Mayweather: Without a Doubt !!!

[H2O Man]

{1} From: SecondsOut; 5-8

The guy in the Mexican colours and sombrero won, but it wasn’t Oscar

by Paul Upham:

When the final bell had rung, there was no doubt that Oscar De La Hoya had performed much better than many people thought he could. But the fact is that Floyd Mayweather Jr still won the fight. Total punch output doesn’t necessarily win you the contest when the decision goes to the scorecards. More and harder landing punches does.

CompuBox punch statistics at ringside recorded 85 more punches landing for Mayweather. Those watching from further back in the MGM Arena would have innocently received the impression that De La Hoya won the fight based on the greater number of punches he was throwing. But a boxer doesn’t have to impress everyone watching to have his hand raised in victory. The only people who count are the three judges at ringside. ….

There is no doubt that Mayweather is the best boxer in the world today. Some people may not appreciate his style or his talk outside of the ring, but he is very effective and we are no closer to finding someone who can unlock his defence and hand him his first defeat. ‘Pretty Boy’ proved once again that you don’t have to be a blood and guts warrior to win big fights.

Mayweather fought a calculated fight, his flashes of speed and skills were dazzling at times, though the fans would have more than likely wanted to see more from him, he still won.


{2} From: SecondsOut; 5-6

Mayweather Victorious in SuperFight

Fight Report by Ben Cohen

Floyd Mayweather’s assertion that he is the best fighter in the world was validated last night when he out pointed Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC junior middleweight championship. It was an intriguing, tense fight with both men having their moments and no one stamping their authority over the other.

It was apparent from the opening bell that De La Hoya was by far the bigger man, but the inactivity due to one fight in two years showed as Mayweather used his speed to out box De La Hoya in the first. The Golden Boy came out aggressively, walking Mayweather down and trapping him against the ropes to attack his body. Mayweather, calm as ever, used his speed to move around the ring and fire quick shots from the outside. With De La Hoya not jabbing, a flush right hand and some snappy jabs from Mayweather sealed the round …


In the 12th, DeLaHoya came out looking purposeful, but could not seem to pull the trigger on his jab. Mayweather boxed smoothly from the outside, looking confident that he had the fight won. They traded in the centre of the ring during the final seconds of the round, with DeLaHoya landing some good shots to the body and head, but it was Mayweather who landed the cleaner shots and was the more consistent throughout the round. Mayweather landed 207 punches to DeLaHoya’s 122 punches


{3}Newsday; May 8

Golden Boy lost shot at greatness
by Wallace Matthews

You would like to believe that had he faced Floyd Mayweather in his prime, Oscar De La Hoya would have started the fight the way he finished up Saturday night, banging away with both hands, fearless and confident in his abilities of destruction, headed for a spectacular knockout victory instead of a rather dull and predictable split-decision loss. But then you ask yourself two important questions: When exactly was De La Hoya's prime? And in what truly important fights in his 15-year professional career did he ever finish what he started? …

Boxing's Last Big Fight turned out to be just another Lost Big Fight for De La Hoya. When the book is finally closed on his career, he will be remembered not as a great fighter, only as a great earner.

As he had against Trinidad, Mosley, Hopkins and so many lesser foes, De La Hoya started well and disappeared after six rounds, as if he had lost his interest, his conditioning, his nerve, or all of the above. His 12th-round rally, which began with less than 10 seconds left in the fight, showed you everything he was capable of doing, and left you wondering, once again, why he didn't do more of it. Those 10 seconds were De La Hoya's career in a nutshell: flashy, superficially effective and not nearly enough


{4} Fox Sports (5-7)

Mayweather tops De La Hoya in Split Decision

In the end, Mayweather was simply faster and more slippery, and landed more punches. Ringside punching stats heavily favored Mayweather, crediting him with landing 207 of 481 punches to 122 of 587 for De La Hoya. Mayweather also landed more power punches than De La Hoya, outscoring him 138-82 ...

De La Hoya wanted to get Mayweather into a brawl, but he was having no part of it, content to pick his spots. In the fifth round, however, the fight seemed to shift into a different gear as Mayweather stood his ground and landed some hard combinations to the head. ....

