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Why Floyd Mayweather Jr will Lose to Oscar De La Hoya and Why That's Good
By Chris Ackerman, BRC (April 14, 2007) Doghouse Boxing
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Pretty bold statement considering I have said Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best pure boxer in the business and has the skills and natural talent to be in the HOF as an all time P4P type guy. I have said that, and I still say that. The problem is he is a jackass and has placed himself in a lose-lose situation. There is no win here for him thanks to ****** decisions, ****** behaviour and inexplicably ****** comments…both chronic and recent.
Let’s backtrack a bit to when Floyd first really blew everyone’s mind. That was Diego Corrales night. After that
performance PBF could do no wrong, and very a la RJJ coasted for years cleaning out guys who should have been sparring partners while avoiding hunting for the defining fights that would secure a legacy that could never be tarnished. I’m not trying to beat up on Roy. In his defense, there wasn’t much to do at 175 that he didn’t do but challenges are where you find them and neither guy seemed as interested in looking as they did in basking and reveling.
That’s where phrases like “If it makes dollars, it makes sense” come from. They come from the arrogance of youth that can’t grasp the fact that all the money in the world can’t buy you out of the decades of sleepless nights that come when the chanting has stopped and you are left to ponder all the talent and opportunity that has been squandered on nonsense, posses, broads and bling.
So Floyd fought DeMarcus Corley. So he fought Zab Judah instead of Antonio Margarito. So he fought Arturo Gatti instead of Miguel Cotto. Look, you can fill in the names in whatever way you want, the point is he spent the last five years making excuses and creating questions instead of creating a legacy and making history. To his credit he fought Castillo twice, but that was before the modern incarnation and the adoption policy of the convenient opponents like Baldomir instead of Hatton. Winky Wright? Come on.
What made it all worse is that through it all, little Floyd has run his mouth and called out virtually every other fighter of this or any other generation as being inferior. You know what? He may be right. He may be better than all but maybe 4 or 5 guys in history, but how are we to know when he only targets guys like Arturo to whom he gave a C+ ranking? How do you call yourself the pinnacle and evolution of the sport when you are beating on second or third tier fighters? And then the retirement talk…
Something doesn’t jibe between the talk and the walk. James Toney has a big mouth and is a rude crude jerk too, but has he looked for a way out of a tough night?
This fight has been brewing for years, we all know it. But did any of us think it would happen? Well now here it is. In retrospect doesn’t it seem kind of convenient that Floyd really sounded off about it, threatened retirement etc. only after Oscar seemed to be de-clawed and a little over the hill? I’m just sayin’.
The problem with the strategy is that PBF is now painted into a corner from which there is no way to emerge triumphant, even if he wins the fight. Incidentally, I no longer think he will. Perhaps I am just so tired of the antics that I don’t think Floyd deserves to get his hand raised against a guy who, at least in public, carries himself with a good deal of class and dignity, but I have a feeling that all boxing prowess in the world isn’t going to get Floyd out of what he jawed himself into. Let’s talk about that first.
No question Floyd is faster. No question he has better hand and foot speed, better defense, crisper combination and far more fluidity. Hands down, the boxing skills are clearly in his favour. He is also one of the most clever and adaptable guys in the ring too, great smarts even in his youth…a sixth sense almost. He is also 4 years younger, and while Oscar has had only 5 more fights, his ring age is grandpa-esque thanks to some of the wars. On those factors alone, this fight should be a wash. But…
How many factors can come into play that favour DLH? He is training with Shane Mosley. That’s good. Shane looks fast again, and makes a great partner for getting Oscar’s reflexes somewhere in the ballpark they need to be in. Plus he hits way harder than PBF. Freddy Roach is on the case. Did pretty good teaching Pac how to go about destroying Morales, plus one or two other minor little accomplishments along the way. There isn’t much new he can get Oscar to master, but even just psychologically he’s a good guy to have around to prep with. Oscar is crafty his own self, and as a veteran he knows a couple tricks or two…I’m sure he has watched tapes of how Vernon Forrest so convincingly stymied the offense of his sparring partner, Mosley. “The way you neutralize speed is with the jab.” Sound familiar.
And then there is the Oscar de la Hoya beard. I’m not sure he could grow a real one, but the chops are rock solid and Floyd can’ knock him out…and even trying will mean taking some huge risks. You feel that? That little surge of adrenalin you felt was in picturing this fight devolving into a gutter war. It won’t. If Floyd is going to score and score repeatedly he is going to have to do it from range. In and out, in and out. Pile up the points and go home, because Oscar will be standing at the end no matter what he does.
Most important in Oscar’s favor is the interplay between his chin and his power. He can eat up a whole lot of Floyd’s hands without being too phased to throw his own. Floyd has to know this, and has to also know that Oscar is bigger, stronger and will be constantly coming forward. And that if that sick left hook lands that’s it, as Mickey says, ‘it’s coitans, for ya”. The million dollar question is whether that hook, or any other big shot will land…for my money, in a 12 round fight the answer is a resounding yes. Can Floyd handle it? Dunno. But Oscar is a great finisher and a hurt Mayweather is a very unfortunate Mayweather.
