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I find it hard to believe that we have seen so many posts hyping up Oscar's chances against Floyd Mayweather based on what was a decent, but hardly worldbeating performance against Steve Forbes. It is symptomatic of the way boxing fans are prepared to talk themselves into virtually anything when it comes to their favourite fighters. Any win by a fans' favourite will instantly be construed as irrestistable evidence of a 'return to the top' whereas those who don't like the fighter will dismiss it as waste-of time outclassing of a bum. We have seen examples of this in discussions of both De La Hoya - Forbes and of virtually every fight Mayweather takes on. The lack of objectivity is, at times, frightening.
So what can we determine From De La Hoya - Forbes? Considering the relative class of the fighters, I think the only thing we have learned is what we already knew: that De La Hoya was once a truly great fighter but is now on the slide. He is still able to outclass vastly inferior fighters like Forbes, but he is absolutely nowhere near the boxer he used to be. Forbes is never in a million years anywhere near the class of De La Hoya or Mayweather, and for him to look so competitive indicates only that De La Hoya is getting close to the end of his days in boxing. As for Floyd - Oscar, well, put it this way, Mayweather is exactly what Forbes never was and De La Hoya no longer is, a world class p4p boxer, the only thing Oscar's performance against Forbes says to me is that he will have a very tough time indeed against Mayweather. It doesn't matter how good Oscar looked or didn't look, what matters is that Oscar showed that a boxer a few notches below him can be very competitive, so what do you think Mayweather is going to do?
Basically, when boxing fans discuss "Oscar looking good" and "him showing that he could beat Mayweather", with this fight, they are doing nothing but falling for the hype of Golden Boy Promotions and its attempt to justify and drum up interest in the fight based on the massive goodwill Oscar still generates. Of course Oscar looked good, he was in with Steve Forbes. Against Mayweather, Oscar will not be humiliated, and he may even make it closer than last time, which really should have been a Mayweather UD, but the time in Oscar De La Hoyas life when he expect to beat elite level boxers, let alone the p4p #1, is gone, and we shouldn't be fooled into thinking anything else.
So what can we determine From De La Hoya - Forbes? Considering the relative class of the fighters, I think the only thing we have learned is what we already knew: that De La Hoya was once a truly great fighter but is now on the slide. He is still able to outclass vastly inferior fighters like Forbes, but he is absolutely nowhere near the boxer he used to be. Forbes is never in a million years anywhere near the class of De La Hoya or Mayweather, and for him to look so competitive indicates only that De La Hoya is getting close to the end of his days in boxing. As for Floyd - Oscar, well, put it this way, Mayweather is exactly what Forbes never was and De La Hoya no longer is, a world class p4p boxer, the only thing Oscar's performance against Forbes says to me is that he will have a very tough time indeed against Mayweather. It doesn't matter how good Oscar looked or didn't look, what matters is that Oscar showed that a boxer a few notches below him can be very competitive, so what do you think Mayweather is going to do?
Basically, when boxing fans discuss "Oscar looking good" and "him showing that he could beat Mayweather", with this fight, they are doing nothing but falling for the hype of Golden Boy Promotions and its attempt to justify and drum up interest in the fight based on the massive goodwill Oscar still generates. Of course Oscar looked good, he was in with Steve Forbes. Against Mayweather, Oscar will not be humiliated, and he may even make it closer than last time, which really should have been a Mayweather UD, but the time in Oscar De La Hoyas life when he expect to beat elite level boxers, let alone the p4p #1, is gone, and we shouldn't be fooled into thinking anything else.