By Geoffrey Ciani: Oscar De La Hoya looked mighty impressive in his lopsided points victory over Steve Forbes during his annual Cinco de Mayo weekend festivities. In fact, this is probably the best De La Hoya looked in several years, and he did so against a tough and durable opponent. Even still, this begs the question, does De La Hoya’s performance warrant a rematch with pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather Junior? Simply put, I think the answer is no.
Obviously, De La Hoya is still a capable fighter who understands what he needs to do in order to be successful. His skill-level is still in the upper echelon and his talent, though clearly not what it once was, is still formidable enough to cause many a foe all sorts of problems. Against Forbes, it was obvious that De La Hoya was working on the types of things he would need to be successful if he expects to reverse the outcome of his first encounter Mayweather. Better still, stylistically, Forbes is kind of like a poor-man’s Mayweather, making him an ideal opponent in preparation for such a rematch.
Saturday night, in a ‘turn back the clock’ performance, De La Hoya was doing all the things that defined his prime years. He was effectively using his jab, throwing punches in bunches, and at times, managing to slip punches and retaliate with some nice counters. He looked very good defensively, and he was even managing to overpower and out hustle Forbes at various points throughout the fight. When he got tagged with a nice shot, he usually returned fire almost always giving better than he got. Given the slew of positives working in De La Hoya’s favor, why then, am I skeptical of a rematch with Floyd Mayweather? Simply put, Forbes was neither strong enough nor fast enough to act as a true test for Oscar, despite any superficial similarities in style he may share with Floyd.
At the end of the day, Oscar is going to have the same problems with Floyd he had first time around, namely, stamina. Throughout his career, Oscar has often had a tendency to fade late, especially when pitted against elite opposition. This was the case in his two bouts with Mosley, his fight with Trinidad (which I feel he won), his loss to Hopkins, and of course, his loss to Mayweather this time last year. Although Oscar is clearly looking to maximizes his chances at reversing the original outcome, I am hard-pressed to see how his stamina will be any better a second time around.
Against Forbes, it appeared that Oscar’s stamina was better than when he last fought Floyd, but much of that was smoke and mirrors. Oscar was landing shots against Forbes at a much higher rate than he would against Floyd, and it is much more draining to swing and miss than it is to connect. That, in a nutshell, says it all. When Floyd and Oscar first met, De La Hoya was doing extremely well in the first half of the fight (I had him up 58-56 on my scorecard after six). It was the second half of the fight, however, where Oscar’s stamina problems kicked in and Floyd began picking him apart by simply out hustling him. Although Oscar was having success with the jab, he was not using it as frequently as he needed to over the final six, out of fear of gassing out. It also does not help matters that Floyd’s return fire is much more precise and accurate than that of Forbes, giving De La Hoya even more reason for concern.
In the end, I am hard-pressed to envision a scenario whereby Oscar could avenge his loss. As such, I really see no reason for these two to do battle again, but of course, the Almighty Dollar reigns supreme, and Oscar is boxing’s Golden Goose. If he wants the fight, it will happen, and it is abundantly clear that De La Hoya wants a second crack at Floyd. In fact, the entire HBO broadcast was like one big promotional event for the rematch, which is a damned shame because there are more logical foes out there for each fighter. A mega-bout between Mayweather and Miguel Cotto makes more sense than a De La Hoya-Mayweather rematch; so, too, does the long awaited rematch between Oscar and Felix Trinidad, but I guess these bouts will most likely remain on the back burner for the time being. Such is the dictation of the Almighty Dollar.
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