FanHouse OscarDeLaHoya

Victor Ortiz's mother abandoned him at the age of 7. Five years later, his father left, too. So, it's surprising to hear the 22-year-old light welterweight boxing star say that his life is still "hell."

"When you're champion, everyone wants to take it from you," Ortiz told FanHouse recently." So, you have to put yourself physically and mentally through hell to keep what you have already."

Paul Spadafora is sitting in a hotel room just outside of Pittsburgh, the city where he grew up, talking about coming back.

It seems that's all boxers do these days, is come back. Well, Spadafora is really coming back, he says for the last time. The former IBF lightweight champion will fight Wednesday night against Ivan Bustos in a junior welterweight bout in downtown Pittsburgh.

This is the beginning of a comeback for Spadafora, who at 33, needs this break. He got one years ago when he was this young undefeated fighter who beat veteran Israel Cardona on ESPN2 to win the IBF lightweight title. He's also fought on HBO and earned millions of dollars for hitting and moving and raising his arms in victory since winning the belt in 1999.

But over the last few years, Spadafora's life resembled an irritated engine.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Many experts think Victor Ortiz, who is currently ranked third by the WBA, is the next boxing superstar. Is he poised to be the next Oscar De La Hoya? In this video we talk to him about it as he prepares for his June 27th fight against Marcos Maidana, a fighter who has 25 wins, 24 of which are by knockout.

Check out the video after the jump.

No one has yet beaten Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring, but ESPN's Brian Kenny gave Mayweather a beating in a hotly contested interview Wednesday. Kenny dodged Mayweather's verbal insults for 13 minutes and peppered Mayweather with strong arguments, making his case that Manny Pacquiao has taken the title of best pound-for-pound boxer in the world away from Mayweather, and that if Mayweather wants it back, he has to take it in the ring.

On Saturday afternoon, I told someone that I thought Floyd Mayweather Jr. would beat Manny Pacquiao, if the fight between the world's two best boxers finally materializes. After watching Pacquiao destroy Ricky Hatton on Saturday night, I no longer think that.

In fact, I now think this: Pacquiao, the little man who started his professional boxing career in the Philippines fighting at 106 pounds, would beat any boxer at any weight class under 160. Yes, you read that right: Pacquiao would have to move all the way up to middleweight before I'd bet against him.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. is back, ending his brief retirement from boxing.

The undefeated five-division champion plans to announce Saturday his return to the sport with a July fight against WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, a person close to the fight confirmed Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the fight hadn't been officially announced.

LAS VEGAS -- With 6,000 screaming fans crammed into a cordoned off portion of the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, Manny Pacquiao stepped onto a scale and tipped it at 138 pounds. Then came Ricky Hatton; his weight was announced at 140 pounds.

Too bad they aren't fighting this evening.

It is virtually impossible to find a superstar athlete these days for whom some disdain can't be mustered. Michael Phelps gets busted. LeBron James gets the benefit of the NBA's preferential refereeing. The Williams Sisters get surly. Rafael Nadal showed some audacity by suggesting tennis adjust its schedule to his liking. And Derek Jeter is a Yankee.

But there is Manny Pacquiao, all 5 feet, 6 inches and 140 pounds of him. What is there about him not to like?

When Affliction announced its partnership with Golden Boy Promotions, it was seen as a big deal for mixed martial arts that the top boxing promoter was getting involved in MMA.

But does Golden Boy really have big plans for MMA? After Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya announced his retirement from boxing, I asked him about his goals as a promoter, and I was interested in what he didn't say.

Hours after Oscar De La Hoya announced that he was retiring from boxing, I asked him what his goals are in the business world, and what he wants to accomplish in the second act of his career, as the head of Golden Boy Promotions. De La Hoya said he embraces the challenge, and that while boxing is his first love, he is also proud of investing in other sports, including soccer.