There they were, three of the greatest boxers of their generation, sitting side-by-side.
Oscar De La Hoya, the Golden Boy, flanked by Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. and "Sugar" Shane Mosley on Wednesday afternoon at a news conference in McLean, Va.
Once, De La Hoya met these guys in the ring. Three times, in fact — twice vs. Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) and once vs. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs). Each time the Golden Boy was the conquered, never the conqueror.
Three of his six career losses came against them. Twice by decision to Mosley when both were in their prime, and once by decision to Mayweather near the end of his Hall of Fame career in the highest-grossing fight of all time, with a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.
De La Hoya is promoting the May 1 mega-fight between Mayweather and Mosley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (HBO pay-per-view) in what could be the fight of the year.
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," De La Hoya said, laughing.
De La Hoya says he loves to dissect fights but can't figure this one out. "It's going to be a tremendous fight," he said. "For the first time in my life, I don't know who can win this fight.
"Mosley has the power to be aggressive, he has the speed and he's smart in the ring. Mayweather is elusive; he's slippery because his defense is on the money. He's probably the best defensive fighter I've ever seen.
"If it goes the distance, I have to go with Floyd, because Floyd knows how to dissect his opponents, how to frustrate them. He knows how to make you get away from your game plan."
At 38, Mosley is five years older than Mayweather, but he feels his age is more of an advantage. "When I fought (Antonio) Margarito, I was actually the mover and the boxer and the faster puncher; Margarito was supposed to be the younger, stronger fighter. And yet I beat him in every area," Mosley said. "I'm going to be very fast and very strong and mentally prepared. That's what the whole boxing game's about, having the mental upper hand."
There will be Olympic-style blood testing for this fight at Mayweather's request, a demand that sunk a proposed Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.
"There's too much cheating going on in sports, period," Mayweather said. "Not just boxing. ... If I'm the face of boxing, I want to be in a sport that's clean.
"I'm not cheating, so why should anyone else cheat."
Mosley, who once admitted to unknowingly taking steroids in 2003 on the advice of his strength coach, is totally on board with having blood taken.
"I never tested positive for anything in my life," he said. "I'm a clean guy. I want to live a long life. I don't want to have any defects when I'm 50 because of something ... in my boxing career."
The three-city press tour ends today in Los Angeles after hitting New York and Washington.
Source: usatoday.com
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