By John Hively
Photo © Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com
Boxing will experience a somewhat over-hyped event this coming May in the form of a fight between a prime Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather and a gracefully aging yet far from his peak Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya. This bout is not in the same class as matches between, say, a prime Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran near his apex, nor is it the equivalent of the battle between a peak Marvin Hagler and a prime Thomas Hearns, or any number of other past bouts.
However, De La Hoya-Mayweather is a good attraction, and certainly worthy of being offered on pay-per-view. It is possible this match may be among the most lucrative of all time, but this is because of the drawing power of De La Hoya rather than the talent of Mayweather. The reason this is such a creditable match is that it should prove to be competitive on paper at least, and it will give us a real clue as to just how great Floyd Mayweather really is.
Unlike De La Hoya, after this battle Pretty Boy will still need to show us much more than a victory over an aging Oscar before we can place him alongside such fistic immortals as Willie Pep, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong, Benny Leonard, Harry Greb, Mickey Walker, Ray Leonard, Bernard Hopkins, Roberto Duran, Eder Jofre, Manuel Ortiz, Marvin Hagler and so many other top-flight, all-time greats.
The reason is simple. The career of Pretty Boy has blossomed just when no other all-time great heroes of the ring have been fighting at or near his weight. He has defeated some solid fighters, such as Jesus Chavez and Jose Luis Castillo, but it is highly unlikely that you will ever find these or any other of his previous opponents enshrined in the Boxing Hall of Fame or on anybody’s list of the top twenty of all time. Oscar is probably the only fighter streaking toward the hall of fame that Floyd will have fought come May.
Oscar, on the other hand, has proven that he is a border line great fighter. Some people may argue that he is worthy of placement alongside those listed above, but such claims are unrealistic. While the golden boy for a short while had an outstanding if not dominating career as a lightweight, his dominance has waned since picking up weight and entering the welterweight ranks nearly a decade ago. Oscar’s contemporary, Felix Trinidad, was the dominant boxer at that weight—not De La Hoya.
Let’s face it, whether past his prime or not, Oscar has never been the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard, and that is precisely the kind of opponent that Floyd has lacked through no fault of his own. This is not to suggest that Oscar would have been an easy mark for Sugar Ray or any other all-time great at or near his weight. Golden Boy would have likely proven to be stern opposition for anyone in history at lightweight or welterweight, but he probably would have fallen short against them, just as he did against contemporaries Shane Mosley, Hopkins and Trinidad.
Although Mayweather will likely be the betting favorite at fight time, Oscar may prove to be Floyd’s toughest foe simply because he is the best all-around fighter Floyd has yet faced. De La Hoya will be heavier than Pretty Boy, and he has superior punching power. Golden Boy also has very good hand speed and, unlike Zab Judah, he has a jaw that appears to be made of granite. But De La Hoya has one glaring defect going into this bout: inactivity.
On fight night Oscar will have fought only once in two and a half years. In this coming contest it is easy to envision the golden one fading during the championship rounds just from lack of recent pugilistic activity. Even during his younger and more active days, he faded down the stretch against Mosley (in their first bout), Trinidad and Hopkins. True, he attacked like a tiger in the twelfth round against Ike Quartey, and obviously he did not always fade during the championship rounds of other matches. But his recent inactivity may prove to be his downfall against Floyd.
Should Floyd get past Oscar, and that is far from being a sure thing, he still has much to prove before being accorded all-time great status. The welterweight class over which he rules has a few intriguing challengers coming his way that might help him achieve a lofty status that can only be earned by taking on the best.
Antonio Margarito has been gunning for a bout with Mayweather for quite some time. For some strange reason, the pretty boy has not been keen to step in the ring against this formidable contender. If Floyd gets by Oscar, Antonio should be his next opponent. If Mayweather retires without facing Antonio, it will look like the pretty one ducked him, which is what some people suspect he has been doing for a few years. All time greats do not avoid other boxers at or near their weight.
Contender Paul Williams has been looking like a potential champion in the making. This six foot one inch tall pugilist has punching power and ring savvy. He is undefeated in thirty-two bouts with twenty-four kayos. If Williams continues to sweep through the division, Floyd may need to confront him in the squared circle, if only to put him in his place—if he can.
In addition to Margarito and Williams, there are other worthy contenders that Floyd should confront, especially if he wants to be considered a fistic immortal.
Just like Floyd, Oscar has much riding on the outcome of this contest—his legacy. If he defeats Pretty Boy, then he may rightly have a claim to his place alongside the fistic immortals. But first, just like Floyd, he needs to step up and earn such an honor. Defeating his rival may just be sufficient to place him among the immortals. This is especially so because it will come on top of his close and disputed victories over Ike Quartey and the aging Pernell Whitaker, both of which took place many years ago.
This brings up an interesting paradox. A Mayweather victory over De La Hoya is just the beginning of several steps Floyd still needs to take to prove his right to stand side-by-side among fistiania’s immortals. He’s not there yet, but he may not be far from it if he wins against the graying golden boy. A decisive loss to Oscar may mean he’ll never be among the fistic elite of all time.
On the other hand, a De La Hoya victory just might suggest that the golden boy may stand alongside boxing’s immortals, at least to some fans and experts. A loss means he will fall short of eternal greatness by a fair margin, but history will still remember him kindly, as someone who took on all comers, and who performed ably inside the squared circle, whether victorious or not.