Oscar De La Hoya & Don King - Perfect Together
 By Danny Serratelli, May 6, 2006
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Don King
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The bet here is that after Ricardo Mayorga roughed up Michele Piccirillo for the WBC light Middleweight either the Golden Boy or Mr. "Only in America" came up with the idea for this fight, and a great idea it was for Oscar, King and anyone else involved and looking for a nice payday. While the people do not know exactly what type of conversation transpired, it appears the plan that initially developed behind the scenes for Oscar has played out exactly as planned.
Everyone knows that despite the fact that he hasn't fought in over a year and a half, Oscar is still the "Golden Goose" in boxing. Everyone, including pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather salivate at the money they know they can make with Oscar.
Imagine Don King calling up Oscar and trying to sell him on a fight(or the other way around) with the recycled Mayorga. It appears to be a no-brainer for Oscar and Don. Oscar has had big problems getting in shape for 12 rounds for the last few years, and has admitted that he has a hard time getting up for fights. King can guarantee Oscar that he will be given an extra incentive to get in great shape and fight a perfect fight. King knows he has the "Mayorga Factor" in his pocket to sell the fight, and Oscar knows that should bring the best out in him.
On paper, Oscar may not think much of Mayorga's boxing ability, but Don can assure Oscar that extra motivation and a lot more opponent recognition would come by fighting Mayorga rather than lesser know champs like WBA Champion Alejandro Garcia or WBO champion Sergei Dzinziruk. In a fight with one of the aforementioned champs, Oscar runs the risk of coming in and looking like he did with Felix Sturm, perhaps even worse due to his recent inactivity, and the lack of selling power of both of these champs.
On top of that, and as the always confident thinker he is (sometimes over-thinking), Oscar knows that he can outbox Mayorga easily if he is in shape and motivated. When he starts to consider some of the Mayorga hype that fans and some of the media have slowly bought into for this fight, he thinks about what Tito Trinidad did to Mayorga. Oscar feels that he totally outclassed Trinidad (at least for 8 rounds) and figures if Tito started to pick Mayorga apart like he did after a few rounds he will be able to do worse.
People are questioning Oscars motivation for taking this fight. Questioning why he would take such a tough fight after his recent inactivity and performances that were not up to par. Not only has Mayorga tried to say whatever he could to sell the fight and in the process (at least appear to) really piss Oscar off, but he also possesses a legitimate title that Oscar can add to his collection. If Oscar is not motivated for this fight or not in top shape, (despite what the usually over confident, yet often soft spoken DeLaHoya may perceive as an easy fight) he should consider staying out of the ring for good.
Mayorga appears to be in great shape, he is an aggressive strong puncher, and he always has a punchers chance, at least early. However, unless DeLahoya has totally lost his desire to fight (and he has shown some signs that he may have) Oscar will be the smart slick boxer through Mayorga's early rush and then start to pick the current champ apart. It will probably be very similar to Trinidad's fight with Mayorga; except Oscar will need to beat Mayorga up more then Trinidad did to stop Mayorga, who does possess a solid chin. The last time some one really got under Oscar's skin was a little over three and a half years ago, and Oscar stopped a fighter superior in skill and possibly toughness to Mayorga named Fernando Vargas in this weight class in the 11 th round.
In the end, it appears to be a smart move by Don King and Oscar DeLahoya. If Oscar can't get motivated after hearing Mayorga talk about his family and say "I not only want to stop him, I want to stop his heart or detach his retina, one of the two, I really want to damage him", he should not fight again. Oscar has always possessed a good chin as well, and is a smart fighter with fast hands. Oscar will stop him late otherwise; he will take a lopsided decision.
No matter what happens, DeLaHoya leaves at least $8 million richer (plus a piece of the pay-per-view- earnings). Mayorga, who threatened not to fight, after he realized how big this fight has become gets $2 million. Last, but certainly not least, Don King will receive at least the $4 million that he received from De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions to make the fight.
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