Word: hoya
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...sport's most talented fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr., 30, a self-described "hustler" who was nearly gunned down as a baby and is, kindly, referred to by one promoter as "a huge pain in the ass." Pit him against the sport's last glamour boy, Oscar De La Hoya, 34, bred tough in East L.A. but now a clean-cut corporate sweetheart whose broad, boyish smile has made millions swoon into his corner. Naturally, his charm has also turned off others who would love a guy like Mayweather to coldcock that grin off his face. De La Hoya, an Olympic...
...boxing is back, at least for a night. De La Hoya, who has won 38 bouts and lost only four, and Mayweather, undefeated in his 37 times in the ring, will square off on May 5 in Las Vegas for the super welterweight (no more than 154 lbs.) championship. The fight will be shown in a record 176 countries and may become the most watched pay-per-view matchup ever--at $55 a pop in the U.S.--perhaps topping the 1.99 million buys to see Mike Tyson bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear in 1997. Arena tickets...
...Hoya--Mayweather, however, has the potential to remind the world why boxing was once a sport that mattered. The match offers a compelling contrast in both personality and fighting styles, plus a healthy dose of family psychodrama. Mayweather grew up fighting in Grand Rapids, Mich., where his father, Floyd Sr., taught him how to punch in his stroller. When Floyd was a year old, his mother's brother pulled a gun on his dad. "I told him, 'If you're going to kill me, you're going to kill him too,'" says Mayweather Sr., who was holding his son. "'That...
...trafficking in cocaine. But young Mayweather, who turned pro after winning a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics, soon found his father overbearing and evicted him from his house. Uncle Roger, Floyd Sr.'s brother, took over as trainer. Floyd Sr. found a new client: Oscar De La Hoya...
This history rankles De La Hoya, whose clear distaste for Junior's trash talking-- Mayweather labels De La Hoya "fake" and "boring," among the printable adjectives-- feeds the intrigue. "What kind of son kicks his father out of the house and leaves him in the street?" De La Hoya asks. "He's a brat that needs a reality check." These words ignite Mayweather. "Oscar doesn't need to be in me and my dad's personal business," he barks. "I'm going to say a prayer for Oscar tonight. Like I do every night...