"I'm not going to take any tune-ups. I'm coming to fight the best."

thehype: Boxingtalk would like to welcome Oscar De La Hoya to tonight's T.N.T. chat session

CoryR: Oscar, I appreciate you taking the time out to chat with us.  Zab Judah has let it be known that he would like to fight you immediatley.  Are you interested in fighting for the welterweight championship immediatley, or will you take a tune-up first?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Obviously, no tune up for me. If it's going to be at welterweight we've got to fight the best.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: If Judah is there we have no problem negotiating with his promoter

nardfan: Whats up Oscar?Its a pleasure.If you and Fernando Vargas see each other what is the reaction?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: He wants no part of me. I wanted to patch things up but he still has this anger towards me, so when we see each other it's like hi and bye.

attyg3: Oscar since you are a promoter now, why should we buy the PPV with Barrerra, the opponent he has is not well known and the undercard is weak, looks like a telefetura card to me.  The ESPN PPV looks to be a way better card, why is this PPV then.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Marco Antonio Barrera coming off his great win decided to take on not only the WBC, but also his number one mandatory, which is Fana. He is a legit contender. He's strong and it's going to be a very exciting fight. The undercard will be action packed with Montiel and Hernandez. Dan Rafael says it could be fight of the year and we've also got our Olympians Abner Mares and Vicente Escobedo fighting respective opponents.

Reg_One: Oscar, thanks for joining us this evening. My question to you is what fight was a bigger dissappointment to you personally the Trinidad or the 2nd Moseley fight? No disrespect but your wife has the most beautiful eyes on the planet man!..God Bless ya..Reg

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: No fight was a disappointment to me. Both fights gave me great memories to talk about to my grand kids.

AKay: Oscar would you fight the winner of tito vs wright? at a catch wieght of say 157? And why didnt you rematch tito after the first fight by having even purse parity 50/50?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: No. I will not go up past 154. My natural weight is 147. If there's going to be a catch weight, it can't be no more than 154. They didn't want to make that fight. It was as easy that.

BaronVonRoss: It's a real honor Oscar...your fight with Vargas is what sparked my passion for the sport.  What can you tell me about Vincente Escobedo and his upcoming fight?  He reminds me of a young you, and I'm glad you guys recognized the potential and signed him.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Exactly! He has good power, good speed, good kid outside the ring. He has the potential in moving three or four different weight classes. This is an Olympian that we're going to put all our efforts behind and this is a kid you want to watch out for.

Mino: Since I know u def dont want a rematch, when is your boy Nard gonna fight Tito again or he he just talkin to talk????? Inquiring minds want to know???

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Nard will fight Trinidad ANYTIME. The Trinidad's are the people who won't fight him. When they fought the first time Hopkins dominated.

litzauNEXTlegend: How's it going Oscar? Any interest in fighting Cory Spinks or are you only looking for belts\big money?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Like I said, I want to fight the very best and since Cory Spinks lost, we do have to go and think about Zab Judah, but we're just going after the best.

chodeberg1: Hi Oscar. Boxing is kind of a blue collar sport, but tends to cater to a white collar crowd in that you almost need a 2nd job to be able to catch PPVs, have HBO and Showtime, and definitely to go to a decent fight. Can you do some network TV promotions?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Most definitely. I feel that Golden Boy Promotions is going to take boxing to the next level. We're working on a lot of great things for the future and I'm hoping that it'll happen sooner than later.

ndnrb: Who would you rather fight  judah, spinks ,tyzu, or mayorga possibly? How would you rate the importance? Is Otis Griffin coming along as fast as hoped?Since the show didnt go over to good.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: I like the Tszyu fight, then Judah, then Spinks and then Mayorga. Otis Griffin is being promoted in Sacramento and he's drawing 5,000 people we want to get him the right following get him several wins and then we'll see what we do with him

Tee101: I'm anxious to see you get back in the ring, are you going to take a tune-up or just fight for a belt, also I know you dont care for Vargas, but will you give him a rematch?   Also thanks for chilling with us.  I'm one of your biggest fans.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: I'm not going to take any tune-ups. I'm coming to fight the best. There's no reason to give him a rematch. I beat him hands down.

