Hi everyone,
Included below is my take on the Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather fight and some old but still useful information....enjoy...
Comments?
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Rado's Recollection of Oscar De La Hoya and Mayweather Unfolded
What I remember from just hours ago as I finished watching the super-mega-boxing fight of this millennium as the Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather Jr. moves up to challenge Oscar De La Hoya for th 154lb championship belt and more importantly, the people's championship pound-4-pound title.
*SPOILERS AHEAD* ...read on for what happened...
To begin with, I ate my words by losing the $15 I bet on the fight. I bet $15 because I felt De La Hoya would be bigger, stronger, more experienced, and had a game plan to beat Floyd and that his chin had not turn brittle yet with age.
Everything I wanted from De La Hoya was present but I had forgotten to ask for one thing...that he bring his #1 weapon with him tonight - the jab.
Ill re-cap the fight first before we go into any analysis.
In the early rounds, the scoring went back and forth as Oscar and Floyd played a high speed chess game fighting for one punch at a time. Oscar did the right thing by rough-housing and throwing punches even when they weren't landing. This kept Floyd occupied and at least busy instead of being able to tee off on Oscar. Floyd did the right thing by staying calm and quickly moving away if he ever got hit with a solid punch. 6 rounds into the fight was dead even on my scorecard, with a possibility of Oscar being up by one judging on what you looking for. If you wanted to judge the fight amateur-olympic style and count punches landed, Floyd was up by one point for landing more punches and cleaner punches.
The theme of the fight was efficiency. However, efficiency in itself still left room for controversy depending on how you judged efficiency. Floyd was by far the more efficient scorer, throwing fewer punches, leaning and dodging and constantly moving until he had a chance to connect with Oscar - whether it be a strong punch or extended tap in the face. Oscar on the other hand was the far more efficient damager as he did more damage by throwing numerous punches to busy Floyd and land the occasional one big shot that would make Floyd back away again.
As the 2nd half of the fight wore on. The fighters began to stick more to their gameplan. Floyd fought to score by constantly running, ducking, and dodging punches. He held his hands in front instead of by his side to make for quick leaping punches when he had the chance to score. Oscar throw several flurries and tried to land damaging shots. As the rounds wore on, Floyd would fight one punch at a time while Oscar chased him around the ring only throwing when he knew a combo would do reach and do damage. Oscar did fade a little in the late rounds but not to the point where he became useless and he did one some of the later rounds in my opinion. In the final rounds of the fight, both traded punches as the crowd cheered on.
Overall, Floyd landed mostly jabs and counter rights or lead right hands. His leaping left hook never really caught De La Hoya because of the high guard he held. Oscar's main weapons were a couple clean right hands and left hooks here and there in between flurries but also many jabs. It's a shame he didn't jab more. Both fighters were never really hurt but they did respect each other's power very much.
So again, who did I think had won the fight?
- Well, if the judges liked efficiency, they would have obviously picked Floyd Mayweather. He spent less energy and threw less punches while landing more punches. He stayed extremely elusive and was able to land many single punches and lead rights throughout the fight. He beat Oscar to the punch on several occasions and danced away when the fight got rough. He was more consistently active throughout the later rounds by fighting the entire round (although only 1 punch at a time). If the judges loved to count numbers, the fight would favor Floyd by 2 points in my decision.
- On the other hand, if the judges favored aggression, the obvious winner would have been Oscar De La Hoya. He was the aggressor throughout the entire fight. He was constantly pushing and looking to make it a boxing fight and throw many combos and flurries at Floyd. Not every punch in the combos landed but Oscar De La Hoya by far threw the harder shots. He snapped Floyd's head back numerous times and put him on the retreat. Even when Oscar didn't land the punch clean or the punch was partially deflected, it was still harder than the clean shots Floyd landed. He thumped Floyd with the much harder punches and did more damage. Floyd has never hurt Oscar despite the clean number of connects and it seemed as though he never had the intention to do so. Floyd was never looking for the knockout while Oscar did. Oscar tried to fight while Floyd ran around to avoid one. Another point to mention is that Floyd did a lot of ducking and rolling throughout the fight. Much of it was legal but many other parts of it was just silly in my opinion. Numerous times he would hide against the corner and lean his head back into the ropes and then twist himself and turn his back to De La Hoya or duck low and offer the back of his head to De La Hoya, who did the right thing by not trying hitting him in the back. Regardless, De La Hoya's aggression was working because Floyd ran the entire fight - if aggression was what you wanted, Oscar showed plenty of it. Oscar's aggression was obviously effective because Floyd stayed cautious and defensive throughout the entire fight. Based on aggression, Oscar was the winner.
