Coyote Duran: With Trinidad in mind, I mean, of course, he lost to Winky Wright in his last fight out. His father decided to quit as his trainer. Honestly, do you think that you can get the very best Trinidad possible in front of you in a rematch seven or eight years after the fact?

Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! You know, when Trinidad fought Winky Wright, he (Trinidad) would’ve walked right though anybody but Winky Wright’s style is just a very difficult one to beat and anyone will tell you that! Look at (Undisputed Middleweight Champion) Jermain Taylor. I thought that Winky Wright pulled it off. It’s just a very difficult style to beat. Obviously, if you put my style and Trinidad’s style together, you’re gonna get two Mack trucks just crashing against each other. (Chuckles) If it happens, it should be a good fight.

Coyote Duran: Do you think Trinidad would wanna come down to 154 or would it be a middleweight fight?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well, I’ve seen him around and from what I’ve heard here in Puerto Rico, he’s looking pretty good. I feel comfortable at 154 and I think when he fought Ricardo Mayorga, he weighed in at 157, I believe. It’s a possibility. Nothing’s impossible in this game!

Coyote Duran: Ron Borges of The Boston Globe reported that Golden Boy Promotions together with Winky Wright extended a $ 6,000,000 offer to Jermain Taylor for a Taylor-Wright rematch. If this indeed were substantiated, would you prefer this rematch to happen instead of Taylor possibly defending his middleweight championship against Kassim Ouma, another Golden Boy fighter?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well, this is what happens. In this game, obviously, you don’t know if you’re gonna get cut, if you’re gonna get knocked out. You can get beat by anybody. You know, the first (Taylor-Wright) fight was such a good fight and somewhat a controversial fight. Why not do it again? This is first of all great visibility for both of them, a great payday for both fighters and it’s great for the sport because you have two of the best fighters facing each other so, in my perfect world I would love for them to fight each other and show who is the best.

Coyote Duran: Hey, I’m dying for the rematch, myself. I know Winky was discouraged with the drawn and he proclaimed he didn’t wanna do it again. I think I wasn’t alone because I know almost everyone else who enjoyed the fight was hoping he would change his mind.

Oscar De La Hoya: Absolutely! Right. Well, he’s done so and obviously, he’s open to the idea and again, that goes to show you that Winky Wright wants to fight the best and prove once again that he IS the best.

Coyote Duran: Back to Baldomir vs. Mayweather, should Mayweather beat Baldomir in November, of course, you know he’d win the real World Welterweight Championship, which is, as we know, The Ring Title. You did mention before that you’d love another Ring belt. Do you think this would be enough incentive for you to maybe drop down to 147 for a fight with Floyd?

Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughs) Well, it’s funny because, uh, (Both laugh) I’ve been working out everyday and after I do my cardio everyday, I’m weighing 149, 150 and, you know, feeling great. You know, I mean, I’m not saying that I’ll do it……… (Laughs)……….

Coyote Duran: But it wouldn’t be hard!

Oscar De La Hoya: ……….With a little extra mile, here and there, I can make 147, so we’ll see! I don’t wanna say yes or no, but I can walk around easily at 150 right now as we speak.

Coyote Duran: Ah, but can’t you just see that belt on your mantle?………..

Oscar De La Hoya: Hey, I’m tellin’ you, I truly feel that Ring belt is the most prestigious belt any fighter can have today.

Coyote Duran: Now, as it stands, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s got a promotional arrangement with Goossen-Tutor, currently. Whether or not you step into the ring with each other, with the firepower that you have in your business contemporaries like Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, would you ever entertain the idea of maybe even inviting Floyd to join the Golden Boy family?

Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, absolutely! I mean, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a one of the top names today in boxing. You know, it would be interesting to talk to him and see if he would be interested. We would definitely wanna work something out if we had the opportunity. Obviously, we know that he is tied up with Goossen-Tutor so we don’t wanna interfere whatsoever with them.

Coyote Duran: Wouldn’t that just make Bob Arum piss himself?

(Both laugh)

Oscar De La Hoya: (Laughing) Awwwww…….

Coyote Duran: OK, on a serious note now, another reason that I’m pleased that we got to talk again is because I forgot to ask you about the demise of HBO’s Boxeo De Oro. I really, really liked that show and although I couldn’t understand Thing One of what anybody was saying, I loved it. What happened?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well, we had a meeting with everyone at HBO and at Golden Boy and they (HBO) threw out the idea of……..I don’t wanna say ‘eliminating the idea of HBO Latino (Boxing).’ What we did was ‘upgraded’ to HBO’s Boxing After Dark (with In-Spanish announcing by Mario Solis and Raul Marquez). I mean before we didn’t have those HBO ‘After Darks’ when we had the HBO ‘Latinos.’ What they (HBO) did was upgraded them so there’s no more ‘Latino’ and we have ‘After Darks’ so, I think that it’s good for boxing and obviously having more English TV brings in the viewership, but I did enjoy the HBO Latino shows. A lot of people did. They always had great fights. We had some great fights on that show and hopefully one day down the road we can do something similar to that on TV once again.

Coyote Duran: Speaking of things that are missing, whatever happened to Juan ‘El Pollo’ Valenzuela? Wasn’t he a Golden Boy fighter?


Oscar De La Hoya: He was a Golden Boy fighter. You know he had such a bright future ahead of him. We were handling him good. We put him in some good fights. We had him on ESPN. We showcased him on ‘Latino’ and he just said one day, “You know what? I’m gonna retire.” He got himself a job. He’s married and has a wife and family and so he said, “You know what? I’m gonna hang up the gloves. I think I’ve had enough.” Obviously, we respect any fighter’s decision and he never came back.

Coyote Duran: Man, I miss that dude.

Oscar De La Hoya: Yeah, I know! He was such an exciting, great fighter! He really could’ve done something at 140 and 147.

Coyote Duran: Oscar, I appreciate this opportunity to talk to you. Is there anything else you’d like to cover or add?

Oscar De La Hoya: I think we got it all!

Coyote Duran: You wanna interview me?………

Oscar De La Hoya: I think we’re set! Thank you very much for the opportunity!

Doghouse Boxing and I would love to thank Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions’ Marylyn Aceves for arranging another entertaining talk. It’s a total pleasure.

http://doghouseboxing.com/duran/coyote_082806.htm