By Jake Donovan

Regardless of what was the real purpose of Saturday’s 12-round event, Oscar de la Hoya managed the 39th win of his Hall-of-Fame career with a business-like performance over former Contender finalist Steve Forbes in the HBO-televised main event at the Home Depot Soccer Stadium in Carson, California.

HBO pulled out all of the stops in helping kick off the Oscar de la Hoya retirement tour. A whopping 40 minutes from the start of the telecast to the opening bell, not one but two National Anthems televised (a ritual usually featured only during PPV events), an exclusive taped pre-fight interview with the Golden Boy – it was a celebration of the sport’s biggest cash cow returning home to Los Angeles for the first time in eight years and fighting live on regular HBO for the first time since 2001.

Once the bell rang, it was just another business transaction.  The Floyd Mayweather-Oscar de la Hoya II infomercial everyone predicted it would become. And in the end, hardly a competitive, or even particularly entertaining, fight.

Unlike the Mayweather debacle 52 weeks ago, it ultimately proved to be the night of the jab for Oscar. But before it could get there, it was Forbes who enjoyed more success with the stick in the early portions of the fight.

Forbes used the jab as means to set up a body attack, despite repeated warnings from referee Raul Caiz Jr for punches that didn’t seem particularly low. The former Contender contestant’s tactics forced de la Hoya to offer a body attack rather than stick to his plan of at least 35 jabs per round. The best punches of the round belonged to Forbes, including a straight right hand midway through and a flurry inside the ten-second mark.

A left hook got things going for de la Hoya early in round two, paving the way for a 30-second rally while Forbes covered up. Several left hooks upstairs and right hands to the body landed for Oscar before Forbes was able to come back with a left hook on the inside. Action went back and forth at a moderate pace midway through the round, with Forbes playing defense during Oscar flurries, while looking to land right hands over Oscar’s left. The round ended with de la Hoya bouncing on his toes while keeping Forbes at the end of his jab.

The third was the first of many dominant rounds for de la Hoya, who entered the frame with a small cut on the bridge of his nose and a mouse developing under his left eye. Forbes was unable to take advantage, instead forced to contend with Oscar’s jab, right hand and occasional body attack. It was more of the same in the fourth, though Forbes showed signs of wanting to initiate a brawl. His efforts, however, fell well short of effective, as he offered very little to keep de la Hoya off of him.

By the fifth round, de la Hoya was now implementing a left uppercut into his repertoire, with most of the rest of his weapons still working out well. It was also a round where Forbes desperately tried to work his way back into the fight, effectively fighting backwards to minimize the power on the incoming before darting back inside with combinations.

It carried over into the start of the sixth, where the two traded left hooks early, but soon became a big de la Hoya round. A flurry midway through opened up a cut over Forbes’ right eye, giving his corner extra work between rounds in addition to Jeff already trying to out-strategize big brother Floyd in the opposite corner.

Things slowed down considerably in the second half of the fight, understandable when you match a 31-year old ex-titlist against a 35-year old semi-retired superstar. Much of best moments in the seventh were reduced to singular punches at a time. A right uppercut midway through the round appeared to get Forbes’ attention, though Oscar failed to follow up. That changed in the final 30 seconds, when de la Hoya landed a combination along the ropes, paving the way for a flurry to the head and body.

A Forbes left uppercut to de la Hoya’s eye was among the very few highlights offered in a tame eighth round. It didn’t pick up much in the ninth round, with Oscar doing most of his work from the outside, if only to deny Forbes the opportunity to brawl.

Forbes appeared well on his way to winning the tenth round before de la Hoya nailed him with consecutive right uppercuts midway through the round. A left uppercut hat had Forbes off-balance with about a minute left in the round, but de la Hoya was overzealous in the follow-up, leaving an opening for a Forbes rally, and thus perhaps preserving the round for the Portland native.

Fatigue began to set in for de la Hoya once the bout reached the championship rounds (it being a 12-round fight despite there not being any title on the line. His mouth was wide open for much of the round, while Forbes caught his second wind, fighting as if the fight had just begun. de la Hoya attempted to shoeshine toward rounds end, but it was hardly enough to ignore the 2:30 of nothingness that preceded it.

The instructions were clear in the Forbes corner heading into the final round – leave it all in the ring. He didn’t, instead opting to play matador defense while waiting for openings that never presented itself.

de la Hoya took advantage, landing a one-two upstairs that momentarily shut down Forbes while along the ropes. The jab resurfaced, snapping back Forbes’ head with about a minute left in the fight. Oscar began to feel reborn and started dancing on his toes, only to be met with a chorus of boos from the 29,000 or so on hand who wanted to see their hometown hero gun for a knockout. It never came, and the crowd once again let their displeasure be heard at fights end.

The reading of the cards was a mere formality, as a blind man could’ve told you who won this one. Scores of 119-109 (2x) and 120-108 were announced for de la Hoya, who continues his streak of lose one, win one, as has been the case dating all the way back to the 2003 rematch with Sugar Shane Mosley. He improves to 39-5 (30KO) with the win, but did he show enough improvement – and entertainment value – to change public opinion on the prospect of a Mayweather rematch?

For the moment, it’s a bout that remains unsigned, but presently priority number one on de la Hoya’s to-do list.

“The fight with Mayweather isn’t set, but I’ve always prided myself on beating the best, and I’m going to go after him because I know I can beat him.”

He feels more confident now after the work he got in this fight, despite not obtaining the desired outcome.

“I was hoping to knock (Forbes) out or stop him, but knowing that he’s never been stopped or knocked out, I knew he would be a tough customer. I’m a little disappointed, because obviously I worked very hard in the gym. But I’m glad we fought Forbes, here in Los Angeles. I feel sharp. It accomplished my goal of feeling fresh and fighting two more big fights in September and December.”

It might be a while before Forbes receives another big fight, if ever again. The Season Two Contender finalist earned $400,000 for his supporting role in tonight’s event, but didn’t offer much reason to line up to see him again any time soon. He falls to 33-6 (9KO) with the loss, his third in the past four fights, though one was a highly controversial decision against Demetrius Hopkins last March.

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Jake can be reached for comments at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .