De La Hoya vs. Forbes Gambling Preview

BOX: De La Hoya set for tune-up bout

As a -1700 favorite, oddsmakers expect Oscar De La Hoya to make short work of Steve Forbes this Saturday.

De La Hoya meets Forbes on HBO for what is expected to be an easy tune-up for a September rematch with ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Coverage of this bout begins at 10 pm ET and along with our regular odds, you can also bet on whether this fight will go Over or Under 9 ½ rounds in our Boxing Props section.

At the age of 35, ‘The Golden Boy’ De La Hoya isn’t the dominant fighter he once was but he’s still a big name and huge draw. De La Hoya, 38-5 in his 43 professional fights, has lost three of his last five matches however.

The losses to Shane Mosely, Bernard Hopkins and more recently, Mayweather, show that the aging De La Hoya isn’t the same fighter he was at the start of the decade but his most recent victory, a sixth-round TKO over Ricardo Mayorga in 2006, shows he still has some fight left in him.

More focused on his promotional firm, Golden Boy Promotions, in recent years, De La Hoya hasn’t been in the ring all that often of late. He has fought just four times in the last four years and this fight is supposed to be a tune-up for a September 20th rematch with Mayweather.

The odds for the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather match are already available here at Sportsbook.com. The winner by split decision last May, Mayweather is the favorite at -285 odds. The boxing star, who was recently on Dancing with the Stars and also made his pro wrestling debut at WrestleMania XXIV, will need to get back into boxing mode after spending the last few months concentrating on other things.

De La Hoya is listed at +225 odds and that could be a bargain as he’s completely focused on boxing at the moment.

An interesting aspect of this Saturday’s fight is that De La Hoya is being trained by Mayweather Sr. while Forbes, 33-4 in his pro career, is being trained by Mayweather Sr.’s brother, Jeff.

A contestant on the television show, The Contender, Forbes has never been knocked down in his 11 years as a pro but he hasn’t had any previous big-name fights either. Just getting this match is like winning the lottery for the 31 year-old and it could turn into a huge payday.

Tune-up fights are not always money in the bank though. The Golden Boy barely escaped from a 2004 fight with the unknown Felix Sturm to get his match with Hopkins three months later.

In 2005, Zab Judah was supposed to have an easy time with Carlos Baldomir in preparation for a fight with Mayweather. Baldomir shocked Judah with a unanimous decision victory but Judah still got his match with Mayweather, another unanimous decision loss.