The final scorecards came out 116-112 and 115-113 for Floyd while De La Hoya had 115-113 in his favor on one of the scorecards. I had the fight a tie, I really just couldn't pick one. Floyd Mayweather Sr. himself seemed to be siding with Oscar De La Hoya it seemed saying that hie son really only landed single punches at a time and De La Hoya that harder punches. Another note I will make is that one judge INCORRECTLY scored the last round for Mayweather when De La Hoya obviously won that one! The fight could have easily been a tie and even razor win for De La Hoya.
De La Hoya himself thought he won. "I felt I won. I landed the hard punches, the crisper punches. I pressed the fight. If I didn't press the action there would be no fight," De La Hoya said.
I will make one argument for Oscar De La Hoya. 2 of the judges picked Oscar De La Hoya as the loser of the fight, most likely because he landed fewer punches. Let me bring up the Oscar De La Hoya and the Shane Mosley 2nd fight. Oscar threw way more punches and landed way more punches and only "RAN" for the last 4 rounds of the fight. Why then, did he lose THAT fight? He certainly landed more punches and scored more points throughout the first 8 rounds and only ran 4. Shane Mosley might have done more damage with the 2 big right hands that he landed in that fight but other than that...Shane Mosley was only winning by aggression in that fight. Here at the compuboxonline website, you can see that Oscar landed far more jabs and a couple power shots over Mosley but still lost the fight. When Oscar fought Mosley the second time, he landed 221 punches against Mosley's 127, but when he fought Floyd he landed 122 against Mayweather's 207. What makes me angry is that he still lose both times regardless of how he fought.
--- WHY THEN, I ask did Oscar lose the fight against Floyd?
Oscar lands more punches at a wider margin with a 94 punch count advantage against Mosley and still loses because he ran the last 4 rounds. But against Floyd, Oscar landed less shots but had far more aggression throughout the entire fight when Floyd ran the entire fight and landed no telling blows. Floyd landed a smaller margin of 85 more punches than Oscar and ran the entire fight but still Oscar still loses again?
Boxing judges and fans need to be more fair and more educated. We have a boxer here who fought both styles and loss both times.
Other interesting aspects in the fight:
Who did I really think had won the fight? - Tough one, I was willing to agree with anybody. The fight was close and I felt it was a moral victory for both fighters regardless of the outcome. Floyd Mayweather Jr. proved his class by fighting another pound-for-pound great even though the Golden Boy is not the same anymore. Oscar De La Hoya has proven his legacy by taking on a current champion even though he is no longer a boxer!
Losing by only 4 points on the widest scorecard margin should be a small victory alone for Oscar De La Hoya. We're talking about a retired boxer, full-time businessman and boxing promoter here. Oscar didn't need the fight, the fame, or money. Imagine a full-time business making millions and putting his life on hold for months to give the fans what they really wanted. Oscar's legacy was proven but he wanted to give more for himself, more for the fans, and more for boxing. There's no shame in trying to achieve and falling short. Taking on Hopkins was one of the biggest reasons for my respect for Oscar. I'd love to see Floyd try that one.
