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And the Oscar, of course, goes to Oscar De La Hoya.
A golden statue for the Golden Boy, who, approaching the golden years for a boxer who won Olympic gold in 1992, sought a golden opportunity and left with, aptly, the gold.
Actually, considering that De La Hoya won the WBC 154-lb. title by knocking out Ricardo Mayorga on Saturday, he left with the green belt, as well as the green of another lucrative pay-per-view for boxing’s biggest non-heavyweight draw, easy green for a longtime pro who made his opponent look, well, green.
But of more importance than green and gold, Mayorga-De La Hoya was about left and right.
After a layoff of one year and 229 days, De La Hoya was coming off of a body punch knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins and, prior to that, a controversial decision over middleweight contender Felix Sturm. At 33 years old, with a majority of his energy going toward family and business, the question was, “Just how much does Oscar De La Hoya have left?”
And was a comeback the right choice for his career? The memories of the Hopkins and Sturm fights remained fresh on the minds of boxing fans. As an opponent, Mayorga was considered unpredictable and dangerous, but a loss would still damage De La Hoya’s prestige much more than any of his previous defeats. [details]
A golden statue for the Golden Boy, who, approaching the golden years for a boxer who won Olympic gold in 1992, sought a golden opportunity and left with, aptly, the gold.
Actually, considering that De La Hoya won the WBC 154-lb. title by knocking out Ricardo Mayorga on Saturday, he left with the green belt, as well as the green of another lucrative pay-per-view for boxing’s biggest non-heavyweight draw, easy green for a longtime pro who made his opponent look, well, green.
But of more importance than green and gold, Mayorga-De La Hoya was about left and right.
After a layoff of one year and 229 days, De La Hoya was coming off of a body punch knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins and, prior to that, a controversial decision over middleweight contender Felix Sturm. At 33 years old, with a majority of his energy going toward family and business, the question was, “Just how much does Oscar De La Hoya have left?”
And was a comeback the right choice for his career? The memories of the Hopkins and Sturm fights remained fresh on the minds of boxing fans. As an opponent, Mayorga was considered unpredictable and dangerous, but a loss would still damage De La Hoya’s prestige much more than any of his previous defeats. [details]
Gran Campeon
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