This week, I’m thinking about cash cows in boxing. The main money maker from the 2000’s was Oscar De La Hoya. He was also the decade’s most overrated fighter.
With all of the talk about the death of boxing, and the lack of a marketable superstar, it got me thinking about boxing’s last great superstar. When I thought of him, and his importance in the last decade, I grew a little baffled and confused about why he mattered so much. The numbers don’t lie. I realize he put butts in the seats, and made record amounts of money through pay per view. But when it comes to accomplishments and in ring talent, Oscar De La Hoya was by far the most overrated boxer of the 2000’s. I don’t even think there was a close second.
De La Hoya was coming off of a remarkable decade in the 1990’s. He brought home the Gold Medal from the 1992 Olympics, and obtained a fitting “golden” nickname to boot. He’s in the discussion for Fighter of the Decade in the 1990’s, right behind Roy Jones Jr., and maybe Evander Holyfield. At the turn of the century, he was just entering his athletic prime, and seemed poised for another decade of dominance. Let’s take a look at what happen.
2000-2003
As Oscar started out the decade, he was regularly in the top-ten of the pound-for-pound rankings, and was one of the sport’s supreme attractions. Back in 1999, Oscar had a remarkable year in which he came from behind in dramatic fashion to beat Ike Quartey, and then closed out the decade by blowing a huge lead over Felix Trinidad in a mega welterweight unification title bout.
In 2000, Oscar again proved to be the anti-Mayweather by taking on the best challenge available to him in the welterweight division–old friend and rival, Sugar Shane Mosley. In an exciting bout that pretty much lived to the hype, De La Hoya lost a split decision. Oscar fought bravely, but at this point in his career, there were whispers that he was slightly overrated, though still an elite boxer. He had just lost his second consecutive bout against another elite welterweight. His rep was taking a hit when those Trinidad and Mosley losses were combined with his near loss to Quartey, and a 1997 victory over Pernell Whitaker that many believe he should have lost.
Oscar soon got back on the winning track by beating the undersized legend Arturo Gatti, followed by a victory over the WBC junior middleweight champion, Javier Castillejo. The Castillejo victory was important because it gave Oscar a belt in his 5th weight class, and on a collision course with hated rival Fernando Vargas. De La Hoya and Vargas met on September 14, 2002 in a major unification bout. Though Vargas had the upper hand early, and effectively used his steroid aided strength, De La Hoya rallied down the stretch to knock Vargas out in round 11. It was the last major, impressive victory of De La Hoya’s career. He was only 29, and presumably at the height of his prime.
2003-2006 After the Vargas victory, and it was clear that the Holyfield, Tyson and Lewis eras were over, Oscar De La Hoya was THE main attraction in boxing. He was handsome, articulate, in his prime, and fighting the best fights available.
After a stay busy victory over Yory Boy Campas, Oscar again went after a big challenge. He had a rematch and 154 lb unification bout against Sugar Shane Mosley on September 13, 2003. This was a bout I predicted Oscar would win; a mistake I would repeat again, later in the decade. Like the first bout, there was a lot of explosive action, but Shane had just a tad more firepower in the final rounds. Oscar lost a close unanimous decision. It’s a decision that may deserve an asterisk considering Mosley was taking performance-enhancing drugs leading up to the fight, but it was a loss nonetheless. Depending on how you feel about Fernando Vargas, and what he had left after Trinidad brutalized him, it was fair to wonder if Oscar could when the “big one” against his elite contemporaries.
Next, Oscar made another decision that disallows you to question his heart and risk taking; no matter how you personally feel about the guy. He decided he was going to move up to middleweight and challenge the great Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins was approaching 40, so it didn’t seem too crazy, but it was still an interesting challenged to undertake. But first, Oscar needed a warmup bout. He decided to go after the WBO middleweight strap, of the young, inexperienced, light-punching, Felix Sturm on June 5, 2004..
How should I put this? Well…Felix Sturm kicked Oscar’s ass. The young kid brilliantly followed the Ike Quartey plan from several years back, and learned that Oscar–for whatever reason–never learned to defend himself against a solid jab. As the rounds went by, it was almost comical how De La Hoya kept getting peppered on the forehead by jabs. Equally shocking were the fat rolls around De La Hoya’s waistline. Nope, Oscar couldn’t carry 160 well at all. We should have known by his skinny legs, and slacked, weak shoulders, but seeing was understanding. But Oscar got bailed out. In one of the worst decisions of the decade, Oscar was awarded a unanimous decision.
