Caz
2nd May 2007, 11:17 AM
Oscar de la Hoya v Floyd Mayweather
Date: Sunday 6 May
Start: 0330 BST
Venue: Las Vegas
Listen: BBC Radio Five Live
Updates: BBC Sport website and mobile
Oscar de la Hoya says Floyd Mayweather's jibes will spur him to greater heights when the two meet for their Las Vegas superfight on Saturday.
The clash at the MGM Grand promises to be the richest in boxing history.
De la Hoya, 34, said: "Everything that comes out of his mouth just makes me work that much harder. There is no respect whatsoever there. "When a fighter talks trash, for some reason it just sparks something in me. It takes me to a whole new level."
Six-weight world champion De la Hoya is defending his WBC light middleweight belt against the unbeaten Mayweather, a world champion at four weights.
De la Hoya is reportedly being paid £15m and Mayweather, 30, £6m.
And the clash could surpass the record 2m pay-per-view sales set by Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II in 1997.
It has already set a record for the biggest live gate at £9.6m, surpassing the Holyfield-Lennox Lewis rematch in 1999.
Tickets for ringside seats are exchanging hands for £10,000 and the bout will be seen in 176 countries. De la Hoya, who has 38 wins (30 KOs) and four losses, has generated £245m in pay-per-view revenue alone since 1995.
Mayweather, who is 37(24)-0, is arguably boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, but does not come close to his fellow American's marketability.
With the two combatants being billed by many as potential saviours of boxing, they are under tremendous pressure to deliver a classic fight.
They have also traded insults throughout an 11-city promotional tour ahead of the fight - and it has been claimed that De la Hoya's antipathy towards his opponent will affect the way he goes about the fight.
But De la Hoya said: "I am not going to fight angry. I trained angry, but I am not going to fight angry and that is going to be the difference.
"As the fight gets closer and closer, the way he acts, you tend to see he is getting more nervous and more nervous and more nervous. "I can see these things and obviously a big event like this can make you jumpy. As the fight gets closer, we can see it at first hand 24-7."
Date: Sunday 6 May
Start: 0330 BST
Venue: Las Vegas
Listen: BBC Radio Five Live
Updates: BBC Sport website and mobile
Oscar de la Hoya says Floyd Mayweather's jibes will spur him to greater heights when the two meet for their Las Vegas superfight on Saturday.
The clash at the MGM Grand promises to be the richest in boxing history.
De la Hoya, 34, said: "Everything that comes out of his mouth just makes me work that much harder. There is no respect whatsoever there. "When a fighter talks trash, for some reason it just sparks something in me. It takes me to a whole new level."
Six-weight world champion De la Hoya is defending his WBC light middleweight belt against the unbeaten Mayweather, a world champion at four weights.
De la Hoya is reportedly being paid £15m and Mayweather, 30, £6m.
And the clash could surpass the record 2m pay-per-view sales set by Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II in 1997.
It has already set a record for the biggest live gate at £9.6m, surpassing the Holyfield-Lennox Lewis rematch in 1999.
Tickets for ringside seats are exchanging hands for £10,000 and the bout will be seen in 176 countries. De la Hoya, who has 38 wins (30 KOs) and four losses, has generated £245m in pay-per-view revenue alone since 1995.
Mayweather, who is 37(24)-0, is arguably boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, but does not come close to his fellow American's marketability.
With the two combatants being billed by many as potential saviours of boxing, they are under tremendous pressure to deliver a classic fight.
They have also traded insults throughout an 11-city promotional tour ahead of the fight - and it has been claimed that De la Hoya's antipathy towards his opponent will affect the way he goes about the fight.
But De la Hoya said: "I am not going to fight angry. I trained angry, but I am not going to fight angry and that is going to be the difference.
"As the fight gets closer and closer, the way he acts, you tend to see he is getting more nervous and more nervous and more nervous. "I can see these things and obviously a big event like this can make you jumpy. As the fight gets closer, we can see it at first hand 24-7."