Golden Boy Wants Mora

[Pavlik]

ESPN - De La Hoya turns attention to Mora after Pacquiao talks fail - Boxing
De La Hoya turns attention to Mora after Pacquiao talks fail

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)





Updated: August 14, 2008, 1:28 AM ET

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Unwilling to compromise with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on the percentage of the revenue he would receive for a proposed Dec. 6 megafight, Oscar De La Hoya is moving on.
De La Hoya, boxing's biggest star, is now closing in on a deal to face junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Mora on the same date in an HBO PPV fight from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mora and promoter Jeff Wald told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

Harry How/Getty Images
Oscar De La Hoya had worked out many details to fight Manny Pacquiao, but that bout now appears to be dead.



The fight is contingent on Mora, who rose to fame by winning the first season of "The Contender" reality series, defeating former titleholder Vernon Forrest on Sept. 13 in a rematch of Mora's upset victory in June -- when he became the first graduate of the series to go on to win a major world title.
"We are in a negotiation," Wald said. "Obviously, the fight is predicated on Sergio beating Forrest again on Sept. 13, but I think we would have our deal firmly in place next week. We've agreed on the initial figures for the fight. The rest of the deal will be whatever Oscar and [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer think is fair -- the upside on the pay-per-view, etc. I trust them to be fair with me as they have been in the past. But there's a [minimum] dollar figure that I've agreed on and so has Sergio."
Wald also said he and Mora had agreed to give Golden Boy options on future Mora fights in the event he defeats De La Hoya.
Mora saw possible fall fights with Shane Mosley and middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik fall apart in the past couple of months because of a rematch clause in his contract with Forrest. But those bouts would have taken place in September or October. A De La Hoya fight wouldn't be until December, giving Mora time to fight the rematch with Forrest and still be ready to fight again at the end of the year.
"The main goal for a fighter is to be respected and admired for what he's done," Mora said. "I got that in some ways with 'The Contender.' It definitely changed my life. Winning a world championship was the next step and let me know I really was a good fighter. Now that I'm a world champion, the next goal is to make money. In order to make money you have to fight the biggest names. The biggest name is Oscar De La Hoya. And people will expect me to lose, which I like. But I know I can win."
Mora said that he was excited about the prospect of fighting De La Hoya, 35, and would not let it get away from him. He had been skewered by critics for once rejecting a nearly $1 million offer to challenge then-middleweight champion Jermain Taylor because he was uncomfortable with the fight taking place in Memphis, Tenn., which isn't far from Taylor's Little Rock, Ark., hometown.
Mora, 27, said that would not happen this time.
"I'm taking this fight. If I don't take this fight, I'll start my own Web site and cuss myself out," he said with a laugh.
A De La Hoya-Mora fight won't come off, however, if Mora (21-0-1, 5 KOs) loses to Forrest.

[+] Enlarge

Tom Casino/Showtime
Sergio Mora of "The Contender" wants to prove himself against Oscar De La Hoya.



Mora said even though he's excited about the possibility of fighting De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) -- who has said his December fight would be the last of his career -- he would not look past Forrest, a former two-division titleholder and, coincidentally, De La Hoya's 1992 Olympic teammate.
"I know Vernon will be better prepared and in better shape than he was for our first fight," Mora said. "So I don't want to think too much about a De La Hoya fight. I don't want to get my hopes up and I have a big challenge in front of me with Vernon Forrest. I respect Vernon and I know he will be ready for me. Anyone would salivate to fight Oscar, but I can tell you this: I will limit my interviews and not talk much more about Oscar. I don't want to jump into the group of fighters who overlook their opponents. That's stupid. I just want to concentrate on Vernon Forrest right now.
"I know that the talk about me fighting De La Hoya will put an even hotter fire under Vernon's [expletive] to beat me. But I will not overlook him. I promise you that."
Schaefer, who was in a meeting and could not be reached for comment, had been close to a deal with Top Rank's Bob Arum for De La Hoya to face Pacquiao, but those talks collapsed Wednesday. Although they had ironed out all the other details, such as the weight limit (147 pounds) and glove size (8 ounces), ultimately De La Hoya refused to budge from his demand for a 70-30 revenue split and Pacquiao wouldn't budge from his demand for 40 percent.
So down the drain went what would have been the year's biggest fight, a potential $100 million-plus promotion.
But while Schaefer was negotiating the Pacquiao fight with Arum, Mora lurked in the background. Schaefer and Wald have a close business relationship and have done lots of business together.
"I've been talking to Richard for weeks and saying that if the Pacquiao fight couldn't be made, that I would love for Oscar to fight Sergio," Wald said. "We have a strong relationship between Golden Boy and Tournament of Contenders. We've done several fights together."
Mora's rematch with Forrest is the co-featured bout on a Golden Boy-promoted HBO PPV card headlined by the Joel Casamayor-Juan Manuel Marquez lightweight championship fight. Schaefer and Wald had worked to put together Mora-Mosley before Forrest invoked his rematch clause. And De La Hoya's May 3 victory came against Steve Forbes, the runner-up on the second season of "The Contender." His next fight against welterweight titleholder Andre Berto will also come on a Golden Boy card headlined by the Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga junior middleweight fight Sept. 27.
"It's been a great relationship with Oscar and Richard and their whole team," Wald said. "I've always felt from Day 1 that Oscar's coming of age was when he beat Julio Cesar Chavez. That was the great Mexican champion Chavez passing the torch to Oscar, the great young Mexican-American fighter. I see this fight as similar to that. Sergio is from the same East Los Angeles neighborhood as Oscar and this is another passing of the torch. Sergio is also a bilingual, Mexican-American fighter who is well-spoken and intelligent and interested in his community like Oscar.

