Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya: Reliving the Epic Showdown 17 Years Later

On May 5, 2007, Floyd Mayweather finally met WBC light-middleweight titleholder Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada. This was a much anticipated match up with “Money” getting the job done, winning by split decision, with the scorecards reading 116-112 and 115-113 for the Michigan native and 115-113 for De La Hoya. At Big Fight Weekend, we are taking you back to fight night, 17 years ago.

Floyd Mayweather Defeats Oscar De La Hoya by Split Decision

Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya Recap

De La Hoya started brightly, cutting the ring off well, and working smartly on the inside, landing some nice combinations. “Money” was the defensive master and many of De La Hoya’s punches hit the arms or shoulders, and were not scoring shots. As the fight progressed, the accuracy of Mayweather saw him turn the tide. 

His ability to land flush was incredibly impressive and showed what a difficult opponent he was to face. Despite the best endeavours of the Los Angeles native, the exceptional ring IQ of Mayweather was too much for him. Despite the split decision verdict, it was difficult to watch the fight and score the contest in favour of De La Hoya. 

More Details and Legacy

The event set a record for the most PPV buys for a boxing match, with a mammouth 2.4 million households tuning in, which broke the previous best of 1.99 million for Evander Hoylfield vs. Mike Tyson II.

Following this huge fight, “Money” went on to fight another 12 times, including some memorable fights, such as his KO victory over Ricky Hatton. De La Hoya enjoyed a storied professional career and this will to win has seen him become one of the most successful promoters in the sport. “The Golden Boy” after losing to Mayweather, defeated Steve Forbes by unanimous decision, before losing his final professional bout, in a brutal defeat to Manny Pacquaio.