I think Oscar De La Hoya did an excellent job making the fight extremely competitive, especially at his advanced age of 34. When Roy Jones turned 34, he tired easily and didn't have what it took to make a fight out of Antonio Tarver. At 35, Jones got knocked out by Antonio in a shocking upset and embarrassing loss. Do keep in mind that bigger fighters have more room to age as speed is less important than power at their weight class. Oscar showed little signs of ringrust and came to fight and fought for a knockout. He promised he'd be in fighting shape (Wow, I haven't seen him that cut in a long time. his abs looked like silicone) and promised to give it his all. He didn't tire badly and he stayed focused and determined to win throughout the whole fight.
Mayweather's own father, Mayweather Sr also felt De La Hoya won the fight, telling the HBO audience. "I thought Oscar won the fight on points, threw more punches and was more aggressive," adding: "My son had good defense and caught a lot of his punches, but I still thought Oscar pressed enough to win the fight."
"I thought Oscar won the fight based on the point system," said Floyd Sr., who used to train De La Hoya (38-5) and has an off-again, on-again relationship with Floyd Jr. "My son had good defense but I thought Oscar pressed the fight."
Both fighters' defense - Wow...Mayweather's defense was as solid as ever and so was De La Hoya's. Floyd was as calm as ever when he was in the corner taking punches from De La Hoya. I was also amazed to see DLH calm and still when Floyd threw his lunging punches. Just like Floyd, De La Hoya himself was very hard to hit as was never a still target as many people had expected. More importantly Oscar De La Hoya showed that it really wasn't that hard to block all of Floyd's punches and that a steady high guard with skill was all you needed to be elusive from the speedy Mayweather. I did feel that De La Hoya got caught by single shots several times throughout the fight because he was looking for an exchange opportunity. Or maybe it was fatigue, who knows.
Where was De La Hoya's jab? - Everyone should remember that Oscar De La Hoya's best weapon is his jab. I've seen him win entire fights with the jab alone, watch the Chavez fight or Mosley rematch fight if you want to see what I mean. Any fight where De La Hoya threw 40 jabs per round, he won. It was that simple. He simply jabs and keeps them at bay spearing them until they try to get around it in which case he unleashes fast combos. The jab was working really well tonight against Floyd and even the commentators said that the moment he stopped throwing the jab, he began to place himself out of the fight. His jab was able to push Floyd's head back on numerous occasions and open up opportunities for power punches.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. did not prove he is better than everyone - Mosley did far better against a prime Oscar De La Hoya than Floyd did against an old aging Oscar. Mosley won an obvious decision only the 1st time around while Floyd barely missed a draw by one round against Oscar De La Hoya the promoter. For a man who claimed to be the best of all time, Floyd did little more than prove his right to be placed within the ranks of today's elite. He ain't no Sugar Ray Leonard and he ain't no Sugar Ray Robinson. He is nowhere close as a puncher, entertainer, and boxer.
According to this wikipedia: Judge Jerry Roth was the ONLY JUDGE to score the last round for Mayweather which Oscar clearly won. And if you watch the last 3 seconds of the round, you'll see Floyd's head getting turned twice by hard punches from De La Hoya, if Jerry Roth correctly scored the last round, the fight would have been a DRAW! Imagine that!
What both fighters could have done to improve their chances -
Floyd: throw more uppercuts. It worked well later in the fight. Throw to the body, an old aging body ages faster with body shots.
Oscar: Use your jab! And maybe you should use it to copy Floyd's plan of the keep away game! Stick to one trainer! Just like Floyd did, he stuck to the trainer that worked the best for him. Too bad for Oscar, his best trainer was the opponent's father.
Either way you want to argue it, we all saw a good fight and showing from both fighters. De La Hoya did not win as a fighter, but he won as a promoter and ambassador for boxing. Floyd Mayweather is still UNDEFEATED, and has yet to be solved and walks away with his first win over a REAL CHAMPION. De La Hoya did not get wiped out as many people had predicted and made room for arguments about what might have been had this fight come 4 years sooner. I congratulate Floyd for beating a real fighter and a bigger fighter and winning a belt in yet another weight class. I hope his hands heal and that he gets together with his father Floyd Sr. and uncle Roger to become an even more incredible combination.
