Oscar De La Hoya is doing the media rounds to promote his upcoming HBO documentary "The Golden Boy," directed by Fernando Villena, which is a two-part documentary released on July 24th. De La Hoya stopped by Power 105.1FM’s ‘The Breakfast Club’, a popular morning talk show to promote the upcoming project.
In the interview, Floyd Mayweather a former opponent of De La Hoya, and a man who was been a rival to De La Hoya at times both in the ring and as a promoter, came up in the conversation. The host asked De La Hoya his thoughts on Mayweather doing these recent exhibition bouts that have slowly crept into the background and are nothing like his heyday of big boxing events. Mayweather most recently fought John Gotti III in a messy affair that made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
“I don’t think it will tarnish his professional fighting career he has had,” said De La Hoya to The Breakfast Club during an interview to promote his upcoming documentary. “In people’s eyes, maybe some people who really don’t know boxing…maybe they can have the [wrong] impression.”
De La Hoya, who had lost a split decision to Mayweather was a part of one of the biggest pay-per-views of their time as the bout generated $19 million dollars in live ticket revenue, and $2.4 million pay-per-view buys. The fight displayed great narrative storytelling as the shoulder programming of 24/7, a weekly show that built up hype for the fight, told the story of a cocky emerging contender in Mayweather versus the seemingly humble De La Hoya, which got a lot of non-fight fans interested in the outcome.
So it is no wonder that he was asked about Mayweather as the two will always be connected in the sport of boxing. De La Hoya doesn’t see these recent bouts as impacting Mayweather’s legacy or status as an all-time great.
“He doesn’t look the same as he did fifteen years ago, he is not the invincible Floyd,” said De La Hoya. “Maybe that will stick with him for a while, but his career inside [the ring] as a professional - he is going to be one of the all-time greats.”
As for De La Hoya’s documentary, it follows his rise to fame while giving intimate details of his upbringing in East Los Angeles, raised by immigrant Mexican parents. A centerpiece of the film is the troubled childhood that De La Hoya suffered with different forms of abuse from his parents, which led to his success in boxing.
“No one gave me a handbook [that said] this is how you have to treat your life,” said De La Hoya. “I just did what I could do, what I knew. I took advantage of it, [and] a lot of people took advantage of me, and that was my life.”
