De La Hoya's apology to Pacman, Arum paves way for big fights

source: gma

Don’t you just love it when problems get sorted out? I do, specially when solving the problem means it’s finally possible to make the best matches in boxing.

A few weeks ago, Oscar de la Hoya checked into a rehabilitation center for substance abuse. Curiously, after that point, the former six-division world champion started to make amends. He went to Twitter and sent out apologies to Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao. It was mostly about him insinuating that Pacquiao was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Pacquiao accepted the apology and has since dropped the defamation lawsuit against de la Hoya and Richard Shaefer. Dropping the lawsuit was the final hurdle to ending the Cold war that has hurt boxing in the past few years.

Now, I hope it is finally time to bury the hatchet and start making the best fights in boxing. Just what matches are now possible with the truce? Here’s a quick rundown.

Nonito Donaire versus Abner Mares – If the truce was made a little earlier, this fight could be scheduled by now. But Mares still has to defeat Joseph Agbeko for the IBF title before he can hook up with Donaire, who is still with Top Rank. We can actually crown an undisputed champion in the bantamweight within the year if Anselmo Moreno fights Donaire first.

Nonito Donaire versus Jorge Arce – If Donaire decides to go up in weight, he can get a mouth-watering fight against Travieso. Although Arce is past his prime, he still is one of the best blood-and-guts warriors in boxing.

Chris John versus Yuriorkis Gamboa – Arum planned a mega-fight between Gamboa and Juanma Lopez for later this year but the plans were messed up when Lopez lost. Matching up the long-time champion against the up-and-coming Gamboa could be very interesting.

Miguel Cotto versus Saul Alvarez – While most boxing fans still want to see a rematch between Cotto and Antonio Margarito, wait. Check that. While most boxing fans still want to see Cotto beat Margarito to a bloody pulp, an interesting match-up for the Puerto Rican is the young red-haired fighter from Mexico. Alvarez has been turning heads as of late and he is the one who will carry the cudgel for Mexican boxing after this generation’s greats call it a career.

Manny Pacquiao versus Victor Ortiz – This may not be necessarily the fight the boxing world wants to see but Ortiz is at least a live opponent. He is the only champion at welterweight who is familiar to the general public. With his big victory over Andre Berto, Ortiz broke into the short-list of possible Pacquiao opponents and because the rift between Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank is settled, there is a bigger chance that Ortiz might be next in line.

All these matches would hat have been possible without peace between two of boxing’s biggest organizations. Now that the wall is broken, the healing will start. The sport has been deeply affected by the rift between the two but hopefully, the wounds can still heal.

source: gma