclaimed he didn’t wanna do it again. I think I wasn’t alone because I know almost everyone else who enjoyed the fight was hoping he would change his mind.
Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! Right. Well, he’s done so and obviously, he’s open to the idea and again, that goes to show you that Winky Wright wants to fight the best and prove once again that he IS the best.
Coyote Duran: Back to Baldomir vs. Mayweather, should Mayweather beat Baldomir in November, of course, you know he’d win the real World Welterweight Championship, which is, as we know, The Ring Title. You did mention before that you’d love another Ring belt. Do you think this would be enough incentive for you to maybe drop down to 147 for a fight with Floyd?
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughs) Well, it’s funny because, uh, (Both laugh) I’ve been working out everyday and after I do my cardio everyday, I’m weighing 149, 150 and, you know, feeling great. You know, I mean, I’m not saying that I’ll do it……… (Laughs)……….
Coyote Duran: But it wouldn’t be hard!
Oscar De La Hoya: ……….With a little extra mile, here and there, I can make 147, so we’ll see! I don’t wanna say yes or no, but I can walk around easily at 150 right now as we speak.
Coyote Duran: Ah, but can’t you just see that belt on your mantle?………..
Oscar De La Hoya: Hey, I’m tellin’ you, I truly feel that Ring belt is the most prestigious belt any fighter can have today.
Coyote Duran: Now, as it stands, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s got a promotional arrangement with Goossen-Tutor, currently. Whether or not you step into the ring with each other, with the firepower that you have in your business contemporaries like Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, would you ever entertain the idea of maybe even inviting Floyd to join the Golden Boy family?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! I mean, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a one of the top names today in boxing. You know, it would be interesting to talk to him and see if he would be interested. We would definitely wanna work something out if we had the opportunity. Obviously, we know that he is tied up with Goossen-Tutor so we don’t wanna interfere whatsoever with them.
Coyote Duran: Wouldn’t that just make Bob Arum piss himself?
(Both laugh)
Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughing) Awwwww…….
Coyote Duran: OK, on a serious note now, another reason that I’m pleased that we got to talk again is because I forgot to ask you about the demise of HBO’s Boxeo De Oro. I really, really liked that show and although I couldn’t understand Thing One of what anybody was saying, I loved it. What happened?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well, we had a meeting with everyone at HBO and at Golden Boy and they (HBO) threw out the idea of……..I don’t wanna say ‘eliminating the idea of HBO Latino (Boxing).’ What we did was ‘upgraded’ to HBO’s Boxing After Dark (with In-Spanish announcing by Mario Solis and Raul Marquez). I mean before we didn’t have those HBO ‘After Darks’ when we had the HBO ‘Latinos.’ What they (HBO) did was upgraded them so there’s no more ‘Latino’ and we have ‘After Darks’ so, I think that it’s good for boxing and obviously having more English TV brings in the viewership, but I did enjoy the HBO Latino shows. A lot of people did. They always had great fights. We had some great fights on that show and hopefully one day down the road we can do something similar to that on TV once again.
Coyote Duran: Speaking of things that are missing, whatever happened to Juan ‘El Pollo’ Valenzuela? Wasn’t he a Golden Boy fighter?
Oscar De La Hoya: He was a Golden Boy fighter. You know he had such a bright future ahead of him. We were handling him good. We put him in some good fights. We had him on ESPN. We showcased him on ‘Latino’ and he just said one day, “You know what? I’m gonna retire.” He got himself a job. He’s married and has a wife and family and so he said, “You know what? I’m gonna hang up the gloves. I think I’ve had enough.” Obviously, we respect any fighter’s decision and he never came back.
Coyote Duran: Man, I miss that dude.
Oscar De La Hoya: Yeah, I know! He was such an exciting, great fighter! He really could’ve done something at 140 and 147.
Coyote Duran: Oscar, I appreciate this opportunity to talk to you. Is there anything else you’d like to cover or add?
Oscar De La Hoya: I think we got it all!
Coyote Duran: You wanna interview me?………
Oscar De La Hoya: I think we’re set! Thank you very much for the opportunity!
Credit Maxboxing.com
(side note) Yes i kno its a long post but i hope u read it all :)