LAS VEGAS, May 5th ? Floyd Mayweather out-boxed Oscar De Hoya over 12 rounds, winning his sixth major world title in a fifth weight class and keeping his undefeated record intact ? barely.
Mayweather, who lifted De La Hoya?s WBC 154-pound title by split decision, won by scores of 116-112 (Chuck Giampa) and 115-113 (Jerry Roth), while the third judge (Tom Kaczmarek) saw a 115-113 tally for the Golden Boy.
At age 34, and after 14 years of professional boxing, De La Hoya is clearly past his prime as a prize fighter but he had enough left to give Mayweather a difficult time for the first half of their bona fide ?super fight? that took place in a packed Garden Arena at the MGM Grand and was witnessed by what will probably be record pay-per-view and closed circuit audiences.
However, De La Hoya didn?t have enough left in his gas tank to carry his early rounds momentum into the late rounds and close the show. After a rocky start, Mayweather, who improved to 38-0 (24), gradually gained confidence beginning in the middle rounds, and jabbed, moved, and counter-punched his way to the biggest victory of his 10-year professional career.
The late-rounds rally wasn?t particularly eventful as Mayweather basically slowed down the pacing of the bout by controlling the distance, avoiding almost all of De La Hoya?s flurries and landing accurate counter punches in return.
Mayweather never really mounted a sustained attack, but he was the far more effective boxer over the second half of the bout. That wasn?t the case in the early rounds and De La Hoya felt that he had enough offensive spots in the later rounds to have earned the decision.
?I felt I won,? said De La Hoya, who dropped to 38-5 (30). ?I thought I pressed the fight and I if I didn?t press the fight there wouldn?t have been any fight.
?I landed the harder and crisper punches.?
Mayweather begs to differ.
?He threw a lot of punches and they weren?t landing,? he said. ?I saw the shots coming. I stayed on the outside. It was a masterpiece of boxing.
?He was rough, he was tough, but he proved he couldn?t beat the best.?
However, for five or six rounds it looked as though De La Hoya did have the right formula for giving Mayweather his first loss.
After a typical ?feeling out? opening frame, De La Hoya got his jab going and was able to land it sporadically while picking off most of Mayweather?s jabs and lead left hooks. Either by choice or because of his antagonist?s pressure, Mayweather often retreated to the ropes where De La Hoya worked him over with furious flurries to the body and head. Mayweather leaned and twisted away from many of the punches, blocked others with his arms, but some did land.
Aside from keeping his composure and occasionally smiling, Mayweather did very little in return in rounds two, three and four ? rounds that De La Hoya swept on the scorecards of Kaczmarek and Roth.
For about 12 minutes it looked like Mayweather was in a fight, one that he could certainly lose, on points if not by eventual stoppage.
However, one of the major advantages that Mayweather brought into tonight?s contest was his uncanny ability to stay relaxed under fire. Slowly but surely, Mayweather began to measure De La Hoya?s attack and pick his spots in which to retaliate. He landed crisp right hands in-between De La Hoya?s offensive flare ups in the fifth round. With 35 seconds left in the round, Mayweather landed a hook-right cross combination. With 10 seconds left he landed a one-two right down the pike.
This was the pattern for the next two rounds. De La Hoya stalked behind a high guard, blocking many of Mayweather?s jabs and occasionally landing a jab of his own until he was able to close in on his elusive foe, which usually occurred when the smaller boxer backed to the ropes. Mayweather was able to avoid more of De La Hoya?s punches while playing the ropes in these middle rounds than he was able to in the early going. Once De La Hoya voluntarily backed off, Mayweather nailed the crowd favorite with clean punches, sometimes delivered in combination, but always accurate.
The fight had morphed into an intense boxing match, the kind of thinking man?s contest that Mayweather usually excels at.
Beginning in the eighth round, Mayweather finally got his jab working from the outside as a visibly tiring De La Hoya stopped pressing forward with the same exuberance that he showed in the early rounds. With more room to operate Mayweather was able to time De La Hoya with his right hand, which landed with regularity in the ninth, 10th and 11th rounds.
