Mayweather Tradition: Been There, Done That
By Steve Kim
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not the first in his family to have faced Oscar De La Hoya. 14 years earlier, his uncle Jeff, who will be in the corner of Steve Forbes this Saturday night when he faces 'The Golden Boy', took on De La Hoya at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas.
Back then, Oscar was still a fledgling prospect still learning the professional game, a few years from the fame and stardom that awaited him. At 4-0 he would face 'Jazzy' Jeff on March 13th, 1993. Mayweather at that point had a ledger of 23-2-2. He was chosen by the Top Rank brass because he could provide De La Hoya rounds and experience while not possessing much power.
Fought at the lightweight level, De La Hoya would score a fourth round stoppage. One of just two fights over a 47 fight pro career that did not last the distance for Mayweather.
"It was one of those situations, it's a lot like the situation with Steve, Oscar was a huge favorite, had the following, basically had all of American behind him when I was fighting him," recalled Mayweather earlier this week. "But since that time he’s gone on to win six world titles and of course, conquered the world and made millions and millions of dollars. It's a situation where I'm facing him again, but indirectly facing him through a fighter.
"It's an uphill battle; of course we're the underdog, but we've worked very hard and I think that a lot of people are going to be surprised on what happens in the fight."
Mayweather, who served as a solid gatekeeper during his career, recalls of his encounter with De La Hoya. "The one thing when I fought Oscar is that at that time expectations were so high of Oscar and I think when I fought Oscar, I was honestly never really hurt in that fight, even though he caught me with some good shots. Actually, when the fight was stopped it was very premature. I was actually catching punches and he was throwing a bunch of amateurish punches.
"But at that time that's all it took for Oscar to get a win because he was already perceived as the future of boxing, even at that stage of his career. But to be honest, at that time when I fought him, I thought he had a lot of potential. But I think he surpassed all the things I thought, personally. I never thought he would achieve this much and be on this level at this time."
From that point, De La Hoya would eventually capture world titles from 130 to 154 pounds and become the preeminent star of the boxing industry. Mayweather would eventually retire nearly four years to the day he faced De La Hoya, by decisioning Eric Jakubowski over eight heats to finish his career at 32-10-5. It was then that he began to work with his nephew, Floyd, who was just a neophyte of the boxing world at that time.
Fast forward about a decade, and Mayweather, like his more boisterous siblings, Roger and Floyd Sr., is becoming an in-demand trainer. As Roger was basically forced out of Forbes' corner by his nephew, Jeff was then brought in to replace him.
Mayweather says his experience in the ring with De La Hoya is not applicable to what Forbes will be facing at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
"No, to be honest, because that Oscar doesn't exist anymore," he says. "I mean, Oscar's gotten a whole lot better, he's gotten a whole lot better since that time and plus he's achieved a whole lot since that time. But also, there's also been a decline in Oscar. So it's a situation that for me to talk about it, wouldn't apply at all."
He says that while Oscar still has a "very, very, good left hook," he also tends to fatigue in the second half of his fights. "That's always a part of Oscar," states Mayweather, "if you take him enough rounds. I don't want to say you see a decline in him, but he starts to fade at times in the fight."
And Mayweather is convinced that it's his boxer who is more well-versed and natural with the philosophy of what his family teaches.