Oscar De La Hoya Vs Ricky Hatton: The Golden Boy Returns to Boxing
By Geno McGahee
In December of 2008, Oscar De La Hoya stepped into the ring and faced off against Manny Pacquiao. The majority of the media believed that the “Golden Boy” was too big and skilled for the smaller “Pacman” but the boxing world and Oscar were in for a shock and the Filipino warrior would stop him in the eighth round. After the defeat, De La Hoya stated that he wasn’t going to return to the ring, but now, several factors are forcing him to consider a return to the ring.
#1: Wasn’t properly prepared for Pacquiao
At a totally drained 145 pounds, Oscar De La Hoya had no fight in him when he stepped into the ring that night and paid dearly for it. A combination of his overtraining and underestimating Pacquiao led to disaster and now he can look back and ask himself if he is able to live with his that loss on his record as his last fight. De La Hoya has made comments after the fight where he has implied that he is bothered by the outcome. A successful return to the ring would erase that defeat in the mind of De La Hoya and he would leave the game as he wants to.
#2: De La Hoya is a competitor
Oscar De La Hoya has always faced the best in the game. Ike Quartey, Floyd Mayweather, JR., Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, and Shane Mosley are just some of the names on his amazing record, and the reason he faced such a list of great fighters is because he is a competitor at heart that enjoys finding out where he stands and wants to be the best, or at least find out if he is by taking on a guy that can test him and possibly beat him. He is a competitor and misses the competition that boxing gave him. He wants to return because he misses the sport.
#3: Losing to Pacquiao wasn’t that bad, all things considered
After Pacquiao has destroyed just about everyone that he has faced in recent fights, losing to him wasn’t that much of a shame. The better that Manny looks, the less horrible the defeat to him looks, and a return to the ring could be a good thing. Oscar may not be able to defeat the pound for pound best in the game, but he can certainly compete with a guy like Ricky Hatton and many other fighters currently in the game.
#4: Money to be made
Right now, there aren’t many marquee names in boxing and Oscar De La Hoya is one of the biggest sellers ever to grace a pay per view. He still has name value and a return to the ring could be sold very easily, especially if he squares off against a guy like Ricky Hatton, another fighter that lost badly to Pacquiao and may be looking for redemption. Considering Hatton’s problems recently, boxing may be the best thing for him.
There has been talk of De La Hoya coming back to face Ricky Hatton, and it is a fight that can be sold rather easily. Both men once sat atop the sport as huge attractions and both still maintain a huge following.
Hatton’s recent drug problems have put him into the news in a poor way, but he has admitted the issue and sought help and the boxing fans are a forgiving sort and want to see redemption. That is what boxing is about and if he could get back into fighting shape, stay clean, and take on De La Hoya in a pay per view, the fans would fill the arena, once again cheering as the “Hit Man” comes down to the ring. Like Oscar, Hatton also misses the crowd eruption and attention that goes with being a big star in boxing.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Ricky Hatton may be more than a rumor at this point, considering the money hanging in the balance and the need for both fighters to leave the sport in a better way. Stay tuned to RSR for further developments.