IT’S been tagged the Pretty Boy against the Golden Boy, but there’s also a Wonder Boy on the bill of boxing’s self-proclaimed $140 million “Fight Of The Century”.
With ring revenue records set to tumble in Sunday’s Floyd Mayweather Jr versus Oscar De La Hoya fist-fest, fast-rising Australian Billy “The Kid” Dib has a walk-on part in the melodrama.
High on a bill pitting bard of bile and pound-for-pound prince Mayweather against six-division champion De La Hoya, Dib faces Mexico’s Jose Alberto Gonzalez in a featherweight bout set to fast-track the future of the flashy featherweight hope from the Sydney suburb of Hurstville.
Dib, 21, plans to claim his 16th professional scalp and prove he’s the golden child of the US-based Golden Boy stable of fighters, headed up by De La Hoya, who is not only a class boxer bbut also a consummate businessman.
Dib has sparred with De La Hoya, lives and trains with the famed Sugar Shane Mosley in Los Angeles and believes he will be Australia’s fifth world title holder before the end of the year.
Boxing royalty De La Hoya and Mosley both agree.
Amid the mania of preparing for a contest, which will earn him $32 million (Mayweather will get $12 million), De La Hoya said yesterday: “Billy has all the right attributes. Australia should watch out for him. Don’t miss the train, it’s left the station and it’s moving fast.