Really, here is what I think is fair to expect from the fight in terms of outcome. If i gets to the 8th or 9th round, Floyd will put it on cruise control because Oscar will be pretty much out of gas save for a few spurts here and there. His legs will be shot by 9 though and he’ll have little, if any, hope of catching up with the uber conditioned Mayweather. Before that though, Floyd is in the danger zone. Especially out of the gate, before PBF has done much figuring out, and through the first 4 or 5 as Oscar tries to capitalize on his superior size and strength. We’ll pretty much know by the end of 5 how the fight is gonna go, but hold your breath until then.
But here is the worst part for Mayweather…it almost doesn’t matter what happens. If he wins, what will critics say? Something along the lines of my second and fourth paragraph. His opponent was old, slow, tired and this fight proves nothing but that Floyd once again took a fight that had an angle. He has adopted the villain persona, but that only cashes in when the villain is a guy the public loves to hate. If the public just hates a guy, they change the channel and don’t by the cologne or whatever else he’s selling. He has been trash-talking a pretty beloved guy…that’s risky.
AND, if Floyd loses…well, this may surprise you but if Floyd loses it might be the best thing that has ever happened to him. If he loses, he’ll be humiliated, ridiculed on fan sites and will look and feel like a fool. That’s good. Remember getting whooped as a kid? Remember how that smartened you up? Think of Saturday May 15th as PBF’s long overdue day to get his backside paddled for his insolence, but it’s more than just because of the attitude. Hell, if he was good at the bad guy schtick, I’d be lovin’ it…it just seems too phony, cheesy and contrived. He has said there can’t be two good guys going into this fight and that he purposefully took on the role of bad guy. With so much on the line, it seems unprofessional and immature to act out a weak hip-hop video…flashing the cash, the rings and watch filled with rocks…especially when his opponent could buy and sell him a thousand times over with just his pocket change. Floyd’s is 50 Cent to Oscar’s Jay-Z.
Bottom line, I reckon everyone should hope for Oscar, because there is no way Mayweather can trash anyone ever again if he loses AND, more importantly, there is no way he can retire without reestablishing himself as P4P king. Not with that ego. And that means he will have to fight. To fight hard. To fight often and to fight the best. Now that’s good for boxing, and good for Floyd Junior and good for all of us who believe he is an incredible talent.
By Chris Ackerman, BRC (April 14, 2007) Doghouse Boxing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty bold statement considering I have said Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best pure boxer in the business and has the skills and natural talent to be in the HOF as an all time P4P type guy. I have said that, and I still say that. The problem is he is a jackass and has placed himself in a lose-lose situation. There is no win here for him thanks to ****** decisions, ****** behaviour and inexplicably ****** comments…both chronic and recent.
Let’s backtrack a bit to when Floyd first really blew everyone’s mind. That was Diego Corrales night. After that
performance PBF could do no wrong, and very a la RJJ coasted for years cleaning out guys who should have been sparring partners while avoiding hunting for the defining fights that would secure a legacy that could never be tarnished. I’m not trying to beat up on Roy. In his defense, there wasn’t much to do at 175 that he didn’t do but challenges are where you find them and neither guy seemed as interested in looking as they did in basking and reveling.
That’s where phrases like “If it makes dollars, it makes sense” come from. They come from the arrogance of youth that can’t grasp the fact that all the money in the world can’t buy you out of the decades of sleepless nights that come when the chanting has stopped and you are left to ponder all the talent and opportunity that has been squandered on nonsense, posses, broads and bling.
So Floyd fought DeMarcus Corley. So he fought Zab Judah instead of Antonio Margarito. So he fought Arturo Gatti instead of Miguel Cotto. Look, you can fill in the names in whatever way you want, the point is he spent the last five years making excuses and creating questions instead of creating a legacy and making history. To his credit he fought Castillo twice, but that was before the modern incarnation and the adoption policy of the convenient opponents like Baldomir instead of Hatton. Winky Wright? Come on.
What made it all worse is that through it all, little Floyd has run his mouth and called out virtually every other fighter of this or any other generation as being inferior. You know what? He may be right. He may be better than all but maybe 4 or 5 guys in history, but how are we to know when he only targets guys like Arturo to whom he gave a C+ ranking? How do you call yourself the pinnacle and evolution of the sport when you are beating on second or third tier fighters? And then the retirement talk…
Something doesn’t jibe between the talk and the walk. James Toney has a big mouth and is a rude crude jerk too, but has he looked for a way out of a tough night?
This fight has been brewing for years, we all know it. But did any of us think it would happen? Well now here it is. In retrospect doesn’t it seem kind of convenient that Floyd really sounded off about it, threatened retirement etc. only after Oscar seemed to be de-clawed and a little over the hill? I’m just sayin’.
