De La Hoya Annihilates Mayorga!

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De La Hoya Annihilates Mayorga! - What The Victory Means For ???The Golden Boy???

07.05.06 - By James Slater, photo by David Martin Warr / DKP: I was as shocked as everyone else by the magnificent timing and complete lack of ring rust displayed by Oscar De La Hoya last night. Don???t get me wrong, I did expect him to defeat Ricardo Mayorga - it???s just that I expected a much slower start from Oscar, along with the initial sluggishness one would expect from a fighter who was having his first fight in almost two years. But no, Oscar was as sharp as ever and decked the trash talking ???El Matador??? in the very first round with a fine left hook. The stunned look on the champion???s face told the story. From then on in, despite remaining dangerous and showing heart, the fight was un-winnable for the Nicaraguan. He , like practically everyone else, was banking on De La Hoya being rusty and easier to hit. What Oscar somehow did, however, was box in a manner that was akin to the glorious days of his prime! As such the sixth round KO victory over a fighter that managed to get as deeply under his skin as no-one before was instantly ranked as one of ???The Golden Boy???s??? most satisfying. It must also rank up with his most impressive. To come back from twenty months of idleness and box in such a smooth, punch perfect way, once again proved just how great a fighter Oscar De La Hoya is..

So, what does the excellent win mean for Oscar? Firstly, I think it gives him a superb chance of being the recipient of Ring magazine???s comeback fighter of the year for 2006. It also sets up some absolutely mouth-watering and fascinating possibilities for Oscar???s farewell bout in September. And finally, the crushing win removes the previous image we had of De La Hoya as a fighter - namely him pounding the canvas in frustration and pain after tasting the body shot Bernard Hopkins hit him perfectly with.

Who then, will Oscar fight in September?

Well, it???s worth noting what he said to Larry Merchant post-fight first of all. Oscar hinted that he may very well exit the sport on this high note, without another bout. Only after some serious thinking will De La Hoya make a decision. But supposing he does decide to go ahead with a farewell fight - who will he square off with?

I think a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jnr is a long-shot. Mayweather snr, Oscar???s trainer said he will never train him for a fight against his own son. De la Hoya would therefore have to break up the long and arguably successful partnership with Floyd snr if he went ahead with the fight against the pound-for-pound king. A I said, a long shot. Winky Wright???s name could very well enter the picture- but first he has Jermain Taylor to contend with up at middleweight. Should Winky defeat Taylor, would he be willing to step back down to 154? Oscar, as we know cannot box effectively as a middleweight. Maybe the two will box at a catch weight? Money, I believe will have the final say on Winky???s decision, and who could blame him? Fighting ???The Golden Boy??? is a sure way to please your bank manager. What about Felix Trinidad? Reportedly he had a verbal agreement with Don King to make a return to face Mayorga should he defeat Oscar. Now that hasn???t happened Felix may still be tempted to have a second fight with De La Hoya. Oscar would surely love the chance at avenging his first ever loss. And what a way to leave the sport. We think Oscar looks content now! A convincing win over ???Tito??? would be the icing on the cake of a great career.

The three names mentioned above seem to be the most obvious candidates for Oscar???s final ring appearance. One thing is for sure though, whoever boxing???s highest earning star fights - if indeed any one at all- it will result in yet another high profile, sell-out event. And this is what boxing always needs - true superstars.

Thanks to his magnificent victory last night, Oscar De La Hoya is very much a superstar still. At age thirty three he shone as brightly as ever before!​

 

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De La Hoya TKO Mayorga: The Blow by Blow

07.05.06 ??? By Karl E. H. Seigfried: Last Wednesday, Ricardo Mayorga threatened to pull out of his WBC Super Welterweight Championship fight with Oscar De La Hoya unless he received the eight million dollars he claims was promised to him by co-promoter Don King. By Friday, he had recanted, committed himself to the fight, and predicted he would knock out the Golden Boy in less than six rounds. Maybe he should have stuck to his guns. Instead, he went through with the fight, lost his belt, and had his six-round prediction sent back against him like the Evil Eye rebounded by voodoo.

