I had the opportunity to catch up with Golden Boy promoter and former world champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya to talk a wide array of topics. For the full breakdown and transcription, visit our friends at Bad Left Hook. As it relates to Saturday's Khan vs. Peterson fight, I wanted to press De La Hoya to discuss why Peterson deserved the fight. I also wanted to get De La Hoya on the record to explain why the Timothy Bradley vs. Amir Khan fight never happened. You'll recall Khan told me there's nothing left for him at 140lbs and should he beat Peterson, plans to move to welterweight. De La Hoya's responses are below.
On Lamont Peterson's past losses and chance Saturday:
"Obviously, styles make fights in this game. He's one of the most talented fighters out there in the world today. It's gonna be a very explosive fight. I believe Lamont's style calls for one of those fights where if you're not ready for him, he can beat you. I'm sure Amir Khan is in the best shape of his life. Peterson has fought the best out there. He's come short a couple of times, against top guys like Victor Ortiz, which he had a draw with. But then obviously there's no shame in that because Victor Ortiz is a great champion."
On why Bradley vs Khan hasn't happened:
"The only difficulty there that I see is that Top Rank doesn't want to make fights with us, or anybody out there. That's the only hurdle that boxing has right now, is that Top Rank does not want to make fights with nobody."
For more Khan vs. Peterson coverage, be sure to follow SB Nation's boxing blog Bad Left Hook as well as SB Nation DC.