It was no real surprise three months later when Oscar De La Hoya got knocked out in the 9th round by Bernard Hopkins. He was too small and got outclassed by a one of the all-time greats. Once again, Oscar lost a “big one”. He took added criticism for laying on the ground, and grimacing for the entire ten count after taking the the liver shot. I’ve never been punched in the liver by a world class athlete, so I’ve had nothing bad to say about it. But fair or not, The Golden Boy’s reputation took a major hit. He was only 31, and should have been in his prime. But he was struggling.
2006-2008
After the loss to Hopkins, Oscar took 20 months off from the sport. He got his personal life in order, and did well in putting his promotional company together. He wasn’t retired, but rather was taking a nice long break from the sport, and generally reevaluating things. For his comeback fight on May 5, 2006, he chose the perfect foil in Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga had been able to market himself into major fights due to his gift of being a cruel, brutal trash talker, and a free swinger in the ring. He was also incredibly easy to hit, and didn’t have as strong of a chin, as he thought he did.
Oscar fought Mayorga back in the 154 lb weight class where he was most comfortable. He reclaimed his WBC belt by knocking Mayorga out by TKO in the 6th round. But while Oscar was gone, another handsome, talented, but younger and faster fighter was making noise about being the next big thing. Oscar, never one to back down from a challenge, and needing to win a “big one”, agreed to fight Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather.
How quickly we forget, but this fight had major hype. It was given plenty of time to build, and had what I still believe was the best of the HBO 24/7 installments. Oscar by that time was 33, and was thought of being maybe at the tail end of his prime, but still looked upon by many as the favorite to beat Mayweather. Oscar was more experienced in mega fights, and was naturally bigger, having been at 154 for about 6 years, while Mayweather would be fighting at that weight for the first time.
This fight was huge–everything we expected Mayweather/Pacquiao to be–but maybe more, because Oscar was such a legendary figure at that point, and had major crossover appeal. Going into the fight, I expected De La Hoya to win. I expected him to hit Floyd harder than he’d ever been hit, and I didn’t think Floyd would be as fast or explosive as Mosley; especially at 154.
The fight simply did not live up to the hype. Floyd was content to ignore the fact that Oscar couldn’t defend a good jab, so he just potshotted, and fought in occasional brief flurries. Oscar showed little of the speed, and reflexes we’d been accustomed to, but did find success smothering and pounding Mayweather along the ropes. Although one judge shockingly gave Oscar the fight, he really only one 4-5 rounds. Good, but not good enough. He lost another major fight.
When I heard that Oscar De La Hoya would be fighting Manny Pacquiao, I was furious. Manny started his career at 106, and had recently spent most of his time at 125-130. He was coming off of his first victory at 135. Regardless of the fact that they’d meet in the “middle” at 147, I thought this was a gross mismatch, and cash grab for De la Hoya at Manny’s expense.
Even though Oscar looked like crap in a 150 lb return bout in beating Steve Forbes, I thought he was just fighting an awkward little guy and down to the level of his opposition. Sure, Oscar was really starting to show his age, but I figured he’d beat the hell out of little Manny Pacquiao.
Well, I guess things looked a little suspicious when Oscar decided to weigh in at 145 for the 147 lb bout. Oscar hadn’t been that light since the mid to late 90’s. Then on the night of the fight, it was revealed that Pacquiao actually outweighed Oscar; who had only gained a few pounds since the weigh in. What in the hell was Oscar thinking? He should have cut weight down to 147, and replenished to the high 150’s for fight night. He over trained, and negated any advantage he had against the faster man.
Manny Pacquiao beat the living crap out of Oscar for 8 solid rounds, and won almost every minute of every round. It was pathetic watching Oscar unable to defend himself, and cowering away from the blows. He retired–literally–on his stool. And he lost another big fight.
Oscar De La Hoya was our face of the 2000’s and boxing’s major cash cow. Considering his importance, and what little he accomplished, he was without a doubt the most overrated fighter of the decade; a decade that began while he was in his prime. His record for the decade was 8-5, and again, depending on how you feel about Vargas, he lost to every elite fighter he faced. Oscar was also given a gift win against young Felix Sturm. Lesson= Perception and name recognition are more important in raking in big bucks than talent and excellence. I wonder who the cash cow of the 2010’s will be?