Before the bout, and after a 594-day layoff since his last fight (the infamous bodyshot KO loss to then-middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins), De La Hoya sat in his dressing room and insisted, ???I have what it takes to stay in the fight.??? As he paced around the ring, he looked concerned, uncertain, tired, and almost sad. Mayorga stalked around his area of the canvas, looking angry, fierce, determined, and confident. The two fighters refused to touch gloves at referee Jay Nady???s prompt. As they began to turn away from each other, Mayorga leaned in to his challenger and said (in Spanish), ???I???m 172 pounds. It???s on. Let???s go.???

Mayorga came out banging from the opening bell, but quickly tasted the first of many De La Hoya left hooks. The Nicaraguan threw a right cross to the top of DLH???s head, quickly followed by two more. One minute into the round, Mayorga was down on his rear, courtesy of a perfect De La Hoya left hook, right on the chin. The wildly pro-Golden Boy crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the packed house at Chaser???s in Niles IL (where I was watching the PPV on the big screen) went completely gonzo. Mayorga quickly bounced up and recovered, subsequently missing a huge left hook of his own. Oscar stunned him with another left hook to the face, then immediately followed up with a lightning flurry. The East Los Angeleno landed multiple uppercuts followed by another flurry, then jumped in with a left hook followed by a combination. Mayorga threw a looping right which Oscar blocked with his glove, then threw another, which was again blocked. This was clearly a 10-8 round for De La Hoya.

In the second round, an opening small left hook landed by Mayorga was quickly answered by a big left hook by De La Hoya. Oscar, following the directions of trainer Floyd Mayweater, Sr., began to bring his jab into play. He then whiffed a left hook and took a right-hand bodyshot from Mayorga, but proceeded to block the next attack. Mayorga missed yet again with an overhand right, then was hit by a right cross to the head. A flurry by De La Hoya put the Managuan in the corner, where Mayorga stumbled and turned himself around after missing big with a left hook. The action moved back to the middle of the ring, where Mayorga landed a left hook to the body. I called this 10-9 for Oscar.

The third round began with Mayorga missing another overhand right, then landing a left hook to the body, followed by a right to the body. De La Hoya landed a right to the face, then blocked a Mayorga right. Oscar came in with the jabs, was too short with a right, then scored with a nice uppercut. Mayorga missed with another big overhand right, then landed a strong right to the body (notice a pattern yet?). De La Hoya???s jab became even more of a factor as he used it to snap Mayorga???s head back. Mayorga???s own answering jab was a pawing motion, but he followed it up with a huge right uppercut that threw De La Hoya???s head back on his neck. Oscar jabbed in a final flurry right before the bell ending the round. For me, this was a 10-10 round with one great uppercut on each side.

In the fourth, De La Hoya used his jab to bounce Mayorga???s head back again, then followed up with a big right cross and a left hand. El Matador landed a right to the body and a light left hand to the head, but his combos were blocked by the challenger. A short stanza followed with both fighters blocking each other???s shots, Mayorga using his elbows to block the body shots coming in. Referee Nady jumped in at this point, warning both fighters to not hit behind the head. Strong body shots by Mayorga were answered by De La Hoya combinations both downstairs and up to end the round, which I scored 10-9 for the Golden Boy.

The fifth round started with Mayorga throwing a series of combinations to the head, all blocked. After De La Hoya jabbed his way in, Nady called a brief time out to warn both fighters about banging heads. Mayorga then landed a straight right to the head but missed with a right uppercut. De La Hoya then came on strongly and momentarily flurried Mayorga on the ropes. Mayorga came back with a right to the body, but his following right-left combination was blocked. Oscar landed a series of body shots, then received the same before landing a beautiful shot to the solar plexus, a series of jabs, a left hook, a big right, and another left hook (whew!). Mayorga came back to get De La Hoya in a corner, then landed a series of clubbing rights to the back of his head (El Matador???s trademark) before being pulled off and warned by Nady as the bell rang. Again, this was a 10-9 round for Oscar.