It was a night of ebb and flow, with both boxers fighting in flurries and both having their moments. The pro-De La Hoya crowd roared loudly anytime he threw a big punch, while Mayweather smiled at his opponent every time De La Hoya landed a punch that got any reaction from his fans.



{5} AP (5-7)

Fight Makes Boxing Proud

LAS VEGAS -- There was a hint of controversy afterward, something about blue corners and red corners and colour-blind judges. There had to be, because this is boxing and these kind of things are expected.

It passed quickly, though, and fans could celebrate a fight that said a lot of good things about the sport that has taken such a beating lately. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya provided a fight between two proud champions, and both made their sport proud. …..


{6} USA Today

De La Hoya Should Be Leaving the Ring, Not Mayweather
by John Saraceno

Speed kills, of course, and the challenger's superiority enabled him to set more mousetraps than Oscar De La Hoya could avoid. ...

At 30, Mayweather is an old-school master. De La Hoya merely is old.

One thing made the bout appear closer than it was: Mayweather allowing himself to be pinned along the ropes, where he wanted De La Hoya to expend energy. Many of those intended blows missed or were slipped by the slippery challenger, who lollygagged too often in that potentially precarious position.

"He's a fast fighter and he's very talented," said De La Hoya, 34, who questioned the decision, as is his habit. "You can't say anything bad about him."


{7} Newsday.com (May 8)
Mayweather Wins by Split Decision

by Marcus Henry

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd "Pretty Boy Floyd" Mayweather Jr. is too quick, too elusive and too young for veteran Oscar De La Hoya. And according to the judges scoring the bout, the experts were right ….


{8} San Jose Mercury News (May 6)

Quickness Rules the Ring
By Tim Dahlberg

"It was easy work for me," Mayweather said. "He was rough and tough but he couldn't beat the best."

In the end, Mayweather was simply faster and more slippery in a bout where neither fighter hurt the other and neither went down. ….


{9} LA Times (May 6)

Floyd picks up the split
by Lance Pugmire

LAS VEGAS — The younger, faster and more energetic Floyd Mayweather Jr. did what he said he would Saturday night, beating Oscar De La Hoya to the punch often enough to win a split-decision victory to claim his fifth world championship. ...


{10} RTE Sports/Ireland (May 6)

Mayweather Defeats De La Hoya

Floyd Mayweather Jr controlled the later rounds in his mega fight with Oscar De La Hoya, and was ultimately rewarded for his domination with a split-decision victory in front of a sold-out arena in Las Vegas…

As expected, Mayweather was more elusive and faster and simply too much for the 34-year-old De La Hoya (38-5, 30 knockouts) to handle. ....

[Awsi Dooger]

1. They removed the fight from YouTube yesterday

I should have mentioned that it was available there, if anyone wanted to watch the individual rounds and score for themselves. Someone had uploaded it with the original commentary. But HBO complained and now it's gone.

[Awsi Dooger]

2. Actually, here is a working link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O8M_gzvmCU

That is rounds 1-3. The same uploader has the rest also. I would watch them quickly before they are yanked. Some versions I looked at on Sunday are gone but I just noticed new ones have replaced them. Some guys have individual rounds, others like this guy uploaded three rounds at a time. You get all types of announcers depending on which version you look at.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. That fight looks more lopsided every time I view it

I had it 8-4 live on Saturday. Sunday I watched on YouTube and came up with 9-3. Today I thought it was closer to 10-2.

Weird, because my opinion seldom changes when I watch it again. But Saturday night I had the Derby replay on a separate TV and I don't think I allowed full attention to the early rounds of the fight. I scored a couple of them for De La Hoya but now that I watch them with closer scrutiny De La Hoya didn't win them at all. He came forward and occasionally launched awkward flurries of bent over punches, without impact.

Overall, I'm much more impressed with Mayweather after viewing again. It's obscene to score that fight for De La Hoya, or even a 2 point loss. You have to give him every close round to make it 7-5 Mayweather.

