DLH on Dudey v Khan
18 April 2011 – Jonny Stapleton
Boxing Hall of Fame member Oscar De La Hoya admitted Paul McCloskey merits another shot at Amir Khan, but revealed the disgruntled Derry man will not get the rematch he deserves.
The Peoples Champion was not very accommodating when queried about the referees decision to stop McCloskey in the sixth round of the former undefeated European Champion’s WBA light welterweight world title fight with Amir Khan on Saturday night . However, despite avoiding questions about the unjust end to the fight with as much skill as he used to avoid punches, the former World champion did let slip that he thought the Irish star deserved a rematch.
The Golden Boy boss indirectly pointed out Dudey was hard done, but is determined to put the former European champion behind Khan and look forward to the next challenge. De La Hoya, who believes Khan was on course to win the fight regardless, praised Dudeys brave and warrior like effort, but says Khan will not be diverted of a path that will see him do battle with Timothy Bradley in the summer. Khans promoter, who also lashed out at Sky Sports and promised his list of champions will now work with Primetime in the future, has already agreed a deal with HBO and Bradley for a multi million dollar light welterweight unification fight.
Paul gave a good performance and showed why he is undefeated. He is talented and I feel he has a bright future ahead of him. The fight was stopped. Amir is not a doctor I am not a doctor, but that doctor that stopped the fight did his job. He is the expert. I have no idea why he was in the ring but again I am not a doctor. Obviously everyone is going to want a rematch, of course they will, but right now I have plans to bring Amir Khan back to the States to unify the titles. Does Paul deserve a rematch, yes he does. Yes Paul deserves a rematch, but we have plans. Paul will continue and do well, but we are going to Ameirca next. We are going to have the fight the whole world wants to see Timothy Bradley versus Amir Khan,” a defiant De La Hoya said before attacking SKY and airing his view on the TV drama that unfolded pre-fight.
“Sky made a big mistake. Golden Boy have an extensive library of fights. We have over 100 fighters most are world champions and we are going to sit down and work something out with Primetime now. We appreciate the fact they stuck behind Amir Khan. We know they want to be a boxing player- well they have the biggest boxing promoter in the world telling you right now we will work together. That is the bottom line.”
