Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he still has the pulling power to smash the Pay Per View record held by Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
The ten-time world champion, who retired after losing to Pacquiao in 2008, called off a scheduled return against Vitor Belfort last year.
Despite the fight being an exhibition, De La Hoya wanted a bonafide comeback before Covid-19 took him out of the event.
Months on, and the 48-year-old is looking to spark negotiations with Mayweather. He remains hopeful of landing a potential money-spinning PPV that De La Hoya says would break the 4.7 million Mayweather vs. Pacquiao sales record from 2015.
DE LA HOYA
“Obviously, he’s (Mayweather) all about the money,” De La Hoya told DAZN News. “This would be probably the biggest fight out there for him.
“I believe it would be bigger than him fighting McGregor. It would be bigger than him fighting [a YouTuber] or whoever he’s bound to fight next.
“I think that people want to see real fights. People want to see legend versus legend, champion versus champion.
“This is what we do. This is what we’ve done for practically all our lives. People, not that they’re getting tired of seeing these exhibitions. But people want to see real fights.
“They want to see real legends in the ring. Fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, and myself. We are real legends who put it out on the line and were in the ring for many years, fighting for world titles for decades.”
MAYWEATHER EFFECT
He added: “I strongly feel that a fight with Floyd would be massive, would be huge. That alone would attract Floyd Mayweather.
“I strongly feel a fight with Floyd and me can easily generate five million homes. With all the technology, there’s so much you can integrate. You can publicize the event to make it that much bigger.
“You have that whole social media platform. It can be pretty big.
De La Hoya is one of a growing number of ex-boxers who believe anything is possible due to the explosion of the internet era. Exhibitions can be big business if done the right way.
However, most of the events on PPV recently faced controversy over the level of skills on show and even competitors getting paid.
It seems to be a fad that won’t last much longer as even Mayweather can’t sell as he used to when carrying vloggers to draws.
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