The British announcers are goofs. One of them actually had De La Hoya ahead 87-85. Someone must have told them their scoring was wacko because they break in and announce that their HBO colleagues have Mayweather ahead by 4 points. I've never seen that before, touting someone else's scorecard in the middle of the fight.

And I just noticed that someone else has uploaded the HBO version on YouTube. In fact, more than one. One guy got cute, intentionally misspelling the names slightly, perhaps to avoid or delay being yanked.

[H2O Man]

4. I've watched it

several times. I think that 9-3 is fair.

[H2O Man]

5. "There is a difference

between a close fight and a controversial fight." -- ESPN's Brian Kenny, after the Big Fight.

Let's take a look at some of the things that the experts on HBO and ESPN said about the fight.

After the bell sounded to begin the final round, HBO's Jim Lampley said, "De La Hoya knows he has to go for a knock out."

In his post-fight commentary, Jim said, "I don't see a ton of doubt about who won the fight."

Max Kellerman said, "I saw this as a dominant performance for Floyd Mayweather. ... I think it was a virtuoso performance by Floyd Mayweather."

When asked about one judge scoring the fight for Oscar, Max Kellerman said, "It's okay for a casual fan to score the fight for Oscar De La Hoya, but not for a judge." Max scored the fight 9-3 for Mayweather.

Larry Merchant interviewed Oscar in the ring after the fight; he asked De La Hoys why he had stopped using the jab? Oscar had replied he wasn't sure, but that "it wasn't the 'night of the jab'." At ringside, Manny Steward responded, "The answer he gave -- he didn't know why -- is the wrong answer."

On ESPN, Stephen Smith said of Floyd, "He clearly won."

Teddy Atlas said, "You knew who the winner was." He scored the fight 6-4-2, and said that "at least one of (the 2 even rounds) probably went to Floyd Mayweather. ....The more telling punches, the more quality punches, came from Mr. Mayweather."

[trumad]

6. 85 more punches landing for Mayweather.

Nuff said.....

[H2O Man]

7. More (than "enough") ....

Oscar threw 587 punches, landing 122.
Floyd threw 481 punches, landing 207.

Oscar threw 341 "power" punches, landing 82.
Floyd threw 241 "power" punches, landing 138.

Oscar landed 21% of his punches, including 24% of "power" his shots.
Floyd landed 43% of his punches, including 57% of "power" his shots.

I have noted the significance of being in control in the ring. That includes defensive skills. A significant part of defensive skills is found in the "hit but don't get hit" style of boxing. Thus said, blocking and slipping your opponent's punches is very important. It scores points.

When we look at these statistics, we can see that Oscar failed to land 79% of his punches. They were either blocked by Floyd on his arms, shoulders, or gloves; or they missed Floyd altogether.

[trumad]

8. Oh but here's an analysis from DU's so-called expert.

"First 7 rounds. Oscar set the pace and game, jabs and a few combinations, backed Floyd up consistently. Floyd got in some solid punches, although not many that stopped Oscar or even moved his head. The Oscar haters chose to give all those rounds to Floyd, based on power punches which were generally blocked or not all that powerful. Floyd had the swollen eyes at the end, Oscar was clean.

The later rounds, Floyd took. The last round was action packed, could have went either way.

The boxing fan who wants to see power punches and nothing more, chose Mayweather. The boxing fan who appreciates technical skill and strategy, chose Oscar.

I've been watching boxing for 25 years because my husband and 2 sons watch it. I generally could care less who wins. H2OMan is really showing his biases in this fight, as did my husband. A lot of commentators did. However, Floyd's own father said the fight could have easily gone to Oscar, which really says it all".

Just the mere mention of Floyd Sr. pretty much destroyed the above opinion---

plus--"Floyd got in some solid punches"...Well as you can see--- that "some" far exceeded the punchs that Oscar threw.

The problem with this opinion is that the OP maker simply doesn't know the art of boxing--- watching it and knowing it are two different things.......

[H2O Man]

9. I think it's funny

that anyone would attempt to use Floyd Sr to back up their argument. The guy is a bum. He was a terrible father; he risked his son's life the day he was shot; and in a contest between his son and Oscar, he was willing to be "loyal" to whoever would pay him.