The sixth started with some beautiful De La Hoya defense as he first blocked and then parried a series of shots with his gloves. After the fight, he credited Mayweather, Sr. with bringing up his defense as he prepared for this match. Oscar continued to back Mayorga up, as he had done for most of the fight so far, then was temporarily backed up himself by the onrushing Nicaraguan. De La Hoya landed a series of body shots, then big combinations to the head as Mayorga staggered back, visibly shaken. Oscar continued his onslaught, beating Mayorga down to the canvas for the second knockdown of the fight. After the count, De La Hoya again had Mayorga up against the ropes, where he proceeded to tee off with savage brutality as Mayorga meekly tried to land something, anything. As Mayorga went down on one knee, Nady jumped in and yanked Oscar off so violently that the victor himself was thrown to the ground even as he received the TKO victory and the WBC belt at 1:25 of the sixth round.

After the fight, De La Hoya and Mayorga embraced and spoke cordially, the new champion saying, ???I forgive you for everything you said.??? In his ring interview, De La Hoya [now 38-4-0 (30)] said, referring to the pre-fight insults and his own determination to dominate his rival, ???He motivated me so much???The plan was that he was going to talk bad about me.??? Speaking of the first-round knockdown, he said, ???The message was that I???m going to stand up to the bully,??? and he analyzed Mayorga???s game: ???He tried to fight recklessly, lunging in with punches, but I stood my ground.??? When asked about his plan for future fights, he gave the old tried-and-true, ???We???ll have to wait and see.??? Spoken almost as if he were his own promoter and manager???.

Ricardo Mayorga [now 28-6-1 (23)] refused to be interviewed after the fight, hiding his face behind his gloves and leaning on his trainer as he made his way out of the ring. It was a very sad ending for someone with such chutzpah. Instead of ending De La Hoya???s career, he may have just cemented his own role as an opponent for the superstar class. With this and his loss to the comebacking Felix Trinidad in 2004, he may be sought out by more former pound-for-pounders looking to get back into the game. At least now he can go back to buying cigarettes by the pack instead of sticking with the singles he got during training (three or four a day) or the one lonely cig he was allowed by trainer Stacy McKinley in the limo ride to the fight.​

 

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De La Hoya Takes Out The Trash-Talking Mayorga

07.05.06 - By Frank Gonzalez Jr., photo by David Martin Warr / DKP: After a fairly long layoff, Oscar De La Hoya returned to the ring in top form, made a ton of Pay-Per-View money and proved that being a gentleman should never be confused with being weak. These days, just about every high profile fight is hyped as, ???sworn enemies??? and other over-exaggerated labels that fade as soon as the fight is over.

Guys who go out of their way to be obnoxious in promoting a fight are expected to say the usual crap, but Ricardo Mayorga went a wee bit overboard. He insulted Oscar De La Hoya???s wife with sexual innuendos that were totally below the belt.

The truth unfolded Saturday night in the square circle at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Ricardo Mayorga (28-6-1-23 KO???s) paid for his lack of manners leading up this fight. His lack of class, skills and mental discipline rendered him incapable of dealing with the power of a fully functional, insulted and understandably pissed off, Oscar De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KO???s)..

Round 1
Mayorga blasted away at Oscar with a combination jab, hook and overhand rights, scoring a few good shots in the opening moments until Oscar caught him with a clean left hook that cocked Mayorga???s head from left to right before he fell to the canvas. After getting up, Mayorga was shaken and barely had a chance to clear his head as DLH proceeded to punish him with scoring combinations that again wobbled him before the bell. 10-8 DLH.

Round 2
Tentative early, Mayorga pressed with offense, often throwing that same jab, hook, overhand right combo but DLH blocked most of his predictable punches, countered beautifully and rocked Mayorga with precision punching. 10-9 DLH.

Round 3
Mayorga tauntingly waited for DLH as close to center ring between the referee, to start the third. Mayorga tried to fight smarter, box more, and brawl less. It mattered not. The results were the same. Oscar did most of the damage. They boxed. They brawled. Mayorga landed a clean uppercut that jerked Oscar???s head back but Oscar sucked it up and went on to win all the following exchanges with cleaner punches, better defense and superior ring generalship. Mayorga was completely outclassed. 10-9 DLH.

Round 4
DLH rocked Mayorga with a right cross and combinations early. Mayorga landed a few shots to the body late. Oscar easily won the first half of the round. Arguments could be made that Mayorga had his best moments since the first round in the latter part of the fourth. With charity in mind, I called this round, 10-10 Even.

