According to a report in Wednesday’s USA Today, Oscar De La Hoya has officially turned down the $2 million dollar demand of Floyd Mayweather Sr. and will use another trainer for his May 5 showdown with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. The paper reports an official announcement is forthcoming.
Mayweather Sr. yelled loud an clear in numerous media interviews that he would not train De La Hoya to beat his son unless there was $2 million dollars on the table. De La Hoya offered Mayweather Sr. a $500,000 guarantee, and another $500,000 if he won the bout. Mayweather Sr. found the offer insulting on the grounds that De La Hoya stands to make $30 million for the fight, and the opponent on the other end of the ring is his son. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, told USA Today that the hiring of a new trainer has been discussed and will likely be finalized within a week.
“We felt that $2 million was excessive, and maybe it was Floyd Sr.’s way of saying he really didn’t want to do it,” Schaefer said. “Oscar had his own doubts about whether Floyd Sr. should be doing it because at the end of the day, as even Floyd Sr. has said, Floyd Jr. will always be his son.
“We checked with some other managers and found out what (Mike) Tyson used to pay his trainers. We don’t want to be out of line. Oscar has always been very fair in what he pays to a trainer. But $2 million is way beyond what any trainer is ever paid.”
De La Hoya did not want to create further friction in the already hostile situation between Mayweather Sr. and his son. The father vs. son feud between the Mayweathers was a major angle in the fight, but Schaefer says that the fight is not about a family feud, it’s about two of the best fighting in the ring. He did admit that the family feud angle would have probably sold tickets.
“It probably would’ve, but that’s not what this is about,” Schaefer said. “This is about not just the biggest boxing events, but one of the biggest sporting events in history. This is not a circus. We want this to be a night when the sport of boxing can hopefully shine.”