The fact that he went to prison doesn't bother me. People make mistakes. As Malcolm X used to say, "There is no shame in saying you used to be a drunken bum. But there is shame in still being one."

I found the curious "interview" that Larry Merchant did with Floyd Sr before the fight to be hilarious. The second one was sad. I'm sure that it stung the old man to have his son praise his uncle after the fight. If you watch the film, Floyd Sr was being friendly to his son up until that point. Once the Champ put his uncle first, the father went back to Oscar. This was one of the biggest nights in his son's life, and the father acted in a manner than I think is pathetic. Any attempt to use Floyd Sr as support for a pro-Oscar opinion does indeed tend to destroy it.

[trumad]

10. Exactly---

It simply means that you don't know the back-story between these two. WHICH means, that you haven't kept up with any type of boxing news---WHICH means that you only pay attention to boxing on the night of a big fight--WHICH means that you really have no idea what you are talking about.

Of course the "you" is not you I'm referring to waterman. ;-)

[H2O Man]

11. Great boxers

both reflect and help to define their times. We often think of the heavyweight champions in that sense: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring 20's; Louis and the WW2 era; Marciano in the '50s; and Ali in the 1960s. The great fighters in the lower weights do this, too. Floyd Mayweather Jr is a wonderful example. There are a lot of young men today who have had to try to make sense of life without the benefit of a stable father-figure.

Floyd's cocky attitude upsets some people, much in the way Ali's did in the '60s. He is outspoken and confident. He speaks his mind. But some folks prefer a "Golden Boy" image, that is part real, and part phoney. All people are a mixture of "good" and "bad," but not everyone has a history of being accused of rape, and especially not more than once. Or of paying people off to stay quiet about something that wouldn't sell well to a big part of Oscar's target audience. The ESPN Classic show on Oscar touched on this part of his being that doesn't fit well with that "Golden Boy" marketing technique. But, as you say, one would have to follow boxing a little more closely than the commercials to know that.

[H2O Man]

12. Record-setting fight ....

Mayweather vs De La Hoya Sets PPV Record

HBO Sports reported today that 2.15 million pay-per-view buys and $120 million in pay-per-view revenue was generated from last Saturday’s mega fight showdown featuring Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. In a fight that set the all-time pay-per-view record by eclipsing the previous mark by a sizable margin of 160,000 buys as well as establishing a new mark for revenue from a pay-per-view telecast, Mayweather scored a split decision victory and captured De La Hoya’s junior middleweight title.

The showdown, which featured boxing’s two biggest attractions, produced 1,225,000 buys from cable systems and 925,000 buys from satellite homes throughout the 50 states.

“De La Hoya vs. Mayweather was a record-setting event from the moment the fight was announced,” said Ross Greenburg, President of HBO Sports. “We are delighted that sports fans recognized the greatness of these two future Hall of Famers and tuned in for their showdown. It’s satisfying to see that boxing still connects with sports fans throughout the country and we are determined to continue to present high-profile fights that capture the public’s imagination.”

Mayweather, regarded as the sport’s pound-for-pound king, now possesses a spotless 38-0 record. The 30-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan native now lives in Las Vegas. De La Hoya, 34, who has won titles in six weight classes and is the industry’s all-time top pay-per-view performer, has now participated in each of the top six non-heavyweight pay-per view events in history -- including the industry record-setting 2.15 million buys vs. Mayweather; the 1.4 million buys for the Felix Trinidad fight in Sept. 1999; one million buys for the matchup with Bernard Hopkins in September 2004; the Sept. 2003 rematch with Shane Mosley, which generated 950,000 buys; and the Sept. 2002 showdown with Fernando Vargas and the May 2006 encounter with Ricardo Mayorga, both of which registered 935,000 buys. .....

more at:

http://secondsout.com/headlines/index.cfm?ccs=532&cs=21976

[H2O Man]

13. What's next:

There are discussions underway for a possible Mayweather vs Tito fight.

[H2O Man]

14. Floyd speaks about Diego:

By Floyd Mayweather Jr:

Boxing has lost a great warrior and a gifted athlete. Diego Corrales had the heart of a champion, and while we were competitors in the ring, he was someone who I greatly respected and will be remembered for his spirit and passion in and out of the ring.