gonard: oscar would you ever consider fighting winky wright at welterweight, as he says he would move down in weight to make a match.. and how hopeful is tszyu as your next opponent after he gets past hatton? Los Angeles is behind you. Thanks oscar.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: If he beats Trinidad then that's a guy that we have to consider. I won't go higher than 154, but if Winky Wright is the best over there then we'd have to consider him.

bmunoz@pulte.com: Oscar, I think it's great what you are doing for the sport of boxing. It motivates me to get into the business. Have you and your company thought of marketing boxers through commercials? Like when Hagler did the Right Guard" one, Ray Leonard and Pepsi."

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Most definitely. And the way to do that is to convince the networks that this sport will continue to grow. We're using all of our resources to hopefully change the image of boxing very soon.

Mastamind: thanks for taking the time..who wins Tito or Winky? Pac - Morales?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: I like Pacquiao and I like Winky.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: And Winky might even knock him out.

byrdman: oscar are you still concerned about your place in history? when you think about boxing, do you get motivated to be in the same class as duran, leonard, pep, robinson, and other pound for pound greats or are you fighting for money

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: History is what every fighter wants to write. I've accomplished a few things in my career and hopefully one day I could get inducted into the hall of fame and I'm going to continue making history with my fights.

KnockOut: Glad you made it, as Oscar the promoter realistically would Golden Boy Promotions ever have fights take place in Canada, I'm from Canada and the last megafight we had was Duran-RayLeonard in 1980.  We're starving Oscar! And do you see problems arising with Don King if Zab Judah was to be your next opponent? And if that fight does not work out, who do you fight next knowing Judah hold all major belts?  Thanks for making it Oscar, an honour.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: We know that Canada is a big boxing town and we're looking forward to building boxing back in Canada. It'll happen and it'll happen very soon. There's only one Oscar and sometimes I wish I could clone myself to make things happen.

J-Gon15: Hello Oscar, We saw what happen to Roy Jones when he went back down in weight, why should we believe you will be effective at 147? Also do you feel your legacy has been tainted after the fight with Hopkins? Meaning the controversy and signing B-Hop to GBP.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: We're acytually going to Puerto Rico in May. I'm doing my first card for the Puerto Rican fans.  My natural weight is 147. There's no doubt about that. I went up weight classes in order to fight these fighters that people wanted. I tried, I couldn't beat Hopkins, I beat Vargas and a couple of other guys at 154, but my weight is 147.

lovetofight: Oscar, being the new promoter on the scene...how about signing Chris Byrd after he dumps Don King in the next two weeks or so....make a pitch to go after a Byrd/Toney fight that everyone wants to see.....Believe me ....The Wlad talk is over this weekend

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: The heavyweight division right now is at its lowest point and that's the reasons why we're scouting fighters in that division. But Golden Boy Promotions is only interested in signing promotional free agents.

kelvone: oscar i read where you said that shane has your number..lets be real you beat him the second time around easy and i'm sure you can do it again!!!  On to my question..who presents the most problems at welterweight (oh and if you couldnt KO tito, winky wont)

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: The most problems at welterweight would have to be Zab Judah. He's a southpaw, he's fast quick and strong. That's one fighter that we have to study very carefully and make sure that we're ready for it if we fight him.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: three more

bart: oscar you have golden boy productions,and you signed hopkins,are there other free agents you have your eye on?also is exxecution day a set up for taylor/hopkins?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: There are several fighters that we're looking at. I don't know who is a free agent and who is not, but if you're a free agent and you want to contact us give GBP a holler.

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Hopkins and Taylor? It depends. If that's what Hopkins is going to want, we have to make sure that we listen to him.

wgjett3: Oscar, I'm a huge fan and I think you've made a great decision to come down in weight where you are more natural (even though I want you to kill Trinidad).  When should I plan on having friends over to watch you as the next main event?

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: I will probably be coming back in October or November but I don't know when I'm fighting. I will be fighting again...very soon.

thehype: Boxingtalk would like to thank Oscar De La Hoya for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us tonight

OSCAR_DE_LA_HOYA: Be Good Boxingtalk!