Oscar De La Hoya

[Reyaj]

Very surprised to see no posts on Oscar's big win this weekend. Here is an article I just found. While I think the author is going a little far, it was none the less a great win for the Golden Boy.

Saturday at Las Vegas
Junior middleweight
Oscar De La Hoya TK06 Ricardo Mayorga
Wins a junior middleweight title.

Records: De La Hoya, 38-4, 30 KOs; Mayorga 27-6-1

Rafael's remark: What a night, as De La Hoya looked fantastic beating the crap out of the loudmouthed bully from Nicaragua. Mayorga completely disrespected De La Hoya, his family and his heritage throughout the promotion and threatened to pull out because he was unhappy with his $2 million purse.

When it came time to finally fight, De La Hoya made him eat his words as well as a ton of left hooks and right hands. This was one of the Golden Boy's finest moments as he delivered an explosive and ferocious performance. He was the big favorite, but few figured he would blow away the usually durable Mayorga.


De La Hoya, 33, showed no signs whatsoever of the 20-month layoff that followed his knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins. Instead, he looked fast and unveiled a powerful right hand that had not been a significant part of his arsenal in the past. He dropped Mayorga in the first, knocked him down twice more in the sixth and won virtually every second of the fight.


The 13,076 fans in the arena erupted with such joy after his victory that I will never forget the surge of electricity that shot through the crowd upon referee Jay Nady's stoppage. It was spine-tingling and made the hair on my neck stand up.


Is there any better way for De La Hoya to end his career? He erased the bitter memory of his KO loss to Hopkins in awesome fashion and won his 10th world title belt. Nothing he can do beyond this can ever match that high. If he wants another mega payday, he can pursue a fight/soap opera with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (the son of De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Sr.) or a rematch with Felix Trinidad. But for what reason?


De La Hoya doesn't need the dough (he's earned more than $200 million) and his place in history is secure; he has his health, a thriving businesses outside the ring, a wife who wants him to quit and a newborn son. This should be the fairy-tale ending to De La Hoya's career. He should listen to the old show-business axiom: Always leave them wanting more.

 

[wooly]

i ain't a big boxing fan, but i am extremely glad he won. Mayorga is a joke and an embarrassment to Boxing.


I saw Oscar De La Hoya in an Interview on TSN(canada) he said he was planning on fighting one or two more matches after this one and then to retire as champion.

 

[MindOverMatter]

That fight was worth every penny, Oscar fought like a true champion and completly outclassed his opponent in all areas. I'd pay a good buck to see a fight between him and Mayweather Jr happen, it would be one of the best fights ever.

A rematch vs Tito would be great too, I think Oscar has the tools and the experiance to beat him easy this time around. Oscar was the fighter who came up with the proper blueprint to beating Tito, he just couldn't execute it. Hopkins studied and used this exact same blueprint to completly dominate Tito. Later, Winky did the same thing. but, again, this would be one of those fights i'd tape to watch later.

 

[Bonhomme]

33's not that old these days.

I think the break did him good. Enabled him to get in maximum shape, sharpen his skills to a razor's edge, and be all healed up, rested, fresh, and ready to go.

I see no reason he doesn't have his best fights ahead of him if he can keep up the focus and intensity ... which may be difficult. Who could blame a multimillionaire for wanting to relax and enjoy life? But if he truly loves training and boxing, he may not even have peaked, all things considered ... as long as he spreads the fights out a bit.

 

[Cruise]

For boxing enthusiasts though, to see him fight Mayweather, Jr. could definitely be a fight for the decade...

Both these guys really have nothing to prove... although if challenging each other, the drama would be ridiculous...

 

[Joe The Homophobe]

I like Oscar because he is one of the few decent honorable people in boxing. He comes from humble beginnings and has stayed humble even after success.

 

[MrS]

Pretty good fight, Mayorga is a bit of a bum though compared to top professionals. His main claim to fame is versus Vernon Forrest, who having said that is no picnic.

I don't think ODLH will fight PBF (Pretty Boy Floyd), since his dad trains him and has already said that he will be against any such fight and won't have a part in it.

 

[MrS]

Also, ODLH vs Tito was slightly bull****, you should be able to figure out why if you watched it.

 

[CLOONEY]

Yeah, Oscar V Tito 1 was a decision win for Oscar in my opinion.

Oscar V Tito will not happen, Tito has retired, its time people leave him alone.

Oscar looked great against Mayorga, I picked Oscar by UD, but I didnt think it would be that brutal crushing, I doubt anybody did. There was just no way to know Oscar would look so damn strong and powerful at 154, considering he has never looked that big since leaving welterweight, guess its just that his body has grown naturally.

 

[CLOONEY]

Oscar V Floyd is next in September, without Floyd Sr in the corner. Mark my words.

 

[Latinoman]

Jesus Christ...the man did exactly what he was suppose to do; beat on an overhyped above average fighter.

Trinidad did the same too.

Why did you think they matched Tito (after 2 years outside boxing) with Mayorga? Why did you think they matched ODLH?

ODLH is past his prime. Trinidad is past his prime. Roy Jones Jr. is past his prime.

A past prime ODLH fighting some guy that is moving up in weight (same guy that is avoiding the best possible match up there) is not "fight of the decade material". There no two fighters in boxing today that can do a "fight of the decade".

