De La Hoya’s last fight to be in Vegas

“We’re looking at several options,” Schaefer said of the last opponent for De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion in six different weight classes. “It could be (Miguel) Cotto. It could be (Felix) Trinidad. We want Oscar’s last fight to be meaningful.”

The 35-year-old De La Hoya (39-5, 30 knockouts), who defeated Steve Forbes last month, was set to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 20 at the MGM in a rematch of Mayweather’s split-decision victory in May 2007. But Mayweather announced his retirement last week.

Ricky Hatton then was offered the Sept. 20 bout against De La Hoya but said no, choosing instead to honor a commitment to fight Paulie Malignaggi in November.

At that point, Golden Boy decided to reduce De La Hoya’s planned farewell tour from three fights to two.

“Whoever Oscar fights in his last fight, I promise you it will be spectacular, a night to remember,” Schaefer said. “We hope to have an opponent in place in the next couple of weeks.”

While Schaefer looks to complete the matchup for De La Hoya, he said Juan Manuel Marquez will face Joel Casamayor in a 12-round lightweight bout Sept. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden. Marquez lost his world super featherweight belt to Manny Pacquiao in a controversial split decision in March.

Should Marquez defeat Casamayor in September, Schaefer said he would push hard for a third Marquez-Pacquiao fight, perhaps in early 2009.

Schaefer said both De La Hoya’s final fight in December and the Marquez-Casamayor fight in September will be shown by HBO Pay Per View.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.