The Oscar De La Hoya Lottery!!!!

All boxers get your tickets ready, because the Oscar De La Hoya Lottery is up and running once again. In regards to news yesterday of Floyd Mayweather Jr retiring, there is now two chances to fight Oscar instead of just one. We have a date open in September and then one in December. Now many are wondering, who is in the lottery. Glad you ask. Lets take a look at the qualified fighters. As you know Oscar loves the big show so he is looking for great competition with ticket selling power. Update: Oscar De La Hoya is now only fighting one more time with the date being December 6 on HBO PPV. This will be Oscar De La Hoya's career finale and expect it to be huge. The opponent is still unknown, but is most likely going to be the winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight from July 26. If Cotto wins, you can pretty much be certain he will be the one to fight De La Hoya. Now fighters anything can happen in boxing, so wait till the fight happens before totally dismissing the chance. Remember Floyd just up and retired and changed everything, so anything can happen.

• The most qualified fighter is Miguel Cotto. He is an undefeated two division champion and the current WBA Welterweight Champion. He is considered by many to be the best Welterweight in the world. However he has a July 26 fight with Antonio Margarito. If Cotto wins, he could be considered for the September Lottery fight but more likely the December Lottery fight.

• Antonio Margarito is the next qualified fighter in the lottery. However as stated, he is busy with a July 26 fight against Miguel Cotto. If he wins, he could stretch to fight in September but probably be best for the December lottery fight. Margarito is a strong Welterweight and is considered to be right under Cotto as the best Welterweight in the world. Margarito's weakness is ticket selling power. Yeah that could hurt his chances.

• Vernon Forrest is another qualified fighter that could be ready to fight in September depending on the results of his fight this evening against Sergio Mora. Forrest is the WBC Super Welterweight Champion and he could be available for either the September or December lottery fight. More than likely De La Hoya would want to meet him at a catchweight. However Forrest's weakness is his ticket selling power. That could hurt him too. No Longer in the Lottery after losing his WBC Super Welterweight Title on June 7, 2008 to Sergio Mora.

• Winky Wright is probably the most available fighter we have right now. He has no current fight scheduled and has been asking to fight De La Hoya for a long time. He is a former Junior Middleweight Champion and Middleweight Championship Challenger. He is still regarded as one of the best Pound 4 Pound fighters in the world. Winky's weaknesses in the draft is weight because De La Hoya may consider Winky, who has not fought under 160 since 2005, too big. Winky's last fight was at 170 against Bernard Hopkins in July 2007. Winky does not have strong ticket selling power. Winky also has an akward fighting style which makes most fighters avoid fighting him.

• Felix Trinidad is still a possible candidate in the lottery. The two fighters have history, after the controversial Majority Decision win Trinidad has over De La Hoya from 1999. The rematch has been something De La Hoya has wanted ever since that day but has never been able to land. Trinidad has no fight scheduled but wants to fight. The interest in the fight is still there. The only issue comes down to weight. De La Hoya does not really want to fight above 154lbs and Trinidad does not want to come under a catchweight of 165lbs. However money talks very loud and Trinidad could be a possible pick for most likely the December Lottery fight if any however both September and December are available. I say December is more likely because of the difference in weight, both would need the extra time to reach whatever weight is agreed upon if a fight is to take place.

Long Shots in the Lottery Fight:

1. Zab Judah: August fight scheduled already, if he wins he could be possible for December.


2. Joshua Clottey: Fight against Judah scheduled, but no name recognition


3. Ricky Hatton: Very small fighter who sucks above 140 and is promoted by Golden Boy Apparently Hatton was offered the September date and has declined due to need of preparation and the fact he remembers what a good ass whooping feels like from a bigger man. Refer to his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Since Oscar is bigger than Floyd, Ricky declined.
4. Manny Pacquiao: Small fighter at 135lbs in June, but has the potential to create a huge mega fight.

When it comes to availabilty, Winky Wright is the man. If it comes to marketability, Miguel Cotto is the winner for one of the lottery fights. However there are two lottery fights on the line, September and December. Who will it be? Will it be your favorite fighter? Will it be you if you are one of the fighters listed? It is said that sometime this coming week we will see who wins the September Lottery fight. Stay Tuned to find out the results, and good luck to all the fighters.

*****************************UPDATE*************************

Now that Vernon Forrest lost tonight, he is no longer a candidate for the Oscar De La Hoya Lottery.

• Paul Williams, who won very impressively tonight against Carlos Quintana to reclaim his belt, is now a candidate for the Oscar De La Hoya Lottery. Williams is a tall southpaw and the WBO Welterweight Champion. He presents a huge challenge for Oscar but could possibly considered for either the September or December Lottery Fight. His weakness at this point is ticket selling power.
• Sergio Mora, who upset Vernon Forrest to claim the WBC Super Welterweight Title De La Hoya used to have, is now a candidate for the Oscar De La Hoya Lottery Fight for either September or December. Mora has great boxing skills and is from and still resides in East Los Angeles. Since both De La Hoya and Mora are both from East Los Angeles, you get the hometown vibe. Mora has great name and fan recognition from being the winner of the first season of The Contender.

As stated, Vernon Forrest is no longer a candidate for the Oscar De La Hoya Lottery after losing his title this evening. One of the must requirements for all fighters to be involved in the lottery is you must keep winning. By losing Vernon Forrest forfeited his ticket. Good luck to the new candidates in their bid to win one of two Lottery fights with Oscar De La Hoya.

Ricky Hatton was apparently offered to step in and fight in the September date but has declined. Ricky's father Ray said it would not be enough time for Ricky to prepare. He says Ricky is focused on his November fight with Paulie Malignaggi.