by Mike Dunn (photo by Oscar Picazo)

There hasn't been as much buzz about a non-heavyweight fight like this for a long time, at least since Oscar De La Hoya took on the unbeaten Felix Trinidad in 1999. Oscar vs. Floyd actually goes beyond that, though. It reminds me of the hype and atmosphere that surrounded Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran for their first encounter in Montreal back in 1980.

There are two important intangibles with this one. Mayweather Jr. is fighting a heavier opponent than he has ever met before. He has never gone above the welterweight limit. De La Hoya is comfortable at 154 and that is a huge plus in his favor.

De La Hoya is also four years older and hasn't been nearly as active in recent years. That is a huge plus in Mayweather's favor.

De La Hoya has fought just one time since losing to Hopkins in September of 2004, and that was a year ago against Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC light middleweight title. Granted, De La Hoya looked sharp and displayed little ring rust while knocking Mayorga down three times en route to a knockout win. But Mayorga isn't in the same class as Mayweather and Mayorga, frankly, may have underrated De La Hoya a bit. There were many who thought before the fight that the Golden Boy was well past his prime.

Mayweather won't think that way. He'll be primed for battle. Mayweather has much to win for: He is undefeated and wants to stay that way and he has something to prove to the boxing public in general and to his father in particular. And he wants to build a legacy. Beating De La Hoya will enable him to achieve all of those things. Mayweather is much more battle ready of the two.

In the past two years, he has taken on four rugged opponents and has basically dominated each one of them. In June of '05, he knocked out Gatti in six. In November of '05, he knocked out Sharmba Mitchell in six. In April of '06, he won a unanimous 12-round decision over the very tough Zab Judah, winning handily on two of the three scorecards while laying claim to the IBF and IBO welterweight titles. In November was the virtual shutout of Baldomir over 12 rounds to win the WBC, WBO and IBA welterweight crowns.

Mayweather is fighting with a lot of confidence and he is accustomed to taking on rugged guys. De La Hoya has only fought once in nearly three years. While he looked good in beating Mayorga, we don't know if the De La Hoya of 2007 is the same De La Hoya who showed up for that fight or the De La Hoya who took a pounding against Hopkins.

I give De La Hoya credit. He didn't take this fight on a whim and he's in great shape. Sparring with Mosley is helping him immensely and having Floyd Sr. in his corner will also be beneficial.

In spite of all that ... my guess is that De La Hoya won't be able to minimize the ravages of time well enough to beat a guy as quick and skilled as Mayweather. If the arcs of their careers had crossed when both were in their prime, I would have to go with De La Hoya. Not now.

To win, De La Hoya will have to get to Mayweather inside the first six rounds. It could happen if Mayweather is prideful (foolish?) and thinks he has to show his manhood by trading with De La Hoya. That was the trap Sugar Ray fell into against Duran the first time and it cost him the fight. Mayweather could make the same mistake but I doubt it.

Mayweather will win a unanimous decision and have De La Hoya in trouble in the final two rounds. The fight will be close over the first half with De La Hoya having a slight edge. He may even knock Mayweather down in one of the early rounds. But from the sixth or seventh round, Mayweather will gradually take over and cruise to a strong finish.