By Travis Marks: The scores were 119-109 twice and 120-108 once as the “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya defeated Steve “2 Pounds” Forbes of “Contender” fame in a non title Jr. Middleweight bout last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Reading those scores and listening to Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Manny Steward you would think it was same old De La Hoya. Not the case, this fight showed more about how much Oscar De La Hoya has slipped as a fighter.
Did Oscar establish his jab? Yes. Did he have energy late? Yes. Did he fight taller? Yes. But Oscar wanted to dominate Steve Forbes in a way that he has done to so many as he ascended into prominence. He failed to do so. Oscar was only able to show that he was a class above Steve Forbes, we knew that already. A young Oscar De La Hoya would have blown Steve Forbes away in less than six rounds..
The troubling aspect about Oscar’s fight last night was that he was at his best, at least he was at his best at this stage in career. He trained hard, he fought hard, he threw the left jab, the vaunted left hook, the underestimated straight right and some well place and well timed left uppercuts. All that said Steve Forbes was never hurt. Forbes surprisingly was able to land some of the cleaner more effective power punches. The underdog caused a mouse under De La Hoya’s left eye, he puffed up the right eye, and bloodied both Oscar’s lip and nose. No one could have expected that.
Oscar has been working on convincing himself that can he avenge the loss he suffered to the pound for pound best fighter in the world, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather if they fought a rematch to their May 5, 2007 bout. Beating up on 2 Pounds would have gone a long way. Make no mistake about it, he wanted to beat up Forbes and then knock him out. Forbes has long been recognized for his granite chin and what a feather in the cap in would have been for Oscar to knock him out. No dice, Oscar could not deliver.
One month ago WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto fought another star from the “Contender” series, Alfonso Gomez. Gomez like Forbes had never been knocked out or down before. Unlike De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto was able to go in the ring and dominate his opponent. Cotto beat up on Gomez the way Oscar wanted to beat up Forbes by knocking him down three times and forcing him to quit on his stool after five rounds.
Somewhere out there Floyd Mayweather Jr. is smiling. Unlike what HBO’s expert broadcast team reported, Floyd saw the way Forbes handled De La Hoya’s power and how he was able to land big punches as well. Floyd also knows that he hurt Oscar a few times in their first bout and he sees the limitations in the Golden Boys’ game. Floyd confidence must be sky high for the return bout.
Psychologically De La Hoya can not be a great place. There must be doubts creeping into his head. In fact Oscar even stated to Larry Merchant in the post fight interview that he was disappointed. Even the pro De la Hoya crowd expressed their disappointed by booing in the latter moments of the bout. Throughout the bout Oscar pressed for the knock out but never could secure it. In fact since 2001 De La Hoya has knocked out only three opponents, Ramon “Yury Boy” Campos, Fernando Vargas, and Ricardo Mayorga. Those three men are three of the easiest men to hit in the sport.
Oscar De La Hoya has big plans to end his career. His goals are to fight Mayweather in the fall and Cotto in the winter. Those are very lofty goals and at this point of his career, they seem a little bit out of his reach. Oscar is surviving off the name and no can blame him. He has never really been beaten up in a match and he does manage to stay competitive in all of his fights. However last night’s bout points to Oscar having a pretty nasty send off from the square ring.
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