Buildup
After De La Hoya's May 5 loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2007 (see De La Hoya-Mayweather boxing match), De La Hoya decided to close out his career with three fights in 2008. The first would be a tune-up bout in May before finishing with two mega bouts in September and December respectively. De La Hoya defeated Stevie Forbes in the May tune-up bout in preparation for Mayweather. Due to Mayweather's unexpected retirement however, Ricky Hatton was the new potential candidate to fight De La Hoya on September 20. However, Hatton rejected the offer because he felt the scheduled date was too close to his last bout. De La Hoya then decided to pass on a fight in September to set the stage for a showdown against either Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto, should Cotto win his fight against Antonio Margarito in July. After Cotto was defeated by Margarito, it was announced that De La Hoya and Pound For Pound superstar Manny Pacquiao had agreed to fight December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the welterweight limit of 147 lbs. On August 28, 2008, a teleconference was held by Golden Boy Promotions to officially announce the fight.
Read more about this topic: Oscar De La Hoya Vs. Manny Pacquiao
Famous quotes containing the word buildup:
“I think those Southern writers [William Faulkner, Carson McCullers] have analyzed very carefully the buildup in the South of a special consciousness brought about by the self- condemnation resulting from slavery, the humiliation following the War Between the States and the hope, sometimes expressed timidly, for redemption.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)