The boxing community lost a great champion this week and he will be truly missed. My condolences go out to his wife Michelle, his five children and the rest of his family and friends.

(From SecondsOut.Com)

[Wetzelbill]

15. How do you think Pacquiao stacks up pound for pound

vs Floyd? I think Manny is about the only guy around in the same league.

[H2O Man]

16. Pacquiao

is an intense fighter, who would give any of the greats a heck of a fight. Were he and Floyd the same weight, it would be interesting.

HBO played film of Floyd's earlier fights, including the first Castillo bout. An interesting point was made by Big George Foreman: Castillo did best when he threw 3 (or more) punches. But the other 1/2 of that was it required 3 straight punches .... not hooks, and surely not round-house punches.

When we look at the film of Floyd versus Zab Super Judah, it's the same basic thing: combinations of straight punches score. After the 3rd straight punch lands, then throw the hook. The hook is best after the jab "measures" it. I'm going to try to show this with a couple pictures of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fighting Joe "Ax Killer" N'Gidi in Johannesburg,South Africa. It took place on September 18, 1965.

Now, N'Gidi was obviously not Floyd. But he was a good fighter .... the welterweight and middleweight champion of Africa. He knew that Rubin had trouble with guys who were fast on their feet, who would "stick and move." Rubin needed to measure him with the jab, then land the hook. Here are a couple rare pictures he gave me that help show this:









In the first one, we see the jab was too hard -- it pushes Joe's head back out of range. Thus, in the second one, the hook misses:









Rubin had to re-measure. When he found the range with the jab, he let go with the hook .... and more than 15 minutes later, Joe was still on the canvas, unable to regain his senses.

It will take someone with fast, hard punches, and an extraordinary sense of distances and range, and the physical strength to execute needed combinations, to beat Floyd Mayweather, Jr. But there are people who can. And, if he fights long enough, it will happen .... because that's the nature of the sport. There really are great fighters who are undefeated.

[chitty]

17. Thanks

H2O Man!

A very informative post.

I used to follow boxing religiously up until the famous ear biting incident. I kind of got tired of it, felt like it wasn't much better than the WWF. I started watching more and following more closely about a year or so ago and have seen some pretty entertaining bouts, so I guess I'm hooked again.

[H2O Man]

21. Late correction:

The last sentence came out wrong. I meant to say that though there are great boxers who are undefeated for significant amounts of time, there really aren't "undefeated" great fighters.

I've always foun the concept of "undefeated" to be curious. The greatest fighters all have loses on their record. Some lost as young lions, others as old lions, and in one case, a manager did a bit of lying in order to remove some early loses from one "undefeated" champion's record.

[Stephist]

18. 117-111 Floyd.

Just saw it. Not a bad fight at all even if it wasn't great. But If you had Oscar winning this fight you made your mind up before it started. It wasn't close at all. Even the pro Oscar crowd and HBO's entire crew openly rooting for Oscar couldn't make this seem close.

I was very disappointed in Manny Stewart. I know Merchant and Lampley are Oscars boys but Stewart was cheerleading for Oscar the hardest.

[Awsi Dooger]

19. I think that's the perfect score

I had it 116-112 initially but I wasn't watching closely and gave an early round to Oscar that he didn't earn. I watched it again tonight and came up with 117-111.

[H2O Man]

20. That's the same

score I've had every time I watch it.

My brother, who spoke from first-hand experience, once told me that while Manny Stewart is second to none of today's best trainers, that he isn't particularly insightful in regard to fights and fighters that he is not working with. He is not like the late Cus D'Amato or Angelo Dundee.

I did like that Manny noted Oscar was "tight" by the 4th round, and that this would result in his tiring in the later rounds. Larry, being as dense as a rock, seemed upset that Manny would say such a thing. But, all in all, the HBO crew performed in a manner that convinced me they are the least capable of any of the top ones .... not only ESPN, ShowTime, and ShowBox folks, but even the HBO Boxing After Dark crew is superior.