Oscar De La Hoya formally announces his May 3 bout with Steve Forbes… BY GEORGE WILLIS
Oscar De La Hoya’s May 3 fight versus Steve Forbes will be officially announced at a press conference Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., site of the fight.
It will be a lavish promotion with De La Hoya billing it “Homecoming,” a Thank You to his native Southern California for supporting him throughout his career. The fight will be shown on HBO’s world championship boxing, the first time De La Hoya hasn’t fought on pay-per-view since Clinton was President.
Forbes wouldn’t seem to be much of a party crasher having just nine knockouts in his 33-5 record. He has lost two of his last three fights, including a controversial decision to Demetrius Hopkins last March. But his promoter Jeff Wald warns Forbes shouldn’t be overlooked.
“He’s never been on the canvas amateur or pro,” Wald said. “He’s a tough kid. A smart fighter. Don’t under estimate his ability to do some damage in that fight.”
Forbes was victimized by one of the worst decisions of 2007 when he clearly out-boxed Hopkins over 12 rounds only to lose by wide margins: 118-110, 117-111, and 118-110. Hopkins is the nephew of Bernard Hopkins and at the time was a property of Golden Boy Promotions. Wald was not at the fight, but attending a black tie dinner in Houston celebrating the 30th anniversary of George Foreman’s ministry.
“Every round Lou DiBella was calling me, managers were calling me and everybody had it 8-4,” Wald said. “Everybody had the same score, 8-4. I’m sitting there figuring my guy won. Then when the verdict came out I was freaked.
“But I told Forbes that in the long run he would benefit more from what happened because every press that writes about him writes about the bad decision. If he had won it, nobody would have ever mentioned it again.”
Perhaps that’s proof why Forbes is getting a fight with De La Hoya and Hopkins is looking for new promoter.
“It got him attention,” Wald said. “But this is the second time it happened to me. I promoted Foreman’s last fights and the Shannon Briggs fight was the same kind of thing except George won all 10 rounds against Shannon. That one I knew what happened. That’s another story.”
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