 

[Cruise]

There's a difference between a fight of the decade and a fight of the century. I'm not talking about Ali Frazier type... I'm talking about the best fight of the 2000-2010 decade... numbskull.

 

[darkmenace]

i loved the match, im half Nicaraguan and I was rooting for De La Hoya. Mayorga was an embarassment to us Nicaraguans. The fight was awesome, you could see the difference in them, the professionalism in style from De La Hoya and the street brute style from Mayorga. Since the first drop in the first round, I new Mayorga was goin down. LOL

And no not all Nicaraguan boxers are like that, classic fighter Alexis Arguello was an honorable and excellent fighter back in the day, made and still does make Nicaraguans proud.

 

[CLOONEY]

Jesus Christ...the man did exactly what he was suppose to do; beat on an overhyped above average fighter.

Trinidad did the same too.

Why did you think they matched Tito (after 2 years outside boxing) with Mayorga? Why did you think they matched ODLH?

ODLH is past his prime. Trinidad is past his prime. Roy Jones Jr. is past his prime.

A past prime ODLH fighting some guy that is moving up in weight (same guy that is avoiding the best possible match up there) is not "fight of the decade material". There no two fighters in boxing today that can do a "fight of the decade".

Two division champ. Beat numerous world champs, including Forrest, a well schooled amateur boxer.

That is not just above average, that is a very good fighter. DLH was meant to win, but he won even more impressively than Tito did, or at least equal, that was not expected by ANYONE I read or heard from. If you predicted this before the fight, show us the link to where you posted such a statement?

DLH was meant to win, but not in such a brutal fashion, considering Mayo took some HUGE punches off both Forrest and Tito, BOTH recognised a LOT harder hitters than DLH himself at 154. DLH has not looked powerful whatsoever at 154, not against Mosley, Vargas, Campus, Castillejo, Coley, heck, he didnt even look that powerful against Arturo Gatti in his last fight at 147 I beleive.

In all seriousness, DLH delivered a beating that was far easier, and far more brutal than ANYONE expected, that is what the hype is about.

And there are DEFINATELY 2 fighters out there that could make a fight of the decade. The P4P superstar, and recognised by most experts in the sport as one of the greatest potentials in history Floyd Mayweather, against the biggest money maker outside the heavyweight division, BAR NONE, Oscar De La Hoya. Sounds like a fight of the decade to me.

DLH did 875,000 PPVs against Mayo, IMAGINE what he would do against Mayweather, easily over a million. That would go down as one of the biggest cards in PPV history outside the heavy division!

Oh, and one last thing, Mayo was NOT moving up in weight, he has fought at 154 NUMEROUS times before in his career. IF anyone is moving up in weight, it is DLH, remember, he started at 130lbs!

 

[jordan]

Oscar is a very good fighter, but he can't handle Mayweather i think. It would be a intesting fight, but Floyd's to fast.

 

[Latinoman]

There's a difference between a fight of the decade and a fight of the century. I'm not talking about Ali Frazier type... I'm talking about the best fight of the 2000-2010 decade... numbskull.

I have followed the sport of boxing for almost 30 years. I know what is a "fight of the decade". A past prime fighter fighting a fighter that is moving up (carefuly) in weight is NOT FIGHT OF DECADE material.

That fight is not nearly as good as the ones between Morales-Barrera or Morales-Pac...

A fight of decade material would be something like Cotto (if he turns out to be a great fighter) and Mayweather Jr. fighting in a couple of years. THAT is a fight of decade material between two prime fighters...both undefeated (or almost).

 

[Latinoman]

Guys stick to "dj" wannabe stuff. Let boxing analysis to those that understand the sport.

 

[CLOONEY]

I have followed the sport of boxing for almost 30 years. I know what is a "fight of the decade". A past prime fighter fighting a fighter that is moving up (carefuly) in weight is NOT FIGHT OF DECADE material.

That fight is not nearly as good as the ones between Morales-Barrera or Morales-Pac...

A fight of decade material would be something like Cotto (if he turns out to be a great fighter) and Mayweather Jr. fighting in a couple of years. THAT is a fight of decade material between two prime fighters...both undefeated (or almost).

So with all your knowledge over the last 30 years, you seem to have got a lot of your post wrong. Refer to my reply.

And to say Cotto would make a fight of the decade, obviously shows your lack of knowledge.

Oscar would be a FAR bigger draw than Cotto, and has established himself FAR MORE than Cotto.

Over a million buys between Oscar and Floyd, definately a fight of the decade.

How do you define fight of the decade though? You mention the Morales V Barerra fights, I have heard a LOT of experts calling Castillo V Coralles 1 as fight of the century.

Depends if you define "fight of the decade" as action packed, or based on historical importance. I.e. Hearns V Leonard 1.

 

[Reyaj]

I agree completely with what Clooney posted.

If you really look at Oscar's career, he's only been decideldly beaten by 1 figher, Bernard Hopkins who is like several weight classes above where Oscar would naturally fight.

vs Tito he gave the fight away

vs Mosley he lost a close decision the first time, and IMHO beat him in the rematch

So really 154 and below Oscar is an elite fighter. I do think Mayweather is the best P4P right now.... this would be a difficult fight for Oscar because he relies on his hand speed to beat opponents and no one has faster hands than Mayweather.

I think the only way to really beat Floyd is to pressure him like Castillo did the first time around...

I hope this fight does heppen cause it would be the biggest fight right now!