"And Oscar's initial fame came from exposure on prime network television in the [1992) Olympics. Sergio Mora is the only other guy out there like that right now. He spent 16 weeks on prime time on NBC on 'The Contender.' He has a following."
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.




Why not Margarito

[eagle]

NO! Mora dont deserve the money!

[XaduBoxer]

Vernon Forrest might defeat Mora this time around and it will be Hoya vs. Forrest...

[Poom]

As much as my instincts are to hate mora for some reason

He is actually quite a nice guy if you watch his interviews,

He beat Forrest fair and square,

He is giving him a rematch basically asap which is very good of him,

I dont actually have anything to dislike!

Though the thought of Oscar vs Sergio I dont find exciting at all..

[Pacdbest2]

So you guys willing to pay for this Which one you want to watch Pac-DLH or this boring fight

Don't buy this Crap. It's not gonna happen anyway. It's just part of the script. They're bluffing. Just like Pac & Arum bluffing with the Soto fight.
DLH will give in & will give Pac 35% But after some sour exchange of words(which will help in the Promotion).

[SigmaMu]

I hope this does not distract Sergio and he has to get past Forrest.

Margarito has to be pissed right about now but at least Cotto gave Tony his shot and his biggest pay day to date. Too bad there are not more ODLH's out there. Floyd alone is not that big of a draw and Tony has already said it again, "we all know Floyd is afraid to fight me," and he threw ODLH's name in there too by saying "these are just more fighters who are afraid to fight me." He said this at the Clottey/Judah fight on HBO

A prime De La Hoya might not have turned down a fight against Margarito.

I guess we are just going to have to wait until things get sorted out. I personally did not want to see PAC vs ODLH Anyway.. If Sergio get's to face De La Hoya, I am going to ask Sergio for a new computer after that fight Not that I deserve it but it wont hurt to ask a rich man for a small donation to the SMF Latin Snake Pit Foundation of America, that which I am the Chairman and CEO of
Wait, I am the Chairman and Diane is the CEO

[Pacdbest2]

Remember the time during the Pac-JMM2 negotiation Everybody thought Pac is going for David Diaz. Then JMM gives in and give Pac what he needs to make the fight.

DLH has choices but not as good as Pac. Mora-DLH this will be lucky to sell 500K, after what DLH shows in his last 2 fights this fight will not sell.

Pac-DLH will happen. Mark my words!!!

[canary]

mora vs oscar?

boo..!

this is worse than pac - hoya.
at least pac edges hoya in one department: speed

this mora hype is a joke.

pacd is right, gbp is merely bluffing.

[Wayne]

ESPN - De La Hoya turns attention to Mora after Pacquiao talks fail - Boxing
De La Hoya turns attention to Mora after Pacquiao talks fail

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)





Updated: August 14, 2008, 1:28 AM ET

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Unwilling to compromise with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on the percentage of the revenue he would receive for a proposed Dec. 6 megafight, Oscar De La Hoya is moving on.
De La Hoya, boxing's biggest star, is now closing in on a deal to face junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Mora on the same date in an HBO PPV fight from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mora and promoter Jeff Wald told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

Harry How/Getty Images
Oscar De La Hoya had worked out many details to fight Manny Pacquiao, but that bout now appears to be dead.



