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Mayweather vs. De La Hoya Rematch Nears Reality

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3200384

Golden Boy CEO: Mayweather-De La Hoya II could come in September

By Dan Rafael

ESPN.com

Updated: January 17, 2008, 2:05 AM ET

The richest fight in boxing history is on the verge of getting a sequel.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya, who shattered box office records when they met last spring, are close to finishing a deal for a rematch, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com Wednesday.

"We are still discussing things but we have almost finalized it," said Schaefer, who heads De La Hoya's promotional company. "I think an announcement will be forthcoming."

Schaefer said the fight would be Sept. 13 or Sept. 20 on HBO pay-per-view. He said the site for Mayweather-De La Hoya II has not been settled but he is holding the September dates at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center, the outdoor home to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. He said other venues are also interested, including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

A source also told ESPN.com Wednesday night that Dodger Stadium was interested in hosting the fight after L.A. native De La Hoya suggested he'd like to fight there before retiring.

Mayweather won a split decision to take De La Hoya's junior middleweight belt when they met May 5 at the MGM Grand.

The match between boxing's No. 1 fighter, Mayweather, and its greatest attraction, De La Hoya, was a success and, ultimately, a rematch was hard to pass up.

"Floyd is agreeable to do the fight and so is Oscar," Schaefer said. "Now it's just me working through everything."

Although De La Hoya has said he planned to return to the welterweight division and Mayweather is the welterweight world champion, Schaefer said the weight for a rematch hadn't been determined. He said it could be at a catch weight somewhere between the 147-pound welterweight division and 154-pound junior middleweight class.

"It's something we are discussing," he said.

Backed by five-months of promotion, which included an 11-city cross-country tour and HBO's reality series "De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7," the first fight broke boxing box office records including total gross ($165 million); pay-per-view subscriptions (2.4 million); pay-per-view gross ($134.4 million) and live gate ($18,419,200).

Although the fight was panned by many for a lack of action and the rematch probably won't approach the numbers of the original, it still figures to do well.

De La Hoya had planned to return to the ring May 3, but didn't have an opponent. The prospect of facing British star Ricky Hatton, his first choice, evaporated when Mayweather returned to welterweight and knocked Hatton out in the 10th round on Dec. 8.

Welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto was a darkhorse candidate to fight De La Hoya. Cotto promoter Bob Arum acknowledged it was unlikely. He spent Wednesday in New York meeting with HBO executives about an alternative plan for Cotto, who probably will fight in April, possibly against first-season "Contender" star Alfonso Gomez.

Hatton's lopsided defeat left Mayweather as De La Hoya's most lucrative opponent. But instead of facing him on Cinco De Mayo weekend, the rematch will move to the fall because Mayweather is taking a break after a grueling 2007 inside and out of the ring.

Mayweather's fights with De La Hoya and Hatton were the biggest of the year and the promotions were exhausting. He also found mainstream recognition during his fall run on the popular reality series "Dancing with the Stars."

A rematch with De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) would delay Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) jumping to mixed martial arts, which he has discussed with "Dancing with the Stars" pal and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who also owns his own MMA promotional company.

Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser and close friend, was unavailable for comment.

With De La Hoya moving off May 3, it is possible that his friend and Golden Boy Promotions partner Shane Mosley could fight on the date instead.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

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Looking forward to any Calzaghe fight, that guy is really good, too bad he doesn't get more exposure over here.

I was pulling for Ricky Hatton in the Hatton-Mayweather fight, until all the british fans decided to start booing during our national anthem. Hell with that, go Mayweather...I was glad that wound up not being close.

I don't really want to see Mayweather - De La Hoya again, it'll just turn out the same as before, and possibly worse for De La Hoya this time around.

Would like to see either a serious heavyweight emerge, or Wlad unify a few titles. Really, something just needs to happen in that division.

Here's hoping there are more Jimmy Lange cards at GMU, and here's to Sopcast for allowing me to watch Pay per View for free, in Russian.

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de la hoya/mayweather is pointless other than filling out their pockets. mayweather will win, easier than he did in the first fight.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that Mayweather will yet again have to wait another year to get his ass wooped. He was switching over to MMA yesterday and the dollar signs snagged him again. Pathetic. Although, it'd be great to see him stay in boxing and have an up and comer woop his ass.

Then again, De La Hoya showed signs that he can put the glove on Mayweather's jaw. I don't think Mayweather can knock De La Hoya out, he should just try to stifle him against the ropes a few times to tire him out. I actually think De La Hoya has a chance. No sig bets, though. :)

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That Chambers fight was frustrating to watch. Eddie was absolutely schooling Povetkin for the first four rounds by throwing the straight right off the jab, but then he just abandoned it completely. The right hand that put the mouse under Povetkin's eye in the second was an absolute thing of beauty. Chambers is one of the best technical boxers in the Heavyweight division right now, but he just doesn't have enough fighter in him. His defense is exceptional, and his hands are extremely fast for a big man. This is by no means the end of the road, but Eddie is going to have to make some adjustments if he expects to beat any volume punchers.

Povetkin did not impress me at all considering the hype surrounding him. The best attributes I saw out of him were his stamina and tenacity. If his handlers are smart they will keep him away from Klitschko even if he is the mandatory challenger. If he eats any right hands like the ones Chambers landed on him he'll be knocked out.

I come out of this fight being more frustrated for what could have been for Chambers than anything else. It's a good win on paper for Povetkin, but I feel a lot of his shortcomings were exposed.

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eddie has no killer instinct, good natural skills, but not a mean streak in him. He should follow kellerman's advice and drop to cruiserweight.

Spot on. I like Chambers, but his lack of killer instinct drives me crazy. Povetkin did waht he needed to do to win, and I was very impressed with his stamina, but he did not really impress me either.

But in a weak HW division, who knows?

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