Oscar De La Hoya is a boxing Hall of Famer and has been involved in the sport in one manner or another for more than 30 years. The CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, whose flagship fighter is Canelo Alvarez, De La Hoya figures to have a significant edge in boxing acumen over music mogul Jay-Z.
Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation Sports, signed Miguel Cotto to a lucrative contract and will promote his middleweight title defense on Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas against Alvarez.
Most of De La Hoya's incorrect picks have come in fights in which he's promoted a Floyd Mayweather opponent. De La Hoya mistakenly tabbed Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Alvarez to top 'Money May.'
But he opted to put up $100,000 to back his confidence in Alvarez over Cotto. If Alvarez wins, Jay-Z will donate $100,000 to De La Hoya's charity of choice, the White Memorial Medical Center's cancer unit. If Cotto wins, De La Hoya will donate $100,000 to the Shawn Carter Foundation.
At most sports books, Alvarez is between a 2-1 and 3-1 favorite to defeat Cotto.
On a conference call Tuesday, De La Hoya also predicted the fight would sell 1.5 million on pay-per-view. I think I might know a sports columnist who may want to bet him big money that the final sales aren't nearly that high.
