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Los Angeles - Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya says despite a bitter ongoing feud outside of the ring, he hasn't given up trying to convince Filipino Manny Pacquiao to fight his client Floyd Mayweather.
"That fight has to happen," De La Hoya said on Tuesday of the proposed bout which fell apart earlier this month in a drug-testing dispute. "It's too big not to happen. We just have to cross one hurdle."
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday to promote a non-title junior welterweight fight, De La Hoya said Mayweather and Pacquiao will fight sooner than people think.
Pacquiao, boxing's pound-for-pound king, is scheduled to square off against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Texas on March 13.
Mayweather and Pacquiao almost cut a deal this month, but claimed they couldn't agree on a 10-day gap in the timing of drug tests prior to their proposed March 13 bout.
"The public will hopefully make him change his mind," De La Hoya said. "Why would you not want to earn 40 million dollars? Why would you not want to show the public that all this speculation is nonsense? Be the one to stand up and say it."
De La Hoya also said Mayweather and Shane Mosley are in talks to possibly meet May 1, likely in Las Vegas.
