Oscar De La Hoya delivers honest verdict on Mayweather vs Mike Tyson

Oscar De La Hoya, who lost a split decision to Floyd Mayweather in 2007, has given an honest assessment of his former foe’s exhibition match with Mike Tyson.

It was reported earlier this week that, on April 25, the two legends will headline an event in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This follows the news that Mayweather has filed a lawsuit against American TV network Showtime and Stephen Espinoza, claiming that he is owed “at least” $340 million.

The former five-division world champion’s last professional outing, which was broadcast on Showtime PPV, saw him handily defeat UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017.

Since then, Mayweather has been involved in several exhibitions, but the 48-year-old has now set his sights on a former world heavyweight champion.

Tyson, meanwhile, is no stranger to an exhibition himself, having previously had a non-competitive bout with pound-for-pound legend Roy Jones Jr in 2020.

‘Iron Mike’ then entered an eight-round bout with internet star Jake Paul in 2024, which saw him suffer a convincing points defeat almost 20 years on from his previous professional outing, a sixth-round stoppage loss to Kevin McBride.

Partly because of this, many have ridiculed the very idea of Tyson, at 59 years old, entering an exhibition with Mayweather, whose career-highest weight as a professional was 151lbs.

De La Hoya, however, has told ESNEWS that the event could be “fun”, or at least more popular than UFC boss Dana White’s recent Zuffa Boxing shows.

“It’s an exhibition. You have two legends. If they [give] us a little glimpse of the past, I think it’ll be fun.

“It’ll probably draw more people than what Zuffa is drawing now. That’s for sure.”

The Golden Boy Promotions boss has been highly critical of White’s Zuffa Boxing outfit in general, hence why he saw this as an opportunity to further lambast his promotional rival.