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Oscar De La Hoya, Al Haymon to ‘discuss big fights’

Fighters Network
26
Nov

Oscar De La Hoya (L) receives encouragement from Riddick Bowe before his first pro fight, against Lamar Williams on Nov. 23, 1992. Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images.

 

A junior welterweight match-up between RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia and IBF 140-pound beltholder Lamont Peterson will be among the chief subjects to be discussed with advisor Al Haymon, according to Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya.

“I will be having a sit-down meeting with Al, very soon, this week,” said De La Hoya, during an interview with RingTV.com. “That would be Friday, so we’ll be able to start strategizing for next year.”



De La Hoya has promoted many of the fighters in the all-star stable of Haymon, including Garcia (29-0, 17 knockouts) and Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs), who scored knockouts in their last fights on the same card in August at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Garcia, 26, of Philadelphia, scored three knockdowns en route to his second-round stoppage of Rod Salka and Peterson, 30, of Washington, D.C., beat down Edgar Santana on the way to a 10th-round technical knockout.

“In that regard, the fight that I want to make is Garcia-Peterson. That’s the next fight that I want to make,” said De La Hoya. “I think that’s a great fight for both guys. We just want it for the first quarter of next year. Right now, there are a lot of loose ends that we have to tie up.”

In addition to RING 147 and 154-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., Haymon’s other fighters in and around the 140-pound division include Keith Thurman and Robert Guerrero, each of whom will be among the boxers whose futures will be addressed, according to De La Hoya.

Guerrero unanimously decisioned Yoshihiro Kamegai in June to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Mayweather in May 2013.

“That’s another guy that I will be talking to Al about,” said De La Hoya of Guerrero. “With all of the fighters and these fights, we have to start strategizing and seeing what’s next for Guerrero and all of these guys.”

Thurman will be in action for a Dec. 13 welterweight clash of unbeatens against Leonard Bundu in support a Showtime tripleheader headlined by 147-pounders Amir Khan and Devon Alexander. Khan and Alexander are also advised by Haymon.

Another fighter in Haymon’s stable is Marcos Maidana, THE RING’s No. 5-rated 147-pounder who is coming off consecutive losses to Mayweather by majority decision in May and unanimous decision in September.

Maidana’s manager would be receptive to a fight against Thurman, whose trainer, in turn, would like his boxer to matched against Maidana.

“It’s coming down to the fighters getting a little restless, you might say, and more of Al’s fighters are going to have to start fighting each other, which there is nothing wrong with because the best are going to fight the best and only good things can come out of it,” said De La Hoya.

“That’s good for the sport; that’s good for the fans and that’s exactly what I’m going to be talking to Al about, just making the good fights for next year. So with Guerrero, Keith Thurman, who I know is fighting on Dec. 13, we just want to start talking about next year.”

Another clash De La Hoya is eager to make is that between three-division titlist Abner Mares and two-division titleholder Leo Santa Cruz.

In September, Santa Cruz crushed rival Manuel Roman in the second round in defense of his WBC junior featherweight belt and Mares survived a cut over his left eye to outpoint Jonathan Oquendo in a 10-round featherweight fight in July.

Mares was back in action for the first time since being knocked out in the first round by Jhonny Gonzalez in August of last year and will return to the ring on Dec. 13 opposite Jose Ramirez on the Khan-Alexander card.

“I want to start talking about Abner Mares-Leo Santa Cruz,” said De La Hoya. “I just want to discuss all of those big fights. I want to start talking to Al about them so that we can make them.”

 

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