Yep. It's getting lots of hype out here, mostly because of Oscar's "promise" to retire if he loses. (I presume, if it even happens -- which is doubtful -- that this retirement would be of the "pro wrestling" or "rock-n-roll" sort.) DeLaHoya's looked good his last couple fights, and punching power is way up. He learned from his losses to Mosley and Trinidad, and won't give up or fight the way his opponent wants him to. Mosley hasn't won in a couple years, and his last fight was a no-decision in Lost Wages, NV against some tomato can (Raul Marquez) who quit after the third round. Couldn't tell enough from that fight how Mosley shapes up, but he did look good in the early going. Keep in mind that last time (when Mosley won), Oscar was trying to knock him out from round 1. This time, I'd expect him to try to outbox Mosley.
Re: Re: De la Hoya vs Sugar Shane I haven't seen teh last few Mosley fights. But for some reason I just expect him to come out and win. I think he is in the same situation De la Hoya was when he went against Vargas, which is win this or be forgot about as a serious fighter. Granted De la Hoya has his confidence way up now, but I think that Mosley might be more driven right now.
I thought De La Hoya won too. He was the better boxer. Very strange how different the reactions to the fight were. HBO (especially Foreman) thought De La Hoya was the clear winner. The ESPN guys agreed with the judges. Just weird.
I've only seen two articles that had this slant. De La Hoya got ripped off. It was worse than the Trininidad fight.
DeLaHoya got ripped off, but he should know what happens in Vegas when you're not the aggressor (see the Trinidad fight). I hate that the judges seem to take that into consideration, but they do. Oscar shot himself in the foot by backing off the aggression. IMHO, not as good of a fight as the score and controversy indicated, just a close fight. Regarding the disparity of opinion among the media pundits, I think the fight was close enough that a lot of them saw what they wanted to see. I went in thinking Oscar would win, and afterward thought he won a really close fight, but my opinion might have been influenced by predisposition. The sports talk guys around here who picked Mosley before the fight all think Mosley won. You know how it goes.
You've nailed it....it was too close to have a decisive winner. Upon first viewing I thought DLH won, but also thought Mosley got in the most damaging punches. Oscar seemed seriously worn out in the last few rounds, and had it gone 15 like back in the day, I think he would have gotten KO'd. Oscar unfortunately didn't finish as strong as he started, and Mosley made the fight by stalking him throughout. That weighs in the mind of judges far more than amassing soft jabs....this is not amateur boxing, but professional Championship caliber bouts. His investigation talk is misplaced. Why on earth would boxing want Mosley to defeat the current undisputed money maker in the sport? ($$$ - the real reason the HBO analysts were in a tizzy). DLH and Mosley could fight 10 times and it would end up this close every time. ------------------------------------------ Funny how Oscar loses to Shane twice; Shane loses to Forrest twice; and Forrest gets stomped by Mayorga twice....yet IMO Mayorga is the weakest of these fighters!
Styles, styles, styles. Shane could never figure out Forrest's reach advantage and angles, Mayorga did. Oscar would probably wear down Forrest, yet ran out of gas twice against Mosley. Ali had immense trouble with Ken Norton. Frazier gave Ali fights, yet his style was tailor made for Foreman to smack him silly, and Ali could weather Foreman's storm.