Oscar De La Hoya, Olympic gold medalist and former boxing world champion, believes that the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2 will reach three million buys, breaking the all-time record set in May 2007 (2.4 million) during his match with Mayweather. He said that the biggest fight ever is "in the hands of Pacquiao," who must pressure Mayweather for the entire fight.
De La Hoya thinks that Mayweather will have an edge in the match. However, he also believes that Pacquiao will be in the best condition of his boxing career, according to Desert Sun.
De La Hoya said that the fight will be boring if Mayweather is too methodical, punching just enough to be the victor of the rounds. However, he insists that everyone wants to "see a good fight."
In the past, Oscar De La Hoya has criticized Floyd Mayweather publically. Although Mayweather defeated De La Hoya in 2007, the latter argued that he would have defeated Mayweather if he had been at the apex of his boxing career.
However, De La Hoya does not doubt that the Grand Rapids native is a biggest draw in the boxing world. He referred to the fight as the "fight of the industry," according to Hustle Boss.
Still, like most boxing fans, De la Hoya previously was doubtful that the fight would ever become a reality. Interestingly, he also had some influence in that happening.
Originally there was a May 2 scheduling conflict between the Golden Boy Promotions boxer Saul Alvarez, and Mayweather. De La Hoya agreed to postpone the Alvarez fight one week if Mayweather promised to fight Pacquiao.
De La Hoya believes that the boxing world wants to see the best possible fights. That is why Mayweather was "pressured into this fight."