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Boxing Tips to Increase Your Punching Power
Here are some GUARANTEED boxing tips to increase your punching power. It doesn't matter if you're a boxer, a fighter, or someone just cross-training for health and fitness reasons. Punching harder is FUN! 
A harder punch earns you more respect in the ring, in the streets, anywhere. It also trains your body to move as one unit and makes you stronger at everything that you do. Enough talking, on to the punching. By the way, this guide is for a big RIGHT HAND punch...once you get that down, simply apply the same concepts to all your other punches like the left hooks and etc. Key concepts - The force starts from your toe up your legs, whips out from your shoulders and follows your fist out to the point of impact. Now, I'm gonna describe the starting position and final position of your body parts from your feet all the way up and out to your fist. FEET: - Spread a little bit wider than shoulder position. When it doubt, go a little wider.
- The back foot heel is always lifted up.
- Keep your feet on the ground! Anchored feet gives you more power. Lifting your feet while punching is like punching while you're hanging from a rope.
- Your feet will pivot and your toes turn to point in the direction of your punch.
LEGS:
- Knees should always be bent!
- You should feel the force traveling up your legs and forward
- Your legs should be providing the power for your punch! - Think of your arms as simply a means of directing your punches. SHOULDERS and TORSO:
- Your whole upper body will rotate FAST and HARD to spin out the punching fist from your shoulders.
- Concentrate heavily on this rotation. A deep body rotation with little arm extension hits harder than light body rotation with a fully extended arm! CHEST
- You breathe out and exhale as you punch. Breathe out fast and hard. Make a noise with your mouth is recommended. That's why martial arts schools always have you yell as you do a striking manuever. It's to make sure that you are exhaling while exerting your force.
HEAD
- Your head goes forward and leans over just a little so that it is out of the way and safe from a left hook counter at the same moment.
- You always keep your eyes on target. Not doing this takes out A LOT of accuracy AND power from your punch.
AIM: - Learn your arm's length and stepping reach.
- Punching at too close or too far of a range diminishes the power.
- Hardest punches only travel about 1 feet or 2 feet max before reaching the target.
- Also keep in mind that crossing punches hit the hardest. In other words, the most powerful spot for a right hand punch is roughly the area in front of THE PUNCHER's left shoulder, and the most powerful spot for a left hand punch is in front of the right shoulder. Keep in mind that when I say in front, I don't mean directly in front of your shoulder, but rather the arm's length in front of the shoulders. ARM and FIST:
- You start with your glove near your face. You punch straight off your face. You never cock back or anything, because you don't want to telegraph off your face.
- You do not go for a big long swinging path. Punch it straight. The power comes from your legs and body rotation.
-Your entire body rotates and your upper body rotates to swing your non-punch hand out of the way, and swings your punching hand out to your opponent.
- Your hand is held relaxed and then as you punch, you feel the force go up your body and out through your fist as it extends towards your opponent. You tighten your fist as you punch.
Final tips:
When throwing combos: Your body should be spinning from side to side, spinning your hips and shoulders into the punch. Your feet should be standing on the balls and pivoting from side to side pointing in the direction of your punch. As you pivot your feet, your heels should be lifting in alternating patterns; in other words, when you throw the right hand, both feet point in the direction of the punch, and your left heel drops to the ground while the right heel lifts up to "push" into the punch, and as you spin your body in the opposite direction to throw a following a left hook, the body and feet pivot to the right with the right heel dropping and the left heel lifting to "push" into the punch.
When practicing your power punches: Throw power comboes one punch at a time and POSE after every punch. So it's like BAM-*pause*-BAM-*pause*-BAM! Your body and head should spin and lean in the direction that you punch. Over time this practice will build your power punches, and train your body to move with the punches, giving it more power.
Keep in mind that throwing your fist 2 feet will never have the same effect as throwing your body even just 6 inches. Use your body when you punch and you WILL knock out your opponent!
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Thanks all for reading and I'll include more info in future mailings. I'm still testing the template here so sorry if it's looks like utter crap! I hope you guys like the new website look. |
Aca 
