By Kevin Kincade
One of the joys in the life of a true boxing fan is arguing with your friends about mythical match-ups and debating about various fighters from history and where they should rank in terms of greatness. Certain names are readily recognizable among the most avid of boxing fans: “Sugar” Ray Robinson, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, Willie Pep, Benny Leonard, Roberto Duran, Harry Greb, Sandy Saddler, Stanley Ketchel, Carlos Monzon, and so forth and so on. Also, as time goes on more names are added to the list and those names are debated in terms of worthiness and comparison to the old guard: “Sugar” Ray Leonard, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, “Iron” Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Julio Caesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Wilfredo Gomez, and more. Now that he’s entering the twilight of his career, boxing pundits must find a place for Oscar De La Hoya.
On the heels of his crushing defeat to Bernard Hopkins, the Golden One is poised to spring back into action after a 20 month hiatus against the Nicaraguan Wild-Man who smokes opponents like the cigarettes he loves so much. Odds are that even after such a long layoff, Oscar still has enough left to do away with the crude slugging, machismo emitting matador. And, truth be known, even if he can’t, this fight will not effect De La Hoya’s legacy. Those bricks have already been laid and Mayorga merely represents that time honored tradition of fighters fighting on past their prime for even more money and more glory. Mayorga aside, the question remains: Where does Oscar belong in the pantheon of boxing’s all time greats; how does he fit in as of today? Is he an all-time-great or a media creation?
It almost seems like a no-brainer when one looks at the names on his resume; but things are much more complicated than that, especially when a fighter moves up and down the scale and doesn’t stay in one division for long. It was easier to determine a fighter’s greatness in the less complicated/muddled days of yore. Robinson, for example, earned his reputation at a time when there were only eight weight classes and one champion in each one…sounds crazy; but it really used to be that way. Oscar, turning pro in 1992, wasn’t granted the blessing of simplicity. However, he was granted to luxury of multiple titlists from whom to choose. While the current system of Alpha-belts makes it easier for a young prospect to win a “world-championship”, it makes it far more difficult to correctly ascertain his worth.
The good news is Oscar was just as good as advertised and, though kept at a falsely low weight for an extended period of time to pad his record against name-fighters who were just too small to compete with him, the competition did enhance his experience and ring-knowledge. Though he had names such as Troy Dorsey, Jeff Mayweather, and Jorge Paez on his record by the time he had chalked up a mere sixteen fights, the fact remains that all were past their primes and two divisions above there best fighting weight by the time the Golden Boy cashed in on there reputations.
Oscar’s first real test came in the form of former Junior Lightweight Champion John-John Molina. At the age of 30, and against a younger, faster, stronger, more gifted opponent, Molina showed the heart that took him to championship gold years before over Tony “The Tiger” Lopez. Scoring wise, the fight wasn’t that close; but Juan Molina pushed the young De La Hoya to his limits and forced Oscar to show his heart for the sport in addition to his skill. The critics finally got a glimpse of the beast beneath the beauty, so to speak.
In his next fight he wrested the IBF Lightweight Championship away from the once-defeated Rafael Ruelas with a devastating display of power, dropping Ruelas twice in the second round and forcing the referee to call a halt to matters. Ruelas was a good fighter; but not a great one and his chin had always been suspect. He was very nearly knocked out in the first round of his title winning victory over Freddie Pendleton; but was able to collect himself and dominate the remainder of the fight. So, De La Hoya’s destruction of him only surprised those who felt that it would be Oscar succumbing to Ruelas’ power and not the other way around.
Oscar’s next Lightweight defense was against reigning Jr. Lightweight Champion Genaro Hernandez. Hernandez was a slick boxer and a good champion; but had little power at 130. Odds were that he wouldn’t have any more at 135. He didn’t; and Oscar beat up on him tremendously, smashing his nose in three places with a blistering uppercut. With crimson pouring from his nose, Hernandez called the fight off himself. Judging by the way he dominated a very good champion, De La Hoya appeared to be way too strong for any Jr. Lightweight .
