Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...

vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., billed as ''The World Awaits'', was a

super welterweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...

superfight that took place on May 5, 2007, at the MGM Grand Arena in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

between six-division world champion

and undefeated four-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.. At the time, the bout was the most lucrative boxing match ever, with over $130 million in generated revenue. Mayweather Jr. won by split decision over De La Hoya in 12 rounds, capturing the WBC

title.

Details

The fight took place at the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada under the promotion of

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Histo ...

. It was contested at 154 pounds, with De La Hoya defending his WBC light middleweight championship. Tickets sold out three hours after they went on sale on Saturday, January 27, 2007. With the sellout, the bout generated over $19 million in live gate, beating the previous record of $16,860,300 set by the June 28, 1997, heavyweight championship rematch between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson at the

Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility was ...

. The fight was televised on HBO pay-per-view, with the cost to watch the fight at $55 in the U.S. Mayweather won by a split decision in 12 close-fought rounds, capturing the World Boxing Council (WBC) title. Judges Jerry Roth (115–113) and Chuck Giampa (116–112) scored the fight for Mayweather while judge Tom Kaczmarek had De La Hoya winning, 115–113.

Hype

As part of the buildup for the fight, HBO produced an unprecedented four-part prelude. The series, titled ''De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7'', aired installments on the final three Sundays of April, with the fourth installment airing on Thursday, May 3, two days before the fight. The series focused on each fighter's training and preparation for the bout. A subplot to the fight concerned whether De La Hoya would be trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., the estranged father of Mayweather Jr. Mayweather Sr. had served as De La Hoya's trainer since 2001. Mayweather Sr. announced his willingness to train De La Hoya after initially declining to oppose his son, but demanded a $2 million fee in light of the enormous revenue to be generated by the fight. De La Hoya declined to meet Mayweather Sr.'s demands, making a counteroffer of $500,000 guaranteed plus an additional $500,000 contingent on De La Hoya winning the fight. Ultimately, the sides were unable to come to an agreement and De La Hoya hired the highly respected

Freddie Roach Frederick Steven Roach (born March 5, 1960) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Roach is widely regarded as one of the best boxing trainers of all time. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champio ...

to be his

cornerman In combat sports, a cornerman, or second, is a coach or trainer assisting a fighter during a bout. The cornerman is forbidden to instruct and must remain outside the combat area during the round. In the break, they are permitted to enter the ri ...

instead. Although Mayweather Sr. reunited with his son at the start of Floyd Jr.'s training camp, he had no official role, as Floyd Jr. opted to retain his uncle, Roger Mayweather, as his trainer instead. Mayweather Sr. left the camp by the end of April, upset over not being chosen as trainer and by comments made by his son and brother during the taping of the ''24/7'' show.

Undercard

Result

*Result: Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats

by split decision

Fight earnings

The De La Hoya-Mayweather fight set the record for most PPV buys for a boxing match with 2.4 million households, beating the previous record of 1.99 million for Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson II. Around $136 million in revenue was generated by the PPV. It was surpassed in 2015 by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which generated more than 400 million dollars from 4.6 million households in PPV buys, thus becoming the most lucrative fight in history and one of the most lucrative sport events of all time. Factoring in the percentages, Mayweather earned $25 million for the fight whereas Oscar De La Hoya ended up earning $52 million, the highest purse ever for a fighter at the time. Mayweather ended up surpassing those earnings in 2013 with a purse of $88 million for Mayweather vs. Álvarez. The previous record had been $35 million, held by

Tyson Tyson is a male given name of old French origin meaning 'high-spirited', 'fire'. It is from this that a surname arose 'son of Tyson'. Surname *Alan Tyson (1926–2000), British musicologist * Barbara Tyson (born 1964), Canadian actress * Bill Tys ...

and Holyfield.

September 20 rematch

De la Hoya and Mayweather were scheduled for a rematch on September 20, 2008. However, unlike the first fight, the fight would have been contracted for 147 lbs. or the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

limit. The first fight was contracted at light middleweight or 154 lbs and de la Hoya's WBC junior middleweight title was on the line. However, Mayweather would have come in as champion and defended his WBC/ The Ring welterweight titles. As a tune-up fight, De la Hoya fought Stephen Forbes (33–6) on May 3, with Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his trainer. De La Hoya (39–5, 30 KOs) looked extremely sluggish but ultimately won a unanimous decision over Forbes, 119–109, 119–109 and 120–108. The rematch never took place due to Mayweather's retirement in 2008 and De La Hoya's retirement in 2009, although Mayweather would return to boxing in 2009, eventually retiring for good in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De La Hoya, Mayweather

Mayweather Mayweather is a surname, and may refer to: * Anthony Mayweather (born 1985), professional wrestler, also known as Crimson * Earring George Mayweather (1927–1995), American blues harmonica player and singer * Floyd Mayweather Sr. (born 1952), fo ...

2007 in boxing Boxing in Las Vegas 2007 in sports in Nevada Golden Boy Promotions May 2007 sports events in the United States Boxing matches involving Floyd Mayweather Jr. MGM Grand Garden Arena Nicknamed sporting events Events in Paradise, Nevada