There was an article on Friday in the Los Angeles Times which quoted Jim Lampley as saying that he thought fans might be disappointed in the Oscar De La Hoya - Floyd Mayweather match. At first I thought Lampley was just doing a poor job of salesmanship on behalf of his corporate bosses but really what he was doing was sounding a point of reason among the full-court press of hype. The tactics that had brought each man to the top of the game could counterbalance each other, Lampley warned, and make for a fight lacking in the explosiveness that many viewers were expecting.
It turns out he was dead on in his analysis. Saturday's bout was a showcase for Mayweather's elusiveness and defensive prowess and those things got him the split-decision victory. Throwing punches only when he absolutely needed to helped Floyd accrue a more accurate percentage and since De La Hoya was carrying the fight to him, he also landed more punches overall. All that really shows, however, is that punching stats aren't very significant. Oscar didn't get hurt once, the only time the punches seemed to do much damage is when they would show them in slow-motion in-between rounds. In real time Mayweather was just pawing out at De La Hoya the way a scared man would push back at a charging bull.
Things really slowed down in the later rounds. De La Hoya stopped throwing jabs, a mistake he made in his loss to Felix Trinidad, and that stopped him from landing the successive blows to the body that scored points for him in the middle rounds. Up to that point it was hard to ignore the fact that Oscar was doing more to try and win the fight but once he stopped forcing the issue it was okay for Mayweather to simply do all he could to not lose it.
After the fight Max Kellerman said that the one judge, Tom Kaczmarek, who scored the fight for De La Hoya was out of his mind. Calling it a "virtuoso" performance by Mayweather, Kellerman said that giving De La Hoya even four rounds was beyond his comprehension. He said that De La Hoya hardly hit any punches other than body shots and jabs which when you think about it is kinda like saying that other than the gunshots Mrs. Lincoln really enjoyed the play.
Neither man dominated the other, and I can't argue the outcome all that strenously because of the way De La Hoya stopped coming forward, but for Kellerman to say that Mayweather was as good as he did is basically to put the final nail in boxing's coffin. Watching a man run away from another man isn't good drama nor is it athletically pleasing. I think that once De La Hoya sees the tape of this fight he will begin agitating for a rematch ASAP. Mayweather said he's retiring but if there's anything the 24/7 show taught me it's that Floyd enjoys money and he won't find so much anywhere else he looks. Hopefully when the rematch does come off there will be more actual fighting and a more definitive winner.
I am so tired of people getting mad because MONEY MAY is to smart to loose a fight. He wasnt given his titles as a christmas present. He worked hard. He has the one thing other boxers lack, which is brains. He wins cause he uses his head. I dont see how yall can call it running. Even as one of his top fans I can strongly say he cant beat Oscar straight up but, he was smart enough to use what he had to come out on top. I think people hate on him so they want him to stay put and get knocked out in the ring. Thats stupid if yall want him to stop using all that speed then tell Oscar to stop using all that power.
Posted by: Fatboy | January 30, 2008 at 06:47 AM