De La Hoya: I Had Two Torn Rotator Cuffs, A Little Over The Hill In Mayweather Fight
By
Keith Idec
Published On Mon May 4, 2020, 04:34 PM EDT
Oscar De La Hoya has accepted his close loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“The Golden Boy” cannot help but wonder, however, what would’ve happened had he fought Mayweather when De La Hoya was younger and healthier. De La Hoya still gave his rival credit for the adjustments Mayweather made in the second half of their 12-round, 154-pound title fight during a recent appearance on CBS Sports’ “State of Combat” podcast, hosted by Brian Campbell.
“Well, that’s the beauty of Mayweather, is that he knows how to adjust,” De La Hoya said. “And, you know, there was nothing that I could do to adjust my game plan because A, I had two rotator cuffs tears on both shoulders, [and] I was a little over the hill. You know, I mean, I felt great. I was in the fight, but once that seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th round kicked in, your body just breaks down. And that’s exactly what happened. But Mayweather executed, he did a brilliant game plan and he beat me.”
Mayweather, who was 30 when they fought, defeated De La Hoya, then 34, by split decision at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The 13th anniversary of their heavily hyped fight was Tuesday.
Judge Tom Kaczmarek scored that fight for De La Hoya, 115-113. Judges Chuck Giampa (116-112) and Jerry Roth (115-113) both scored Mayweather the winner.
The scores aside, there is no disputing that their HBO Pay-Per-View main event was a huge financial success. It produced approximately 2.4 million buys and $136 million in pay-per-view revenue, both of which were records at that time.
De La Hoya, who made more than $50 million from that bout, applauded Mayweather for his huge role in that extremely profitable promotion as well.
“Well, I mean, we took boxing to another level,” De La Hoya said. “You know, we stepped it up. Obviously, with 24/7, we were actually the creators of that series. You know, Mayweather was great. He was like the villain. You know, in order to create mega-fights, you need the hero and the villain. And Mayweather was the perfect character. And, you know, he was great that night. He obviously brought his ‘A’ game. I was on the downhill of my career, but he put [forth] a great performance and he beat me.”
De La Hoya: I Had Two Torn Rotator Cuffs, A Little Over The Hill In Mayweather Fight