LOS ANGELES – After expressing his disagreement over plans to pit Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time in May 2012, Oscar De La Hoya said the wise choice now is to get Pacquiao in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. – a matchup that is more attractive than seeing the Filipino puncher get it on again with the savvy Mexican counter-puncher.
“The fight that has to be made is Mayweather against Pacquiao,” said De La Hoya in an interview at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Tuesday.
De La Hoya said nothing will be achieved in having Pacquiao and Marquez go at it for the fourth time, stressing that the outcome would be the same: Inconclusive.
Mayweather has promotional ties with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and the retired future Hall of Famer said everyone is on the same page except for one fellow: Top Rank chief Bob Arum.
Arum's Top Rank Inc. has Pacquiao under its banner and De La Hoya said the 79-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer, who once promoted him, is scared stiff to pair Pacquiao with Mayweather.
“We want the fight, Golden Boy wants the fight, Mayweather wants the fight, I know for a fact that Pacquiao wants the fight. I know for a fact. The one that doesn’t want the fight is Bob Arum. He’s the one who doesn’t want the fight. For whatever reasons I have no idea.”
But Arum has said that it is the other way around.
Last week, Arum said as far as Top Rank and Pacquiao are concerned, they have no problems with the idea of holding a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown since the 32-year-old fighting congressman has agreed on the demand of Mayweather for random blood testing.
“That's already a non-issue,” said Arum when asked by Manila-based scribes, noting that it is Mayweather who is scared stiff to deal with somebody like Pacquiao for fear of losing his unbeaten record.
Immediately after Pacquiao was awarded a 12-round majority decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Arum said he will soon try to reach out with the two parties regarding a fourth fight.
Pacquiao said he is more than willing to give Marquez another chance.
Bouyed by the strong show of support around the world, Marquez, 38, is now insisting that he now has the right to dictate the terms for a fourth fight, adding that he wants it to be staged in Mexico City.
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