However, up next for Oscar was another former Jr. Lightweight Titlist, Jesse James Leija. Leija had proven his wares against one of the greatest 130 Lber’s of all time, Azumah Nelson and had racked up impressive wins over a variety of tough opposition. Leija was a quality opponent for Oscar, if not outsized. His only loss at that time was a unanimous decision defeat to Gabriel Ruelas when he lost his Championship. Leija had always proven to be a tough and durable opponent, so there were many jaws dropped when Oscar finished him off in round two. The time had come for Oscar to move up; and he did to face, arguably, one of the greatest fighters of all time, Julio Caesar Chavez.
Now, here’s the problem. By the time De La Hoya met Chavez, Julio was 34 years old and had at least Ninety-nine fights under his belt. He was definitely on the down side of his career, to say the least. The once great champion hadn’t looked impressive in years; but some still felt he had too much grit for the Golden Boy. Oscar’s jab ripped Chavez open like a can of peaches before the echoes of the opening gong had faded into silence. As De La Hoya’s fans cheered wildly, the Chavez contingent was forced to read the writing on the wall. The end of an era was spelled out in Chavez’s own blood: their hero’s reign was over in round 4 and there was a new sheriff in town. At the tender age of 23, Oscar De La Hoya was now, officially, a three division champion….albeit in a world of multi-belts.
Oscar next decisioned the previously undefeated, tough; but limited slugger, Miguel Angel Gonzales. The win set the stage for another showdown with a living fistic legend, the Great Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. At the age of 33, despite his 40-1-1 record, it could have been argued that Whitaker had never lost a fight as a pro. However, he had been slipping as of late as Father Time and problems outside the ring were beginning to take their toll on the defensive wizard. Oscar fought one of the most disciplined fights of his young career and came away with a unanimous, if not controversial decision and his fourth World Title in as many divisions.
The controversy wasn’t so much about Oscar actually winning the contest as much as it surrounded the scorecards of the fight. Most who saw it felt it was a nip and tuck battle between a crafty old veteran and an unbelievably talented young upstart with many rounds that could have gone either way. In despite of this almost universal sentiment of a close contest, the judges scored the fight for Oscar by decisions of 115-111 and 116-110 twice. Agree or disagree, Oscar now had the scalps of two All-Time Greats on his belt.
After the Whitaker fight, De La Hoya added the names of David Kamau, the enigmatic Hector Camacho, and perennial contender Wilfredo Rivera to his list of victims on the way to the most dangerous fight of his career up to that point: Ike “Bazooka” Quartey.
Quartey was the first real time that De La Hoya had stepped into the ring with a contender who was similar in age and could push him to his limits as a Welterweight Champion. Whitaker tested him technically; but wasn’t powerful enough to really threaten Oscar. The same could be said for Camacho and Rivera; but not for Quartey. Ike had a booming jab and was very capable of knocking Oscar out. De La Hoya was up for the challenge as two of the best Welterweights in the world fought a pitched battle that saw both men on the canvas and the crowd on its feet until the final bell. In the end, it was an extremely close fight with De La Hoya getting the nod by Split Decision. Only one Welterweight remained between Oscar and total supremacy of the 147 Lb class.
Though not the lineal Welterweight Champion, Felix Trinidad had put together a very impressive resume of his own, winning the IBF crown at age 20 and making fifteen defenses by the time he and Oscar finally met to settle matters. Among his defenses were wins over Hector Camacho, Yori Boy Campas (first defeat), Oba Carr (first defeat), “Rockin’ Rodney Moore, Freddie Pendleton, and an older Pernell Whitaker. To say the hype surrounding this showdown of undefeated superstars was massive would be an egregious understatement. No build up for a welterweight fight had been this intense since a couple of guys named Leonard and Hearns met some eighteen years before. The question was would these two live up to the expectations as much as the other two had. The answer, unfortunately, was a resounding NO.
From the outset it was obvious that Trinidad could not cope with Oscar’s more technical game. Try as he might, the hard-punching Purerto Rican could not land anything solid on El Nino de Oro. Oscar was too fast, too sharp, too accurate, and, quite frankly, too good for Felix. Then, a funny thing happened on the way to ultimate supremacy: Oscar got on his bicycle. One can never tell what goes on in the minds of Las Vegas judges; but one gets the feeling that if you’re fighting for an undisputed championship in a mega-fight, they expect you to dominate every second of every round, or at the very least, put on a good show for all 12.
