Mayweather-De La Hoya
I know we’ve been talking quite a bit about whether there’ll be any arrangement between the participants concerning the outcome of the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight.
But I wonder why real boxing fans have much interest in this fight.
I know I don’t. I see its outcome as almost a forgone conclusion; Mayweather wins as he chooses in a thoroughly non-compelling fight.
It’s hard to imagine enthusiastically looking forward to this event. Has either guy ever been in an exceptional fight? Oscar has had two very good fights with Vargas and Quartey, and Mayweather has had one against Castillo. I think that’s it.
In the last three weeks, there’ve been two fights (Raphael Marquez-Israel Vazquez and Juan Manuel Marquez-Marco Antonio Barrera) that you could anticipate would be fight-of-the-year candidates. Both fights were every bit as good as one could have hoped. These guys are all fighters who virtually never disappoint. These seem more like the kinds of matches you can get hyped up about.
Is this all about De La Hoya being a kind of pop star? If so, who makes up his audience? He’s getting kind of long in the tooth for teenage Latinas to care about.
What am I not getting here?
posted by Anonymous @ 9:43 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I can't get excited about De La Hoya-Mayweather even a little bit. Oscar is a business man who gets the urge to fight from time to time, and the establishment/HBO is so desperate to get Mayweather into a Super-Fight, that he'll most likely win, they can't see straight!
It's easy to grasp why Mayweather wants De La Hoya. As for Oscar, I really believe he thinks deep down inside beating Mayweather, the supposed best P4P fighter in Boxing, will get rid of the ghost of some past fights that caused his legacy to take a hit.
Remember, the fighter Oscar measures and compares himself with most is Ray Leonard. I think he equates a win over Mayweather to Leonard's over Hagler. I think if De La Hoya wins, his legacy will grow dramatically. That's certainly the way I'll view it.
The outcome of De La Hoya-Mayweather won't change the way I see them today. Unless one takes the other apart an it's no contest. Which I don't see happening.
One more thing, I don't see De La Hoya being in over his head nearly to the degree others do. Who the Fuck has Mayweather been in with so outstanding? Castillo clearly beat him in their first fight. I know he's matured and improved, but even this version of De La Hoya is better than any fighter he's been in with.
The reason I'm most convinced Mayweather comes out on top is, De La Hoya will be fighting as the puncher in this fight. Since he moved up to 147, that's not him at his best. Count on Mayweather to force De La Hoya to come to him, and that works to his favor in a big way.
The more I think about this fight, I'm convinced Mayweather wins because of the pattern and style that'll unfold during it.
When De La Hoya fought Mosley in the rematch, he circled and boxed. Unlike the first fight where he thought he was the bigger-stronger guy because Mosley was moving up. Sort of the mindset Holmes had fighting Michael Spinks the first time.
The De La Hoya-Mosley rematch was close. The TV viewers thought De La Hoya won and the ringside viewers saw it for Mosley. In that fight, Oscar circled and boxed, while picking his spots. That worked for him basically because Shane was fine fighting in the role of Joe Frazier, pressing the fight. Don't look for Mayweather to do that.
Mayweather will bring Oscar to him. Meaning cleaner shots, exploiting his faster hands. Also, with De La Hoya following, Mayweather, Floyd knows where Oscar will be at all times. Oscar has to turn the fight into a fight. That's his only chance. I just don't think it'll go that way. Mayweather will be able to move just enough while getting off, that it'll keep Oscar a step behind. That's because Oscar isn't nearly as effective when he's trying to cut off the ring and force his opponent to fight. Unless his opponent is someone who's totally overmatched like Arturo Gatti.
While I fully expect Mayweather to win, I also share Frank's opinion that De La Hoya is far from over his head in this fight. As Frank says, Oscar (even this close to his expiration date) is better than any fighter that Mayweather has faced. He's also a veteran of a significant number of big fights. He won't be intimidated and his size and power make him a serious threat; I really don't know how well Floyd takes a punch. That may be a moot point, of course, given Mayweather's edge in speed and fluid combination punching.
Still, I feel no need to profess _complete_ indifference to this fight; these are two major figures in the sport, and seeing them in the same ring is noteworthy, whether it's the most natural or legitimate match-up out there or not.
As for why the public is so hetted up -- and not just Latina teenyboppers (lateenyboppers?) -- that has everything to do with HBO's franchise stake in Oscar and its subsidiary build-up of Floyd. Most people pay little or no attention to actual boxing, but a suitably hyped "super fight" is another animal entirely.
Rich,
None of us know how good Mayweather takes it. I hope we find out in this fight.
I'm in-different towards it because I know if Mayweather wins, we'll be hearing from Rodeo Clowns like Lampley. that Mayweather is one of the all-time greats because he beat Oscar. Even though Mosley did it seven years ago.
Frank, what do you have against rodeo clowns? They are brave, hard-working, and funny. And they usually keep their mouths shut.
Anyone know what the odds are now?
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