Stealing Kevin Iole: Episode 2

I'm not going to do full Iole mailbags all the time. Actually it'll be rare. Again, I don't hate Kevin Iole or anything like that. He's occasionally VERY VERY hilariously off-base, but for the most part I don't get offended by him. He's a fan, and I like that.

He does occasionally throw out a real gem, like this one from the Floyd-centered mailbag:

DUCKING OSCAR

I think Mayweather is ducking De La Hoya, because this time, the “Big O” would have knocked him out.

Ken King

Sorry, Ken. We agree to disagree. I think if they had fought again, Mayweather would have stopped Oscar. Did you watch De La Hoya struggle against Steve Forbes?

Zuhhh?

Did the reader watch that fight?

You know what? No. Maybe I didn't watch the fight. Maybe Ken King, letter-writer to Yahoo! expert Kevin Iole, also missed this one. Y'know, the one where Oscar de la Hoya (official scores: 120-108, 119-109, 119-109) "struggled against" Steve Forbes.

I only saw the one where Oscar dominated basically every moment of the fight and got pot-shotted occasionally, but did fail to knock Forbes down and out. Just like everyone else Forbes has ever fought.

Just because Oscar was supposed to knock Forbes out doesn't mean he had to to make that fight look any easier for him. Everyone on earth called it a glorified sparring session by the 10th round. Also referred to as "an infomercial" for the now-aborted rematch with Mayweather.

It was one of the tune-uppiest tune-up fights you'll ever see. Oscar very clearly, very simply won the fight. There were few rounds where I even momentarily debated who got the 10-9. Forbes is savvy and tough and has a great chin. Add that to the fact that Oscar is 35 years old and was fighting at his lowest weight since 2001, and you have the reasons that Forbes stayed on his feet all night.

de la Hoya didn't fade down the stretch as he's so notably done in recent years. He was never in any danger whatsoever.

Maybe it's as simple as myself and Kevin Iole having differing opinions on the idea of "struggling." I doubt it. But maybe!