Legendary John L. Sullivan used to stride into saloons and bellow, ?I can lick any son of a bitch in the house!?
Legendary Oscar de la Hoya is not much for saloons or for inviting complete strangers to take an asswhipping.
Unlike the Boston Strongboy, Oscar excludes certain nationalities from his invitations to rumble.
When Boricua Bomber Miguel Cotto was riding high, Oscar made a public proclamation to note that he could never fight the Puerto Rican. Oscar?s explanation was that he had promised his gorgeous Puerto Rican pop music star wife that he would not bash in the face of a Boricua.
Certainly that was no big problem as it left all the other nationalities in the world as possible foes for money machine Oscar.
So far, at least, Filipinos have not been put on the ?not invited? list which must come as a huge relief to Manny Pacquiao.
Now GBP?s Richard Schaefer has added, per Boss Oscar?s direction, Mexicanos to the list of excluded opponents.
Sorry, Antonio Margarito, but Oscar does not want to hang up the gloves by fighting a boxer from the country where his parents were born.
Of course that also excludes an easy fight and a big money bout for Oscar as well. Now he can?t pick on the limited Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. the way he twice slapped around JC Senior.
I was just ruminating what other nationalities Oscar may exclude next and the possible reasons why?
Polish: As a great admirer of labor leader Lech Walensa and the Gdansk Shipyard strikers, Oscar refuses to box a Polish fighter.
Italy: A main staple at Oscar?s training table is healthy pasta so the Italians are out also.
Ireland: As a kid Oscar loved leprechauns so he must exclude all Irish boxers with the exception of the easy to hit John Duddy.
Zimbabwe: To show his social conscience and solidarity with the anti-Mugabe forces, Oscar demurs. And, no, Oscar did not think this was John ?The Beast? Mugabi?s grandfather.
Albanians: Why should Oscar get himself entwined in all the ethnic hatred of this part of the world? He never claimed to be a UN peacekeeper, did he?
Albinos: Oscar might get freaked out by an opponent with white hair and those pink eyes. Hey, wait a minute. Being an albino is a genetic condition, not a nationality. Well, just knock them off the Oscar list anyway.
Cross the albinos off the list with the notation ?sometimes you can be too white.?
In the background, can you hear my Edgar and Johnny White records?
It?s a big world, folks, and Oscar can?t fight guys from every country.
Right now, it?s just Mexico and Puerto Rico that are excluded but things can change.
But you albino boxers, just forget about it.
