Oscar's "showcase" goes as planned

by SC on May 3, 2008 11:47 PM EDT in News Comment 5 comments

Bad Left Hook Unofficial Scorecard
Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
Oscar de la Hoya	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	120
Steve Forbes	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	108

Official scores: 119-109, 119-109, 120-108

Image © AP

Oscar de la Hoya's return to the ring was all but completely advertised as a tune-up fight, almost a glorified sparring contest to prepare him for a proposed September rematch against pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

It turned out to be nothing more and nothing less. "The Golden Boy" used an effective jab and some re-energized legs that didn't fail him down the stretch to score an easy win over veteran Steve Forbes, exactly as everyone expected it would be. Official scores were 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108. I had a clean sweep for Oscar, 120-108.

Steve Forbes wasn't really uncompetitive, just out of his depth. He's a good fighter, too good for most guys to want to fight, and tough as hell. He kept up his 39-fight professional streak of never being knocked down.

Some are going to point to this as a mild rebirth for Oscar, but I say wait until we see him in against a better fighter than Forbes. During the fight, I tried to picture what Oscar was doing being employed against Mayweather. It's the right idea, jabbing and working the body, but Forbes is just not Floyd Mayweather. I think Oscar can always be competitive against Floyd, but I don't think he can beat him.

We're going to find out, though. Like it or not, Oscar-Floyd II is a reality.

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1st Round

I gave the first round to Forbes simply because of his last 10 sec performance. On the other hand, I was a little concern because Oscar seemed like the years were over taking him in that first round. Then the aspect changed all together. Golden Boy seemed to be back.

If he fights like that with Gayweather in September he'll mostlikely beat 'em. I'll catch it the week after on HBO--I have no intentions of watching unless there is a good undercard I'll watch that and avoid the mainevent.

by CRAZEDANG1280 on May 4, 2008 1:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mayweather

Like everyone knew it would be, this was is was a sparring match with a gate. I wanted Forbes to shock the world, but nothing surprised me about this fight at all.

But here's the thing: this fight was ultimately all about "Floyd Part 2." And that's a letdown. Don't get me wrong - It's been great to see a talent like Floyd rise up in boxing, and I felt honered to be included in the blh p4p rankings countup. But it's clear I was the only one involved who thought that Floyd's schedule lately just disqualified him from the #1 p4p spot. I'm not complaining, and I get it. I mean, he got my #2 based on raw talent alone. But if (when) Floyd fights Oscar, do you guys think there will be enough question marks to say "I don't know if Floyd is the best anymore?" I mean, regardless of the outcome of FM/DLH II, the winner of Cotto/Margarito will own all rights to welterweight in my mind, and a win over a retired Oscar doesn't really move the pieces for me at jr middle. It's just not something I care about, and I don't think it proves anything.

by jrok on May 4, 2008 3:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Floyd as #1

I think it's inevitable that he loses his spot, but I'm keeping him there until he signs the dotted line on another fight with Ricky Hatton, as rumored. If he fights Ricky Hatton again, then you know, good for him as a businessman, 'cause it's easy money, but fuck him as the pound-for-pound number one. Because that will mean that instead of Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Oscar de la Hoya again, and Ricky Hatton again, there's a guy out there like Miguel Cotto (in theory, should he win and should rumors come true) that fought Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Alfonso Gomez, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley again -- or if he doesn't fight Mosley again, Oscar de la Hoya.

I also think Floyd-Oscar II being at 147 matters, because Oscar is a real welter, and a really good one at that.

And, you know, there's other guys that'll have cases, Calzaghe and Pacquiao. Even Juan Manuel Marquez could have a case were something to come up (like that rumored fight with Nate Campbell and then a third fight with Pacquiao, were he to win that one).

Mayweather is astoundingly great at his job. I am not a Floyd hater or a huge Floyd fan. I appreciate him for what he is, and I think he's great for boxing in a lot of ways. And I don't think anyone considering knocking him off their own personal P4P top spot is wrong; I really see it as more congratulating someone else for passing him, because that's how it would be for me.

by SC on May 5, 2008 5:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's what I meant

For me, its about other fighters proving more rather than him slipping. Oscar is still the same Oscar (sort of), but Oscar notably isn't issuing any challenges to the top welts either. Pac stepped in the ring with JMM, eeking out another marginal victory (or tie, or slim defeat, depending on how you look at it). Is that less impressive then Floyd blowing an overmatched Hatton completely out of the water? It was easier for me to gauge Pac's talents in his last fight than it was Floyd's, because he was fighting a fellow elite fighter in a mutaully competitive weight class. If Floyd does Oscar and Hatton again, not only will he not be my #1... I think I'd almost have to consider him retired. And if Oscar beats him... whooo-boy.

by jrok on May 5, 2008 10:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

well

To be fair, Oscar said he'd love to fight Miguel Cotto in December. And would consider Tony Margarito if Cotto lost to Margarito. Sack has never been an issue for Oscar. For as much shit as he used to take (and still does in many circles) for not being "macho" enough, how many guys have fought Hopkins, Trinidad, Mosley x2, Mayweather, Chavez x2, Vargas, Gatti, Quartey, Mayorga, etc.

Bottom line is that Floyd has to fight Cotto, because almost everyone else is taking on top-tier challenges. Calzaghe-Jones is a lot like Floyd-Oscar, really. Pacquiao-Diaz is a placeholder. Cotto-Margarito is a great fight.

But after Calzaghe-Jones, assuming Calzaghe wins, you gotta guess he'll look to fight Kelly Pavlik (he will not retire 46-0, guaranteed), who is looking to fight Abraham after Lockett and Rubio, and then let's say Pavlik beats Lockett, Rubio, Abraham and then Calzaghe, which I think he can do. Where does HE slide in?

Vazquez and Rafael Marquez are probably capped out, but if Cotto beats Margarito, then wins a rematch with Mosley, then fought and beat Oscar, maybe -- what's stopping anyone from going, "Hey, this guy's undefeated, too, and isn't screwing around with Ricky Hatton?" I love Ricky Hatton, but at the end of the day he presented as much challenge for Mayweather as Gomez did for Cotto. A rematch with Hatton is simply preposterous.

Pacquiao-Marquez III will happen, I'm quite sure of that. And if Pacquiao won that one, then how can you argue against his case?

The troublesome thing about Mayweather -- and I realize I'm rambling for the sake of rambling, since we agree on this issue, really -- is that there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that he IS the best fighter. On pure talent, he's got everyone smoked, and there are great, great fighters in the game today. The P4P top 30 or so is as healthy as it's been in a long time. The sport is healthy. And here we have a charismatic draw at 147 pounds, a guy people either love or love to hate (money in the bank, either way), and he's denying us a chance, in many cases, of seeing him pit his skills against the other top 147 pound fighters. Mayweather-Cotto is intriguing on every single level. The two men couldn't be more different, really, and the only thing they have in common is they're both terrific fighters, though in totally different ways.

Mayweather's so good it pisses me off that he's spending the prime of a brilliant career dicking around with fights that don't prove anything we don't already know. I don't blame him as a businessman, of course, but I do blame him as a fighter.

by SC on May 5, 2008 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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