De La Hoya?s jab was absent, which invited more confidence, footwork, jabs, right hands and a fair amount of body shots from Mayweather.
?For some reason, it wasn?t the night of the jab,? De La Hoya admitted.
In the final round, Mayweather finally let his hands go, perhaps sensing that the fight could be closer on the scorecards than he and his corner thought. De La Hoya tried to answer back, but wasn?t able to land anything of significance as Mayweather?s movement, both his footwork and upper body, continued to deny him. Mayweather finally stood still with 10 seconds to go and the fighters exchanged freely until the bell.
The crowd in the sold-out Garden Arena stood and cheered at the bouts conclusion but then quickly jeered the official decision.
Despite losing for the third time in his last five bouts, De La Hoya viewed his performance as moral victory.
?Everyone counted me out,? he said. ?He?s younger than me and faster, but I hurt him with a few punches and I know he felt it.?
Mayweather viewed his performance as the perfect capper to a hall of fame career. After the bout and at the post-fight press conference, he announced his retirement.
?I am still retiring after this fight,? he said. ?I am a six-time world champion in five divisions.
?I have nothing else to prove. I am going to move on to bigger and better things.?
De La Hoya was unsure of his future.
?I got to go back to the drawing board, see how my body feels,? he said. ?This is a game I love? the fight game has brought me here.
?I?m going to wait and see. I am going back to the drawing board and then I will decide.?
THE UNDERCARD
Houston?s Rocky Juarez improved to 27-3 (19) with a unanimous 12-round decision over Chicago?s Jose Hernandez in an uneventful featherweight contest that earned the 2000 Olympic silver medalist a regional title. Juarez won by scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 117-110, and will likely challenge WBA featherweight title holder Chris John this fall.
It was a typical Juarez performance, steady but not spectacular as the heavy handed Texan methodically walked down the tough-but-limited Hernandez behind a hard jab and accurate power punches.
The only highlight of the bout was a second-round knockdown that Juarez scored with a picture-perfect counter right hand. For the next 10 rounds Juarez stalked Hernandez and issued a sustained beating. Hernandez, who fell to 22-4 (14), tried to stand his ground in spots during the final three rounds but didn?t have the physical strength or fire power to get Juarez?s respect.
The Philippines? Rey Bautista improved to 23-0 (17) with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over Argentina?s Sergio Medina. Bautista, who scored knockdowns in the sixth and 11th rounds, won by scores of 116-108 and 115-109 (twice), but the young fighter had to survive a scary moment himself when Medina rocked him badly in the seventh round.
Bautista, who had swept the early rounds with sheer aggression, was shaken enough in the seventh frame for referee Robert Byrd to issue a technical knockdown when it appeared the ropes were keeping the Filipino bomber up. The two fought on even terms in rounds eight and nine before Bautista regained his legs and confidence and went back on the attack in round 10. In round nine, the young man lived up to his nickname (?Boom Boom?) when he landed a long-range right hand that dropped Medina hard, and all but sealed the victory.
Medina, now 28-1 (16), showed a lot of heart and toughness throughout the fight but simply wasn?t busy enough in the majority of rounds to preserve his unbeaten record.
NON-TELEVISED UNDERCARD
Filipino 115-pound prospect Alex John improved to 13-0-1 (10) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Mexico?s Juan Rosas, who dropped to 25-3 (22).
Australian featherweight prospect Billy Dib improved to 16-0 (9) with a unanimous 10-round decision over L.A.?s Jose Gonzalez, who dropped to 14-4 (6).
Cuban cruiserweight prospect Carlos Duarte improved to 6-0 (5) with a second-round stoppage of the debuting Calvin Rooks, who is now 0-1.
British junior welterweight prospect John Murray improved to 21-0 (11) with a seventh-round stoppage of Atlantic City? Lorenzo Bethea, who dropped to 6-5 (1).
British welterweight prospect John O?Donnell improved to 16-0 (6) with a second-round stoppage of Mexican journeyman Christian Solano, who dropped to 19-12-4 (14).
Lightweights Ernest Johnson (16-2-1) and Hector Beltran (10-1-1) fought to an eight-round draw in the opening bout of the card.
