By Don Colgan
When Oscar De La Hoya burst upon the scene with a first round knockout over Lamar Williams in Nov. 1992, it was evident almost immediately that boxing was witnessing the birth of a superstar.
Over half a century earlier, in 1941, one Walker Smith made a comparable debut at the New York Daily News sponsored Golden Gloves tournament. One only had to watch young Ray in action, for the very first time, to understand you were watching the unveiling of a great fighter.
Over his first two years in the professional ranks the young Californian drew comparisons to a young Robinson and “Sugar” Ray Leonard. As the Tyson era inflicted damage to boxing, De La Hoya brought a dash of Hollywood, a developing stardom the capturing the attention of millions of Americans. A De La Hoya TV matinee brought an instant spike in viewership and a spike in ratings. He possessed every tool to become a star. Striking good looks, ring generalship that betrayed his years, speed of hand and foot and a classic left hook.
With impressive stoppages in 11 of his first 12 bouts, De La Hoya made a pronounced mark in the Jr. Lightweight and Lightweight class. He captured his first championship in his 11th professional bout with a tenth round knockout of tough Jimmi Bredahl in California.
Four months later he TKO’s Jorge Paez for the WBO Lightweight crown, earning his second title in 1994. In less than two years in the professional ranks, the undefeated De La Hoya was slowly becoming the man who one day be number one drawing card in boxing.
Oscar’s stellar amateur pedigree combined with his explosive entry into the professional ranks drew him comparisons with a young Robinson. A sense of inevitable greatness began to envelop De La Hoya. In many ways he seemed to parallel Leonard, a striking superstar with boundless ability and unlimited potential. By the mid-1990’s it seemed only a matter of how many championships he would capture. Tall and powerful with myriad of skills it was inexorable that he would grow into and through the welterweight ranks. When he destroyed Rafael Ruelas with a brutal second round TKO in May of 1995 he was on the threshold of eclipsing a young Ray Leonard as a powerful, skilled and dominant and long term champion.
Something happened to Oscar on his road to ring immortality. It wasn’t a question of not realizing his vast potential or being the victim of a crushing defeat that left his career in tatters. Nothing of the sort happened. De La Hoya never acquired the invincibility of a young Cassius Clay that swept through the heavyweight ranks in the early 1960’s. Or Leonard, who grew into an utterly dominant champion in the three short years after he won the Olympic Gold Medal at Montreal in 1976. Marvin Hagler suffered two defeats in the middle 1970’s and a draw decision with than titleholder Vito Antuofermo that would have devastated most fighters. Yet Hagler stormed his way to the Middleweight crown and scorched the middleweight division for nearly seven years, a great Champion whose “Destruct and Destroy” creed with a perfect manifestation of his utter superiority.
The defining bout of De La Hoya’s career with a victory, albeit a disputed one. His twelve round unanimous decision over Pernell Whitaker, a contest in which many expected De La Hoya to showcase his enormous talent and emerge as an all time great champion with a dominating performance. A good parallel to this bout was a scene from Rocky II when Apollo Creed asked his manager, “Did I win the fight”. The reply, “You got the decision”.
If Whitaker would have fought twelve full rounds instead of giving away a handful of them, he would have retained his WBC Welterweight crown. Oscar won, yet it was the beginning of the end of any claim to enduring greatness for De La Hoya.
Than came the Felix Trinidad disaster. The Golden Boy fought better than he had against Whitaker. He out punched and out maneuvered Tito and looked for all the world like a decisive winner after eight rounds. Where Leonard walked through Hearns to stave off defeat and Hagler, badly cut and near defeat, drove Hearns to the canvas, Oscar took the rest of the night off and Trinidad caught him at the wire and dealt him a humiliating defeat.
Humiliating because the defeat was inexcusable. Great fighters fight, all the way. Every minute of every round. De La Hoya should have knocked out Trinidad inside of ten rounds. Whether is was too much adulation, or the expectation of any Whitaker like gift, the Californian decided eight rounds of fighting was enough. De La Hoya, and his reputation, have never recovered.
Since that September night in 1999, Oscar De La Hoya has remained a significant, yet diminished force in boxing. He has acquired several alphabet titles, prevailing over respectable, not championship caliber opposition. His first points loss to Shane Mosley was beyond dispute. In their return bout, over three years later, Oscar fought hard and pressed Shane throughout the bout. De La Hoya seemed to have done enough to prevail. However, Mosley again got the verdict. Oscar has paid a steep price for his gift over Whitaker a decade ago. That triumph was a crown of thorns on De La Hoya’s brow and the undisputed beginning of his decline as a world class fighter.
His 12 round decision over Felix Sturm to capture the WBO Middleweight title earned him no claim to greatness, and his 9th round one body punch knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins, came as a surprise to no one.
Now he has chosen to try, one last time, to scale the mountain of ring greatness that seemed so assuredly his a decade ago. No one is giving Oscar more than an outside chance at best against the multi talented and seemingly invincible Floyd Mayweather, Jr. A champion in his absolute prime, Mayweather has only one handicap as the May contest draws closer. He will fight at 154 pounds, which should be a decided advantage for the physically larger De La Hoya.
Still, it is beyond credulity to make much of an argument for Oscar. Every measurable advantage belongs to Pretty Boy. He should bury De La Hoya in an avalanche of punches delivered from every conceivable angle. Oscar has to be afforded only a punchers chance, yet how much real punching has he done in the past decade. Judging by his record in “Big Fights” over the past few years, he will have to achieve an extraordinary effort to upset Mayweather. He will have to cast aside any vestige of caution and walk through Floyd. He will have to absorb Marciano type punishment to get inside, to force Pretty Boy against the ropes and rifle his midsection, punish him where it hurts the most. If Oscar can somehow fight this kind of fight, and go deep down inside of himself to fine it, than he has to be given a chance.
Cut the ring off. Stay on top of Mayweather, show Floyd no respect. Manhandle him inside and in the clinches. Take punishment without taking one backward step. Find a way, somehow, to throw that powerful left hook he should have thrown at Pernell Whitaker a decade ago, that left hook that would have earned him the greatness so pre ordained and never realized.
Regardless of the outcome, Oscar can end his career in the adulation it began if he brings this type of fight to Mayweather. Floyd is not a popular champion and it won’t take more than a De La Hoya combination to buckle his knees to bring down the house in a torrent of cheers for the Californian.
For boxing’s sake, I hope he finds that fight on May 5 and the fight lives up to extraordinary hype bestowed upon it.
