According to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Oscar De La Hoya will be holding a conference call tomorrow, Thursday, August 28th, at 2PM ET to announce a mega-clash with WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Although no one involved with the fight would confirm, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, did say, "I made a commitment that I wouldn't say anything and that tomorrow there would be an announcement. I'm not allowed to make any comments. Everything will be clear on Thursday."
The fight is expected to take place on December 6th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at an already agreed upon welterweight limit of 147 pounds. Both fighters also already agreed to use 8-ounce gloves. The final purse split has yet to be disclosed, but last week, De La Hoya backed off of his initial stance of a 70-30 split and upped the ante by throwing in an additional 3%. Freddie Roach also came on record recently revealing that Oscar's offer had increased to a 65-35 split, stating, "Oscar gave up the five percent Manny asked for but for some reason the deal is not being closed."
Golden Boy Promotions has released the following press release regarding tomorrow's anticipated conference call:
**SPECIAL MEDIA ALERT**
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL
OSCAR DE LA HOYA AND GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS TO MAKE MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING TEN-TIME CHAMPION'S IMMEDIATE FUTURE THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2:00PM ET/11:00AM PT
WHO:
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
TEN-TIME WORLD CHAMPION
RICHARD SCHAEFER
CEO, GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS
WHEN:
Thursday, August 28 2:00pm ET/11:00am PT
That being said, the last time De La Hoya held a major impromptu press conference like this, everyone thought he was set to announce a rematch with Bernard Hopkins only to find out that the two were really on hand to reveal a new partnership. Wouldn't it be funny if Floyd Mayweather Jr. was revealed as De La Hoya's opponent instead? Or even funnier, what if he just announces his own retirement? Until tomorrow, the world awaits.