The fight of the decade, and probably the last true super fight that will take place for many years, is just days away. Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather are set for a historic encounter that is primed to break pay per view records. I was trying to contemplate on why this is such a big fight. This is fight not for the universally recognized Super Welterweight Championship, a designation that is currently vacant. De La Hoya holds the WBC trinket but the sanctioning bodies are becoming less and less relevant by the day. The said fighters are not even in the same weight class, with De La Hoya being a natural 154 pounder and Mayweather being about two divisions lighter.
This is Super Bowl of boxing because De La Hoya and Mayweather (in that order) are the two biggest and most marketable stars in boxing. De La Hoya?s is the media?s favorite son. For years he has played the hero of boxing while Mike Tyson played anti-hero. Mayweather has just recently acquired superstar status, but his boat has arrived in a big way. The casual fan knows that Pretty Boy Floyd is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. He is in his prime and is not afraid to let you know it.
Fans were desperate to see Mayweather in a competitive fight. He was not going to find a competitive match fighting guys that were in his own weight class. He has the edge in almost every department. Floyd had to move up in weight so that size and strength were also a factor in determining the outcome of the contest. That is what he has done against the significantly larger De La Hoya. Mayweather is phenomenally good. A boxer of his prowess only comes around once in a generation. In a fair fight he blows anyone out of the water. He is nearly impossible to hit cleanly on the chin and he can hit you with whatever punch that strikes his fancy whenever he wants.
As highly as I think of Mayweather, when this fight was announced my initial reaction was that it was a pick ?em fight. I apologize to all of the Porsche driving lady?s men out there, but size does matter, especially in boxing. Overcoming a large size disparity against a Hall of Fame caliber boxer with speed, skills, and power like De La Hoya is a tall order. Zab Judah had success early in his match with Floyd using speed and power. De La Hoya may also have that kind of speed up his sleeve. Plus, he has much better mental focus than Judah and will not fade late in the fight. He learned his lesson from the Felix Trinidad fight. Fans can be sure that they will see a competitive fight fought at the very highest skill level. It just so happens that the first Mayweather bout that, on paper, looks competitive will be against Oscar De La Hoya, a guy who generates 500,000 PPV buys every time he sneezes.
Mayweather is a 2 to 1 betting favorite mainly because he has achieved the ?aura of invincibility? that most great fighters get at the height of their careers. Floyd looks unbeatable. You can make an argument that Floyd is hungrier than De La Hoya because he is the better pound for pound fighter but does not have the same notoriety. I disagree that Mayweather is more ?up? for this fight. De La Hoya would not be human if he had trouble getting motivated for a fight of this magnitude. This is the biggest fight of both men?s careers, even for De La Hoya who has been in countless headlining PPV fights. Mayweather is doing himself no favors with the pre fight trash talk. We already know that De La Hoya gets supremely motivated if his opponent disrespects him; just look at what happened to Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga. You have to be wary of Oscar?s angry confidence every time that Mayweather starts running his mouth.
Not to say that I don?t appreciate some PBF trash talk from time to time. He has come up with some gems at the press conferences. No one is safe, relentlessly discrediting Oscar, Sugar Ray Leonard, Dana White, Freddie Roach, and anyone else that came to his mind while he was up at the mic. My personal favorite rant was his bashing of the UFC, calling the sport a joke and the athletes far inferior to boxers. Whether he believed that or not, Floyd was cleverly stealing thunder from the recent success of mixed martial arts in order to promote his own show.
Mayweather is trying to sell the fight being the bad guy. He is tearing down anyone who questions him, anyone who doubts him, anyone who is having success, and anyone who has had success in the past. And by associating with rapper 50 Cent, hiring people to carry his jewelry, and otherwise living up the ghetto fabulous lifestyle, he is playing the role of a thug and for that, and his overwhelming arrogance, many will tune in to see him lose. Dressing and acting like street thug instantly makes him hated by about 60% of the population. The genius about Mayweather?s marketing strategy is that controversial figures and heels usually are the most remembered and make the most waves in history. Just look at Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson.
Floyd had a troubled upbringing so it is hard for me to hate him when I understand where he came from. Essentially, he grew up in poverty without his parents around to guide him. His mother was a victim of drug abuse during his youth. His father was either selling drugs or in jail during Floyd?s developmental years. That remains one of the reasons that Floyd Junior and Senior do not get along to this day. Junior will say that he loves his dad in front of the cameras, but there is venom and bitter feelings that may never go away. Senior was reunited with his son at the beginning of training camp but it was no surprise when the reunion quickly fell apart with hurt feelings on both sides. According to reports, Floyd Senior attempted to use his baby son as human shield from getting shot during his drug dealing days. That story gives you an idea of why little Floyd has so much bottled up contempt for his father.
The broken family ties does not factor into the fight. Senior was not Floyd?s main trainer, a designation that is held by uncle Roger Mayweather. Really, it does not matter who is training Floyd JR. He is a near flawless fighter with a PhD in pugilism. The pressure is on Oscar to come up with the perfect game plan. Mayweather?s style is a puzzle that needs to be solved. De La Hoya recruited top trainer Freddie Roach to help him devise a strategy. Roach is a disciple of Eddie Futch, perhaps the greatest boxing trainer of all time. I bet that he wished he could get some advice from his old mentor right now because he and De La Hoya have a monumental (but not impossible) task in front of them in trying to find a sound plan to defeat Floyd Mayweather. It should be fun. Enjoy the fight everyone.
Juan Diaz Wreaking Havoc at 135
Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz is turning into a menace at lightweight. He unified two of the four belts in the division last Saturday with a dominant stoppage of solid former champ Acelino Freitas. We always knew that Diaz could be aggressive and throw a lot of punches, but he impressed me with his chin. Freitas is a very hard puncher and he was sitting down on his shots. Several landed right on the chin but Diaz was hardly deterred at all and was never in danger of going down. Diaz is getting better with each fight but even right now I would favor Juan over every other lightweight in the world. That includes Ring Magazine Champion Joel Casamayor, who at 35 years old has lost a step and does not match up well against a volume puncher anyway. Saying that Diaz can become the universally recognized world champion at lightweight is not bad considering that most predicted that Juan would never develop into anything other than an entertaining club fighter. Having an undisputed Lightweight Champion would be great for the sport. With all of the belts, Diaz would become an attractive opponent for other stars around that weight class. Imagine the fireworks that would come from a Juan Diaz vs. Manny Pacquiao match. How many punches would be thrown if Juan Diaz fought Ricky Hatton? Hopefully these are matches to look forward to in the future.
