By Richard McManus

The boxing world has been abuzz the last couple of weeks with rumors of an Oscar De La Hoya–Floyd Mayweather mega-fight, possibly being made and possibly taking place on September 16.  This despite the fact that De La Hoya already has a Pay-Per-View fight scheduled for this Saturday with Ricardo Mayorga.

Mayorga is an interesting match-up for The Golden Boy.  His abrasive personality and caution-to-the-wind ring style contradicts directly with Oscar’s super-star persona and reputation as a measured ring tactician. His opponents, like his punches, are always chosen wisely.

Despite this De La Hoya hasn’t looked particularly good in his last few fights.  In 2004, Hopkins stopped him in a fight in which he was down on the cards at the time of the stoppage.  Before that Oscar was out-worked and out-hustled by Felix Sturm in a fight in which most ring experts believe Oscar was given a gift decision.

In 2003, Oscar lost a close decision to Shane Mosley and stopped “Yory Boy” Campas in a fight that proved nothing.  Going all the way back to the Fernando Vargas fight, Oscar was out-muscled and out-toughed for the first half of the fight before obliterating Fernando with devastating combinations and sharp punches down the stretch.

The truth is, on paper, Vargas appeared to be one of the more dangerous opponents Oscar had faced in the last several years.  For many years prior to the fight, Oscar said he would “never give Vargas a shot” and then all of a sudden it was something Oscar wanted “more than anything.”  Why?  To answer this question we may need to look to toward the future, toward Ricardo Mayorga.

What does Oscar know about Mayorga that the rest of us don’t?  Let’s take a look at Mayorga’s recent fight history and try to figure it out. Where is the upside for Oscar?

When Ricardo Mayorga captured the WBA and WBC titles with consecutive dramatic knockouts of Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis and Vernon Forrest, he looked unstoppable.  His fearless style combined with underrated speed and crushing power made him look like the fighter that just might hold the title for more than a few fights.

He followed the Forrest knockout with a rematch and defeated Forrest in a close decision in a fight in which he tried to employ many of the tactics used to blow out Forrest in the first fight.  Namely overwhelming Forrest with windmill punches and big right and left hands backed up by good balance and awareness in the ring.  Mayorga ended up winning a close decision.

Thinking himself on top of the world and nearly unstoppable he sought to unify his Welterweight belts in a showdown with IBF king and slick southpaw boxer Cory Spinks.  Many experts thought Spinks lacked the firepower to keep a fearless banger like Mayorga honest.  But conventional wisdom reigned supreme as the slick southpaw boxer made “El Matador” look more like the bull by thoroughly out-boxing him and exposing him in a manner that made him look like an amateur and a out-classed barroom brawler.

In 2004, Mayorga regrouped with a tune-up fight against Eric Mitchell by winning a 10-round unanimous decision.  He was tuning up for his first mega-fight against the sworn killer and Puerto Rican legend, Felix Trinidad.

On October 2, 2004 he squared off with Tito in a pay-per-iew bout which took place in New York’s Madison Square Garden.  For those of you that missed it, Mayorga, who knows no other way to fight, opted to trade big punches with Trinidad, who despite a two and a half year layoff from the ring was still regarded as one of the biggest pound for pound punchers in the world.  Mayorga wanted a war and Trinidad was more than happy to oblige.

After several dramatic rounds, Tito’s devastatingly sharp punches and his absolute disregard for the future ring career of Ricardo Mayorga took the inevitable toll as Referee Steve Smoger wisely stepped in and stopped the fight, thus sparing “El Matador” from more of a brutal beating.

This brief historical recap brings us back to Oscar.  Don’t think he wasn’t watching closely.  No doubt still recovering from his body punch knockout at the hands of Bernard Hopkins just two weeks earlier, De La Hoya surely kept a watchful eye on Mayorga with the accepted knowledge that few fighters are ever the same after being brutalized in the manner that Tito brutalized Mayorga.

Looking back now we can say that Vargas was in effect “softened up” for Oscar by Trinidad.  David Reid and William Joppy are two other fighters whose legs and wills were never quite the same after being dispatched in similar brutal fashion by Felix Trinidad.

Oscar is a great ring technician and an even greater businessman.  Why would Oscar so eagerly take a fight with Mayorga?  Oscar is admittedly in the twilight of his career, hasn’t fought in over a year and a half and already has a date set, supposedly for his fight with Floyd Mayweather.  Oscar must think he knows something about Mayorga that gives him a distinct advantage.  Has Mayorga been softened up?

With pay-per-view sales expected to be big and all eyes, as usual, on De La Hoya, he knows he needs to make a statement.  If he comes out lackluster and gets blown out by Mayorga, the Mayweather fight is done for and Oscar De La Hoya’s reputation as a great decision maker is ruined.  However, if he takes Mayorga apart with slick boxing and sharp power punching Oscar will be as marketable as ever even if his detractors will never give him the respect he deserves.