Many felt that Oscar easily won all of the early rounds and even though he coasted for much of the second half of the fight, he, ultimately, should have gotten the decision. Surprise! The judges didn’t see it that way; and Oscar De La Hoya lost the most important fight of is career.
Since Trinidad, De La Hoya has remained popular; but has lost two of his four biggest fights. In his biggest test after Felix, Oscar was easily out hustled by “Sugar” Shane Mosley; and reacted by moving up to Jr. Middleweight to snatch an Alpha-belt from the grasp of the unheralded Javier Castillejo. That win set up a showdown with Fernando Vargas, who had been stopped by Trinidad three fights before. Of course the story line to that fight was far more personal that can be recounted in words; but at the end of the day, it was an extremely close contest that Oscar pulled out with his intelligence, will, and tremendous heart.
The Vargas match was the last big win for De La Hoya as he lost his rematch with Mosley, though under a cloud of controversy, and preceded to move up to middleweight in search of a mega-buck showdown with Middleweight King Bernard Hopkins rather than seek revenge against his two-time conqueror. At 160, Oscar won a very questionable decision over Felix Sturm and was stopped by a Hopkins body shot in an attempt to win his sixth separate divisional title.
So, what does all of this mean? Does Oscar have the credentials to be an all-time great or is he merely a product of modern boxing’s hype machine?
The only fair way to come to a conclusion is to really look at who he beat and where they were in their careers at the time. If you examine all the wins, all the titles, all the mega-fights, and such Oscar does rank as a great fighter, however, the mantle of legend must be denied his grasp. Oscar is great because of his wins over Molina, Ruelas, Hernandez, Leija, Gonzalez, Whitaker, Rivera, Quartey, and Vargas. In those fights he showed his enormous talent, skill and heart, though, truthfully, I am uncomfortable with giving him too much credit for some of his lower weight wins due to his natural size advantage.
The fights that should keep Oscar out of the upper echelon are his losses to Trinidad and Mosley. Too harsh? I don’t think so; and here’s why. Oscar did not secure his legacy against the best fighters of his time; he lost to them. He may have wins over Hernandez and Leija; but both moved up in weight to challenge him. Even though they were accomplished fighters, they were naturally smaller men. He may have an impressive win over Rafael Ruelas; but Rafael was merely a good champion, not a great one…and good can be argued.
He may have wins over Chavez and Whitaker; but they were not of his time, they were before it. He may have wins over Quartey and Vargas; but Vargas defeated Quartey and lost to Trinidad, who beat Oscar, making Tito the best Welterweight/Jr. Middleweight of the two and the dominant champion of his era.
The fact of the matter is Oscar was a belt collector, not a dominant world champion. Instead of following the examples set by Stanley Ketchel, Ray Robinson, Willie Pep, Carlos Monzon, Benny Leonard, Barney Ross, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and so many others, he chose to follow the example set by the second incarnation of Ray Leonard: the post Hagler version. He never truly dominated any weight class he ruled. He didn’t unify the 130 Lb or 135Lb Championships. He stayed at 140 for one title defense. And, while he had a good reign at 147, the Trinidad fight was the “end all, be all”. He might have won the lineal Welterweight Title when he defeated Pernell Whittaker; but Felix Trinidad defeated a better quality of opposition during his paper reign.
The deciding fight should have been against Felix; but because he coasted in the later half of the fight, he lost his chance to secure his legacy. In fact, one could use those coasting rounds in the Trinidad fight as a symbolic snapshot of how Oscar will be perceived by future generations of pundits when compared to those who came before him.
Oscar may have secured cult icon status; but popularity does not equate into fistic legend. Perhaps, in another time, with less sensationalism and more sense, Oscar would have used all of his immense talent to stamp out any doubt of his greatness. Perhaps, future pundits will be kinder to him than I can allow myself to be. Perhaps future generations will look back upon the reign of “The Golden Boy” with a lump in their throat and mention him alongside the Great “Sugar Ray”. If so, so be it; but as it stands today: Close Oscar; but no Cigar.
Questions or comments: kevin.kincade@citcomm.com