Oscar's fighting. It's a simple statement, but one that we've come to rely on for the last 16 years. And soon, those two words will no longer follow each other in a sentence. Oscar De La Hoya, the man who carried the sport through perhaps it's darkest period, will fight just twice more.
That's what he says, anyway. And in boxing, no retirement is ever final. But for now, let's take Oscar at his word. He has been the type of cross-over star that this sport desperately needs. Everyone has been saying that boxing is dead and yet amid all these gloomy forecasts, De La Hoya shattered the pay-per-view record last May with more than two million buys against Floyd Mayweather Jr. His end as a fighter was $40-million. Add about another $20-million to his end for being the bout's promoter. That doubles Alex Rodriguez' anual salary. Oscar did this all in one night.
At times, this corner has been critical of what Oscar has done in the ring, or, more precisely, what he hasn't done. He fades in big fights, which I believe cost him the decision in the first Mayweather contest. It cost him against Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley (first fight) too. Will anything change in De La Hoya-Mayweather II come September? I hope so. But let's face it, Oscar is another year older.
Oscar looked sharp in his tuneup against Stevie Forbes. Forbes was reluctant to engage and took few chances. The HBO broadcast crew pegged it when they said he had a sparring partner's mentality. I watched the fight with a former pug, who was apalled that Forbes reached out to tap gloves or pat Oscar on the butt after every round. "This is a fight, isn't it?" he asked.
Click to see photos of the fight.
Whenever he fights, Oscar elicits emotion and reaction. One longtime observer, known on the blogosphere as P.C. Maverick, sent this our way:
"Forbes is no Floyd Jr. Oscar got tagged a bunch of times by this guy. I think if Forbes could get in these shots obviously Cotto or Floyd Jr can... I really believe he trained to spar Oscar not to beat him... Maybe subconsciously if not intentionally."
Interesting point. Think about it. Roger Mayweather, Floyd's uncle, used to train Forbes. He was trained for this fight by Jeff Mayweather, another of Floyd's uncles. Could it be that, as P.C. states, "subconsciously or intentionally,' the Mayweather clan exerted just enough influence on Forbes so that he would go through what amounted to a sparring session?
Thus keeping Floyd's massive payday for a return match with Oscar safe.
It's a conspiracy that would make Mel Gibson proud, but I honestly believe that on his best day, Forbes wouldn't have done that much better against Oscar.
On a scale from 1 to 10, P.C. rated Oscar's performance in the ring against Forbes, a 5. That might be a little harsh, particularly when the guy you are "fighting" would rate a negative 3.
You can hate Oscar, you can love him and you can be disappointed him. One thing is certain, you will definitely miss him when he's gone. With the exception of Winky Wright, he has fought every big name fighter in or around his weight class. He started with Julio Cesar Chavez and ends with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Or possibly Miguel Cotto.
He says there are only two more fights left in his career. After that, boxing will really have to worry when people start saying the sport is dead.-- CASSIDY
