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The Oscar De La Hoya-Mayweather fight, promoted under the slogan, "The World Awaits", wis a boxing superfight that will take place on May 5, 2007 between six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KO) and formerly undefeated four-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (37-0, 24 KO).
Details
The fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada under the promotion of Golden Boy Promotions. It will be contested at 154 pounds, with De La Hoya defending his WBC light-middleweight championship.
Tickets sold out three hours after they went on sale on Saturday, January 27, 2007. With the sellout, the bout will generate over $19 million in live gate, shattering the previous record of $16,860,300 set by the November 13, 1999 heavyweight championship rematch between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis at the Thomas & Mack Center.[1]
The fight will be televised on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Hype
As part of the buildup for the fight, HBO produced an unprecedented four-part prelude. The series, titled De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7, aired installments on the final three Sundays of April, with the fourth installment which came on Thursday, May 3, two days before the fight. The series focused on each fighter's training and preparation for the bout.
An interesting subplot to the fight concerned whether De La Hoya would be trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., the estranged father of De La Hoya's opponent. Mayweather Sr. had served as De La Hoya's trainer since 2001. Mayweather Sr. announced his willingness to train De La Hoya after initially declining to oppose his son, but demanded a $2 million fee in light of the enormous revenue to be generated by the fight. De La Hoya declined to meet Mayweather Sr.'s demands, making a counteroffer of $500,000 guaranteed plus an additional $500,000 contingent on De La Hoya winning the fight.[2] Ultimately, the sides were unable to come to an agreement and De La Hoya hired the highly-respected Freddie Roach to be his cornerman instead.[3]
Although Mayweather Sr. reunited with his son at the start of Floyd Jr.'s training camp, he had no official role, as Floyd Jr. opted to retain his uncle, Roger Mayweather, as his trainer instead. Mayweather Sr. left the camp by the end of April, upset over not being chosen as trainer and by comments made by his son and his brother on the "24/7" show.
Rapper 50 Cent is reported to have bet a million dollars on Mayweather. 50 Cent will also lead Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the ring performing his new single Straight to the Bank.[4]
UFC mixed martial artist and lightweight champion Sean Sherk will be ringside for this event. Mayweather has recently made a number of critical comments about the UFC and MMA. UFC president Dana White, who, along with owner Lorenzo Fertitta, will also be ringside, has agreed to make it worthwhile for Mayweather to prove his point if he gets past De La Hoya. [5]
Celebrity Predictions[6]
| De La Hoya | Mayweather | Undecided
|
Expert Predictions[7]
- Ron Borges, Boston Globe - De La Hoya TKO11
- Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press - Mayweather W12
- Richard Hoffer, Sports Illustrated - Mayweather W12
- Dan Rafael, ESPN.com - Mayweather W12
- Richard Sandomir, New York Times - De La Hoya W12
- Tim Smith, New York Daily News - Mayweather W12
- Bert Sugar, boxing historian - Mayweather W12
Celebrity Attendees
Befitting its status as the biggest fight in boxing in years, a star-studded crowd is expected to fill the MGM Grand Arena for the bout.
Among the confirmed celebrity attendees are: Jack Nicholson, Michael Jordan, Senator John McCain, Tiger Woods, Matthew McConaughey, Peyton Manning, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Eva Longoria, John Cusack, George Lopez, Jennifer Lopez, and Marc Anthony. Marc Anthony will also be singing the national anthem before the bout.
References
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2747601
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2007-01-15-de-la-hoya-mayweather_x.htm
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2747601
- ^ http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=6991
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=ArM1Z6NPB7m_g_ec6wjWbouUxLYF?slug=ki-weighin050407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- ^ http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=10826&more=1
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=2861218