The fight is contingent on Mora, who rose to fame by winning the first season of "The Contender" reality series, defeating former titleholder Vernon Forrest on Sept. 13 in a rematch of Mora's upset victory in June -- when he became the first graduate of the series to go on to win a major world title.
"We are in a negotiation," Wald said. "Obviously, the fight is predicated on Sergio beating Forrest again on Sept. 13, but I think we would have our deal firmly in place next week. We've agreed on the initial figures for the fight. The rest of the deal will be whatever Oscar and [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer think is fair -- the upside on the pay-per-view, etc. I trust them to be fair with me as they have been in the past. But there's a [minimum] dollar figure that I've agreed on and so has Sergio."
Wald also said he and Mora had agreed to give Golden Boy options on future Mora fights in the event he defeats De La Hoya.
Mora saw possible fall fights with Shane Mosley and middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik fall apart in the past couple of months because of a rematch clause in his contract with Forrest. But those bouts would have taken place in September or October. A De La Hoya fight wouldn't be until December, giving Mora time to fight the rematch with Forrest and still be ready to fight again at the end of the year.
"The main goal for a fighter is to be respected and admired for what he's done," Mora said. "I got that in some ways with 'The Contender.' It definitely changed my life. Winning a world championship was the next step and let me know I really was a good fighter. Now that I'm a world champion, the next goal is to make money. In order to make money you have to fight the biggest names. The biggest name is Oscar De La Hoya. And people will expect me to lose, which I like. But I know I can win."
Mora said that he was excited about the prospect of fighting De La Hoya, 35, and would not let it get away from him. He had been skewered by critics for once rejecting a nearly $1 million offer to challenge then-middleweight champion Jermain Taylor because he was uncomfortable with the fight taking place in Memphis, Tenn., which isn't far from Taylor's Little Rock, Ark., hometown.
Mora, 27, said that would not happen this time.
"I'm taking this fight. If I don't take this fight, I'll start my own Web site and cuss myself out," he said with a laugh.
A De La Hoya-Mora fight won't come off, however, if Mora (21-0-1, 5 KOs) loses to Forrest.

[+] Enlarge

Tom Casino/Showtime
Sergio Mora of "The Contender" wants to prove himself against Oscar De La Hoya.



Mora said even though he's excited about the possibility of fighting De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) -- who has said his December fight would be the last of his career -- he would not look past Forrest, a former two-division titleholder and, coincidentally, De La Hoya's 1992 Olympic teammate.
"I know Vernon will be better prepared and in better shape than he was for our first fight," Mora said. "So I don't want to think too much about a De La Hoya fight. I don't want to get my hopes up and I have a big challenge in front of me with Vernon Forrest. I respect Vernon and I know he will be ready for me. Anyone would salivate to fight Oscar, but I can tell you this: I will limit my interviews and not talk much more about Oscar. I don't want to jump into the group of fighters who overlook their opponents. That's stupid. I just want to concentrate on Vernon Forrest right now.
"I know that the talk about me fighting De La Hoya will put an even hotter fire under Vernon's [expletive] to beat me. But I will not overlook him. I promise you that."
Schaefer, who was in a meeting and could not be reached for comment, had been close to a deal with Top Rank's Bob Arum for De La Hoya to face Pacquiao, but those talks collapsed Wednesday. Although they had ironed out all the other details, such as the weight limit (147 pounds) and glove size (8 ounces), ultimately De La Hoya refused to budge from his demand for a 70-30 revenue split and Pacquiao wouldn't budge from his demand for 40 percent.
So down the drain went what would have been the year's biggest fight, a potential $100 million-plus promotion.
But while Schaefer was negotiating the Pacquiao fight with Arum, Mora lurked in the background. Schaefer and Wald have a close business relationship and have done lots of business together.
"I've been talking to Richard for weeks and saying that if the Pacquiao fight couldn't be made, that I would love for Oscar to fight Sergio," Wald said. "We have a strong relationship between Golden Boy and Tournament of Contenders. We've done several fights together."
Mora's rematch with Forrest is the co-featured bout on a Golden Boy-promoted HBO PPV card headlined by the Joel Casamayor-Juan Manuel Marquez lightweight championship fight. Schaefer and Wald had worked to put together Mora-Mosley before Forrest invoked his rematch clause. And De La Hoya's May 3 victory came against Steve Forbes, the runner-up on the second season of "The Contender." His next fight against welterweight titleholder Andre Berto will also come on a Golden Boy card headlined by the Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga junior middleweight fight Sept. 27.
"It's been a great relationship with Oscar and Richard and their whole team," Wald said. "I've always felt from Day 1 that Oscar's coming of age was when he beat Julio Cesar Chavez. That was the great Mexican champion Chavez passing the torch to Oscar, the great young Mexican-American fighter. I see this fight as similar to that. Sergio is from the same East Los Angeles neighborhood as Oscar and this is another passing of the torch. Sergio is also a bilingual, Mexican-American fighter who is well-spoken and intelligent and interested in his community like Oscar.

