Oscar De La Hoya is one of the few fighters to have shared the ring with both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
‘The Golden Boy’ clashed with Mayweather back in May 2007, putting up his WBC light middleweight title against ‘Money’ who was bidding to become a five-weight world champion. After 12 competitive rounds, Mayweather outpointed De La Hoya with two out of the three judges scoring it in his favour.
De La Hoya fought Pacquiao in the 45th and final contest of his glittering career at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Billed as ‘The Dream Match’, Pacquiao went into the non-title contest as the favourite, with ‘The Golden Boy’ seemingly passed his best. ‘Pac-Man’ put on an impressive display throughout 8-rounds, forcing De La Hoya to retire before the beginning of the ninth round.
Speaking to Club Shay Shay, De La Hoya was asked to give his outcome on what would have happened in a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao if they had fought 5-years prior to their 2015 showdown, as many fans feel the bout came too late in Pacquiao’s campaign.
“Let’s just say it probably would have been a controversial decision. You know, like a closer fight. But I still think that Floyd probably would have pulled it off, I really do think so.
“Pacquiao at the time when he was coming up when I fought him, he was literally a Pac-Man, he was just chomping at me like there’s no tomorrow, he wouldn’t stop throwing punches. That Pacquiao probably gives Mayweather a better fight.”
“At their peak, yeah I still think Floyd would’ve won the fight.”
Mayweather, 38, and ‘Pac-Man’, 36, finally locked horns in May 2015 after many years of speculation and discussions between both fighters. Billed as ‘The Fight Of The Century’, the American superstar was given the nod in a unanimous decision victory, although many felt the fight did not live up to the hype and build-up surrounding it.
