Thomas Hearns vs Oscar de la Hoya

[creekrat77]

That was at 140 and JCC was already on the decline. No comparison to a young hungry 147 lb Tommy Hearns. Plus he won because of an early cut in the fight.

Yea but that speed, power, and footwork carried into 147. Chavez came in as the same fighter that went up against meldrick and if not stopped for the cut Chavez would of been tko'd later in the fight because of the accuracy and pressure from Oscar.

[billeau2]

A touch harsh matey......

If I'm honest the Sugar Shane Mosley who met Oscar impressed me greatly. Dare I say his performance against a prime De La Hoya wasn't far short of how well I think a prime Leonard would do against him at welterweight.

Prior to Oscar's match with Hopkins when post prime and in a weight division in which he didn't belong he was never beaten clearly (it was all close/split decisions). He was shaded by Mosley, the Trinidad decision was very debatable despite him fading in the last three rounds, the Mayweather fight was competitive and pretty close too.

Prime for prime I don't think he'd embarrass himself against Hearns.

Mosley never had the technos of a guy like Leanard! I mean Mosley was fast and had power but when he faced a guy who could box...like Forrest he was clueless. leanard had better speed, some power compared to Mosley but could box circles around a guy like Mosley...Mosley was a puncher masquerading as a boxer puncher and he got away with it because he fought at a time (in his prime) against guys who were excellent but not the calibre of guys like Hagler Leanard Hearns Duran. At that time in the division there were a lot of punchers....But could Trinidad, a technically sound magnificant puncher, box on the calibre of a guy like Duran? No. The list goes on...

And Mosley could beat Oscar precisely because while De La Hoya was technically very good, he could not box well enough to beat Mosley properly...so to speak. Look no further than Mayweather. De La Hoya was usingn the jab to some effect and could not find a way to keep using it agianst a guy who can, among other things, box your ears off faster than Miss Murphy! How 'bout the Nando fight? De La Hoya goes in as the supposed matador who will attempt to outbox the roid raging hard punching Aztec warrior....Well we all know what happened in that one! De La Hoya simply beat Nando up!

To Me Oscar was typical of that era. Great fighters who inclined towards punching....but with a deficit of real boxing skills one sees in a class of fighters that are, or are pushing ATG status. Just the era Hearns fought in shows that with the POSSIBLE (and I said possible real loud see? haha) exception of Hagler....a man who could punch holes in stone, all the guys, in addition to being punchers could box, on the order of a guy like Forrest.

[joseph5620]

Yea but that speed, power, and footwork carried into 147. Chavez came in as the same fighter that went up against meldrick and if not stopped for the cut Chavez would of been tko'd later in the fight because of the accuracy and pressure from Oscar.

You can't seriously believe that was the same version of Chavez. Even if it was, that in no way compares to the 6-2 prime welterweight Thomas Hearns.

[Scott9945]

Yea but that speed, power, and footwork carried into 147. Chavez came in as the same fighter that went up against meldrick and if not stopped for the cut Chavez would of been tko'd later in the fight because of the accuracy and pressure from Oscar.

More like the same fighter who lost to Frankie Randall. It was a nice step up win, but you can't pretend it wasn't a past his prime JCC.

[roxy]

I think Hearns catches him.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

You can't seriously believe that was the same version of Chavez. Even if it was, that in no way compares to the 6-2 prime welterweight Thomas Hearns.

More like the same fighter who lost to Frankie Randall. It was a nice step up win, but you can't pretend it wasn't a past his prime JCC.

Im a huge chavez fan, he is one of my top 3 guys ever, but no way was he near prime vs oscar,, Chavez was still a quality fighter, but def far on the downhill slide by the time oscar fought him...

I consider chavez prime up until about 88,, then 89-92 he was slightly past prime but still a championship level fighter, by 93-98 he was a clearly downhill fighter who was at the "paper" championship level

Even chavez 89-90 would have struggled vs oscar at 140.. Oscar had great power and speed at 140 and was probably his best weight class IMO

[Scott9945]

Im a huge chavez fan, he is one of my top 3 guys ever, but no way was he near prime vs oscar,, Chavez was still a quality fighter, but def far on the downhill slide by the time oscar fought him...

