Earlier tonight, Golden Boy Promotions announced that Oscar De La Hoya will reveal to the media during a Tuesday afternoon conference call, his official trainer for the May 5 superfight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It was reported by boxing scribe Dan Rafael that De La Hoya will likely announce that hall-of-fame trainer Freddie Roach has been hired for the position. Roach, is one of the most respected trainers in the sport. He currently trains two of the biggest names in the business, Manny Pacquiao and James Toney.
An unamed source, close to De La Hoya, told Rafael that Teddy Atlas was the only other man that had a good shot at landing the position, but there were conflicts with his ESPN broadcasting duties.
Floyd Mayweather, Sr., trainer of De La Hoya for his last eight fights, priced himself out with a $2 million dollar demand. De La Hoya tried to counter with a $500,000 guarantee, with an additional $500,000 if he won. Floyd Sr. was quick to refuse De La Hoya’s counter offer.
The fight is officially sold out, which means the fight’s gross of over $19 million will break the previous record of $16,860,300, generated by the Nov. 1999 rematch between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