The problem with the strategy is that PBF is now painted into a corner from which there is no way to emerge triumphant, even if he wins the fight. Incidentally, I no longer think he will. Perhaps I am just so tired of the antics that I don’t think Floyd deserves to get his hand raised against a guy who, at least in public, carries himself with a good deal of class and dignity, but I have a feeling that all boxing prowess in the world isn’t going to get Floyd out of what he jawed himself into. Let’s talk about that first.
No question Floyd is faster. No question he has better hand and foot speed, better defense, crisper combination and far more fluidity. Hands down, the boxing skills are clearly in his favour. He is also one of the most clever and adaptable guys in the ring too, great smarts even in his youth…a sixth sense almost. He is also 4 years younger, and while Oscar has had only 5 more fights, his ring age is grandpa-esque thanks to some of the wars. On those factors alone, this fight should be a wash. But…
How many factors can come into play that favour DLH? He is training with Shane Mosley. That’s good. Shane looks fast again, and makes a great partner for getting Oscar’s reflexes somewhere in the ballpark they need to be in. Plus he hits way harder than PBF. Freddy Roach is on the case. Did pretty good teaching Pac how to go about destroying Morales, plus one or two other minor little accomplishments along the way. There isn’t much new he can get Oscar to master, but even just psychologically he’s a good guy to have around to prep with. Oscar is crafty his own self, and as a veteran he knows a couple tricks or two…I’m sure he has watched tapes of how Vernon Forrest so convincingly stymied the offense of his sparring partner, Mosley. “The way you neutralize speed is with the jab.” Sound familiar.
And then there is the Oscar de la Hoya beard. I’m not sure he could grow a real one, but the chops are rock solid and Floyd can’ knock him out…and even trying will mean taking some huge risks. You feel that? That little surge of adrenalin you felt was in picturing this fight devolving into a gutter war. It won’t. If Floyd is going to score and score repeatedly he is going to have to do it from range. In and out, in and out. Pile up the points and go home, because Oscar will be standing at the end no matter what he does.
Most important in Oscar’s favor is the interplay between his chin and his power. He can eat up a whole lot of Floyd’s hands without being too phased to throw his own. Floyd has to know this, and has to also know that Oscar is bigger, stronger and will be constantly coming forward. And that if that sick left hook lands that’s it, as Mickey says, ‘it’s coitans, for ya”. The million dollar question is whether that hook, or any other big shot will land…for my money, in a 12 round fight the answer is a resounding yes. Can Floyd handle it? Dunno. But Oscar is a great finisher and a hurt Mayweather is a very unfortunate Mayweather.
Really, here is what I think is fair to expect from the fight in terms of outcome. If i gets to the 8th or 9th round, Floyd will put it on cruise control because Oscar will be pretty much out of gas save for a few spurts here and there. His legs will be shot by 9 though and he’ll have little, if any, hope of catching up with the uber conditioned Mayweather. Before that though, Floyd is in the danger zone. Especially out of the gate, before PBF has done much figuring out, and through the first 4 or 5 as Oscar tries to capitalize on his superior size and strength. We’ll pretty much know by the end of 5 how the fight is gonna go, but hold your breath until then.
But here is the worst part for Mayweather…it almost doesn’t matter what happens. If he wins, what will critics say? Something along the lines of my second and fourth paragraph. His opponent was old, slow, tired and this fight proves nothing but that Floyd once again took a fight that had an angle. He has adopted the villain persona, but that only cashes in when the villain is a guy the public loves to hate. If the public just hates a guy, they change the channel and don’t by the cologne or whatever else he’s selling. He has been trash-talking a pretty beloved guy…that’s risky.
AND, if Floyd loses…well, this may surprise you but if Floyd loses it might be the best thing that has ever happened to him. If he loses, he’ll be humiliated, ridiculed on fan sites and will look and feel like a fool. That’s good. Remember getting whooped as a kid? Remember how that smartened you up? Think of Saturday May 15th as PBF’s long overdue day to get his backside paddled for his insolence, but it’s more than just because of the attitude. Hell, if he was good at the bad guy schtick, I’d be lovin’ it…it just seems too phony, cheesy and contrived. He has said there can’t be two good guys going into this fight and that he purposefully took on the role of bad guy. With so much on the line, it seems unprofessional and immature to act out a weak hip-hop video…flashing the cash, the rings and watch filled with rocks…especially when his opponent could buy and sell him a thousand times over with just his pocket change. Floyd’s is 50 Cent to Oscar’s Jay-Z.
Bottom line, I reckon everyone should hope for Oscar, because there is no way Mayweather can trash anyone ever again if he loses AND, more importantly, there is no way he can retire without reestablishing himself as P4P king. Not with that ego. And that means he will have to fight. To fight hard. To fight often and to fight the best. Now that’s good for boxing, and good for Floyd Junior and good for all of us who believe he is an incredible talent.
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