I consider chavez prime up until about 88,, then 89-92 he was slightly past prime but still a championship level fighter, by 93-98 he was a clearly downhill fighter who was at the "paper" championship level

Even chavez 89-90 would have struggled vs oscar at 140.. Oscar had great power and speed at 140 and was probably his best weight class IMO

It is certainly possible that DLH would have always been a bad matchup for Chavez.

[Sugarj]

Mosley never had the technos of a guy like Leanard! I mean Mosley was fast and had power but when he faced a guy who could box...like Forrest he was clueless. leanard had better speed, some power compared to Mosley but could box circles around a guy like Mosley...Mosley was a puncher masquerading as a boxer puncher and he got away with it because he fought at a time (in his prime) against guys who were excellent but not the calibre of guys like Hagler Leanard Hearns Duran. At that time in the division there were a lot of punchers....But could Trinidad, a technically sound magnificant puncher, box on the calibre of a guy like Duran? No. The list goes on...

And Mosley could beat Oscar precisely because while De La Hoya was technically very good, he could not box well enough to beat Mosley properly...so to speak. Look no further than Mayweather. De La Hoya was usingn the jab to some effect and could not find a way to keep using it agianst a guy who can, among other things, box your ears off faster than Miss Murphy! How 'bout the Nando fight? De La Hoya goes in as the supposed matador who will attempt to outbox the roid raging hard punching Aztec warrior....Well we all know what happened in that one! De La Hoya simply beat Nando up!

To Me Oscar was typical of that era. Great fighters who inclined towards punching....but with a deficit of real boxing skills one sees in a class of fighters that are, or are pushing ATG status. Just the era Hearns fought in shows that with the POSSIBLE (and I said possible real loud see? haha) exception of Hagler....a man who could punch holes in stone, all the guys, in addition to being punchers could box, on the order of a guy like Forrest.

For what its worth, many if not most will have the opinion that the era of welterweights that included Leonard, Benitez, Hearns and Duran was vastly superior to that of the heyday of De La Hoya, Quartey, Mosley, Trinidad or Forrest.

I too believe that too, but not to as great a degree. In very recent memory we have seen the alarming declines of the pound for pound superstars we held in such high regards 10-15 years ago. We have seen them in weight divisions too high (too low in some cases too!), we've seen them knocked out and given royal pastings in distance fights. So its inevitable that they are going to suffer at the moment in head to head comparisons with our idols of the early 80s.

I'm a bit of a fight film bore and am forever watching the fights from eras past, and I have to say.......as much as I think Leonard, Benitez, Hearns and Duran were superior to the likes of De La Hoya, Quartey, Mosley, Trinidad or Forrest, I don't think they'd find any at their best anything but very tough matches. The more modern guys also had terrific chins, power, speed, workrate, technical ability, amateur pedigree.....I don't think the talent gap was that great.

I don't think that it was Mosley's lack of ability to deal with a good boxer that cost Mosley either fight with Forrest (the second fight was close too). I think the height and reach difference was key. Same with Leonard vs Hearns, or Benitez vs Hearns.

You are right, Trinidad vs Duran is a bad style matchup for Trinidad. For all that he lost the (very dubious) decision, De La Hoya almost hit him at will for eight rounds. Duran would too....but I don't think it'd be an easy match, he'd still get tagged with some meaty shots. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Trinidad last the distance.

Memories are short regarding De La Hoya's ability to deal with Mosely; check out De La Hoya vs Mosley 2. Another dubious decision loss for Oscar, to my eyes that was a beautiful boxing display. He should have been awarded that decision....he adjusted very well.

As for De La Hoya vs Mayweather. Lets not forget this was 'old De La Hoya' only something like 2 fights from retirement; another split decision. Oscar was far more successful against Mayweather than anyone since Castillo. At his best Oscar was a class act who brought a lot to the table at welterweight, I don't think he'd embarrass himself at all against the greats of the late 70s and early 80s.

But bringing things back to the thread, I've said in all my posts that I think Hearns wins a wide unanimous decision over Oscar. I really think Oscar would do far better than Cuevas (who honestly was far from on form that day).

[Mintcar923]

Tommy's jab would just be too much for him. A good blueprint for the way this fight may've have gone would be Mosley-Dela Hoya I..

[The Surgeon]

Oscar takes a lot of flak nowadays but he was a Bad dude on his night man

Still its hard to imagine Hearns losing here, I like him by stoppage late too I think. U never know though Tommy's chin while not as bad as advertised wasnt exactly concrete and Oscar's 45' shot was a muther ****er