Round 5
A slapping head butt paused the action in the opening moments. Referee Jay Nady, gave both men a look. When action resumed, DLH was starting to use his jab effectively and frequently tagged Mayorga, who was warned by Nady for hitting behind the head. Anyone familiar with the finer points of pugilism could see that this fight was a mismatch between a polished boxer and an undisciplined brawler. Oscar gave Mayorga a boxing lesson. 10-9 DLH.

Round 6
They exchanged punches at center ring. DLH landed flush shots to the jaw of Mayorga, who fell again, got up only to take a further beating as Oscar smelled blood and went for the finish. Nady rushed between them as Mayorga fell to a knee from the barrage, while Oscar was practically tackled to the canvas by Nady in the process of stopping the fight. It was over. De La Hoya won by TKO 6.

I had no problem with the stoppage but arguments could be made that Mayorga was still punching back, and deserved a ten count. Its doubtful Mayorga had any chance to win the fight and was likely to be seriously injured had it continued. The ref???s job is to protect the fighters. Nady did his job well.

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I find it annoying that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been talking for years about fighting DLH. Considering that Floyd???s father is Oscar???s trainer, its too awkward a proposition to take seriously and Mayweather Sr. has expressly stated that he wants no part in that fight because Floyd is his son. How do you ask a man to train a fighter to beat his own son? Beside the fact that it???s classless to even consider, it???s a conflict of interest on a few levels.

It???s understandable that every fighter in the sport wants to fight Oscar; he???s not called, ???the golden boy??? for nothing. All fighters want the chance to make the most money they???d ever make in their entire career fighting Oscar. Weighing in on the circumstances, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is simply not a viable candidate to fight Oscar. Now why would anyone publicly call out someone they know they???re never going to fight? If Floyd is the best p4p fighter in boxing, why is he not chasing down Ricky Hatton or Antonio Margarito? It???s curious but not unfamiliar.

The best money fight for Floyd right now would be against Ricky Hatton in England, where Hatton draws huge money. It would be high risk for a high reward. Until Floyd fights Hatton, he has some serious unfinished business to address. Both guys are undefeated; both are at the top of their game right now. So, what???s the problem?

Congratulations to Oscar De La Hoya for winning the WBC Super Welterweight Title. He approached Mayorga after the fight to tell him he forgives him for all the ugly things Ricardo said. Mayorga was humbled by Oscar???s graciousness (and the ass whooping he just received) and behaved with respect.

At 33 years old, Oscar showed that he still has plenty of boxing left in him. If he continues to fight, he can still be a major player. If he wants to retire, this could serve as a nice finale to arguably the most financially successful boxing career of all time. Oscar???s always been a gentleman and a credit to the sport. Whatever he decides, I wish him all the best.

 

[Trouble]

wtf?

I saw the De La Hoya header to this thread, and thought...hey, I didn't know Oscar had a kid who's fighting now...

And then I read the (Ringside mag?) article...holy shit! Oscar is one bad ass boxer.

I used to closely follow boxing (in its hey day, back in the late 70s/80s, thru the early 90s), and DLH was among the best. I thought Oscar was older than 33..more like 38.

This thread just made my day. Ultra cool. Way to go, Oscar my man!! He always could get into excellent condition...

 

[Goodfella9783]

The fight is up on Youtube already in 3 parts. I don't think I'll ever pay for many of the fights now, since they come up on the net a day later, despite the shitty quality of the picture.

 

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The fight is up on Youtube already in 3 parts. I don't think I'll ever pay for many of the fights now, since they come up on the net a day later, despite the shitty quality of the picture.

My problem with PPV is most of the time they do not tell you about the under cards....and sometimes they have 5 or 6 fights, hell I will pay 39.99 to see 5 or 6 fights if 2 or 3 are fighters I follow. But I do think PPV is part of the reason boxing is in the toilet right now...that and Don King

 

[Trouble]

Between Don King, the advent of MMA, and some early-90s fight related deaths, boxing died, killed off its following by greed and corruption, bout a decade back.

Dumb shits. It made a lot of money in its hey day. Used to a great fight every couple weeks, sometimes two, three good fights on a card out of Vegas. And you could get free, Friday Nigtht Fights, on CNN, with Shawn O'Grady doing a nice job of ring side commentary.

*sigh* I hate to see a sport go down the tubes like that one did.