"And Oscar's initial fame came from exposure on prime network television in the [1992) Olympics. Sergio Mora is the only other guy out there like that right now. He spent 16 weeks on prime time on NBC on 'The Contender.' He has a following."
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.




Why not Margarito

No, why not Mora? If you don't count Mayorga (whose true weight class I have no clue of he's such a journeyman) Oscar hasn't fought a real junior middleweight since Yori Boy Campas in '03 (Hopkins and Sturm notwithstanding). Finally he fights someone who is a threat and in his own weight class. I think Mora's performance against Forrest proves he's legit and that he is a threat to anyone in the division. I want this fight.

[Diane]

Right now, in the immortal words of Frank Zappa.....

"I'm a dancing foooooooool, I'm a dancing fooooooooool"





Sorry, I know you guys hate this, but you all know that I couldn't be happier!!!

But like Danny said, Sergio better not look past Forrest, because a different Forrest is going to show up for the rematch.

If the deal gets made, and it's contingent on Sergio beating Forrest again, you better believe that I will be telling Sergio every chance that I get to remain focused on Forrest, because he is going to be looking to spoil this for Sergio.

Sergio is a great guy, and if he gets this fight, I couldn't be happier for him.

[Wayne]

Mora proved himself to me against Forrest. I don't care where he came from, he's the real deal and I have no trash talk. He beat a still good Vernon Forrest and I think it's just a matter of Vernon not having enough energy to compete with him. Hell, it's a love fest- I like Forrest now too now that he's dropped the punch 'n clinch action.

[killersheep]

Much better fight than Pac, closer to the same size (Mora is taller, but they have the same reach)

Someone mentioned Pac has speed over ODLH, well at this point Mora does too. I hate the guy, but I can't deny his performance over Forrest this is Oscar's weight class at his age.

Reasons for ODLH to take this fight over Pac.

1) It's less of a farce, less of a circus show
2) Mora will take monitarily whatever he can get
3) There's an alphabet strap involved.
4) ODLH doesn't have to lose as much weight.
5) It will still generate the same number of PPV buys

[Wacko3205]

Remember the time during the Pac-JMM2 negotiation Everybody thought Pac is going for David Diaz. Then JMM gives in and give Pac what he needs to make the fight.

DLH has choices but not as good as Pac. Mora-DLH this will be lucky to sell 500K, after what DLH shows in his last 2 fights this fight will not sell.

Pac-DLH will happen. Mark my words!!!

First & foremost...Oscar hasn't seen 500K in half a dozen years & as far as what Oscar has shown in his last two fights being a factor...just not the case.

Oscar is like Tyson (just not a fwockin psycho) in the sense that he has a devoted fan base no matter what.

Anything & I mean ANYTHING that has Oscar's name on the bill (even promoting low scale fighters & bouts) breaks that mold...with Oscar fighting...asses are in arena seats & bulging cushions worldwide.

That's ridiculous.

While Pac does push tickets...Oscar is the draw here...even though I don't dig on it...it's a fact.

I am surprised that you, as a Pac-Fan, don't want to see your man take a stand in his class.

The prospects of seeing Pac go toe to toe with Guzman, Campbell, Diaz, Katsidis, Soto, Casamayor, or any of the other B listers would be mouthwatering to me...& in the end...a bigger challenge than watching him face Oscar.

I can't figure out why a true Pac-Fan would'nt want those to come off.

Odd. Oh well...stranger things I guess...the point is, I guess, it's either you look for the best challenge or the best paycheck & Pac, like Oscar, aint hurtin for cash.

[PRIDE OF BOSTON]

So you guys willing to pay for this Which one you want to watch Pac-DLH or this boring fight

Don't buy this Crap. It's not gonna happen anyway. It's just part of the script. They're bluffing. Just like Pac & Arum bluffing with the Soto fight.
DLH will give in & will give Pac 35% But after some sour exchange of words(which will help in the Promotion).

STFU! Everyone is sick of your Pac Delahoya stance... He'd get fucking KO'd !... Stop... It's not gonna happen anyway! Go back to ESB... You irritate me.

[leftylee]

Mora is garbage. Manfredo took him to school in their second fight. Easy win for Oscar.