Oscar De La Hoya, 38-5, 30 KO?s, fell short in his attempt to defeat the Pound for Pound king, Floyd Mayweather, JR., 38-0, 24 KO?s, via a controversial split decision. It was controversial in the sense that there was no way that De La Hoya won this fight, but one of the judges scored it 115-113 for ?The Golden Boy.? This was no way an exciting bout, but it seemed that Oscar was employing the Sugar Ray Leonard strategy that was used against Marvin Hagler, as he used a lot of flashy shots that were relatively meaningless, but it can steal the hearts of the crowd and the judges? eyes.
Floyd used his walk around and pot shot style instead of really going for the knockout or the ?massacre? as he called it. Despite promises to put hurt on De La Hoya, ?Pretty Boy? seemed content to win the decision and play it safe the entire way. What was surprising was the fact that there were two occasions where Floyd hurt Oscar and didn?t go after the win. It is especially surprising when you consider the fact that De La Hoya doesn?t really lose decisions all that often and that this was the bout that Floyd wanted to make a statement. There would have been a huge statement had he stopped him, and the body shot in the 11th round that knocked the wind out of De La Hoya, he never did it again.
The WBC Light Middleweight Championship is another title added to Floyd Mayweather, JR.?s trophy case, although it was a split decision for some reason. Now ?Pretty Boy? claims that he is all done with the sport, but with the competitors out there knocking on his door and his competitive spirit, he may be pulling our chain. Besides, he typically says this after every fight.
So, the World Awaited and it saw a reasonable fight between two great fighters, but we definitely saw the dominant Pound for Pound King win the fight decisively. Tommy Kaczmarek, the judge that scored it for De La Hoya should probably retire. He needs a kick in the grapes and should be forced to admit his membership in the De La Hoya fan club. That score was really beyond ridiculous.
I have to say that I was slightly disappointed by the fight itself, but with all the hype, how couldn?t you be. I hope that it did generate some energy and excitement for the sport that it will last.
In other action, Rocky Juarez, 27-3, 19 KO?s, eked by Jose Andres Hernandez, 22-4, 14 KO?s, in a twelve round snore-fest, but that has been the Juarez way as of late. At one time, he was an exciting fighter with a bright future and certain superstar status, but he has become a sleepwalker in the ring, and is not nearly as promising as he once was.
In this fight, Juarez was trying to pick up the rubble after back to back losses to Marco Antonio Barrera. In the second round, he dropped Hernandez with an overhand right hand, but other than that, he just went through the motions, never really applying himself. Even so, Juarez at his possible worst is better than most of the top ten fighters at their best, and he should beat Chris John, the WBA Champion that should be the next bout on the horizon.
In the end, the judges were unanimous for Juarez by the scores of 117-110, 115-112, and 116-111. RSR scored it 115-112 for Juarez as well.
In the opening bout, Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista, 23-0, 17 KO?s, fought what could be the ?Fight of the Year? against Sergio Manuel Medina, 28-1, 16 KO?s. From start to finish, we saw an all out war between these two little men with both men suffering from knockdowns and battling toe to toe. In the end, ?Boom Boom,? the Filipino sensation had more and pulled it out when you thought that he was not going to even make it to the end.
This was a WBO Super Bantamweight Eliminator and both men fought like it was their entire career on the line. Medina and Bautista both should have title consideration and I would like to see these guys in the ring again. Bautista may be the man to pick up the torch and run with it when Manny Pacquiao rides off into the sunset. He certainly has heart and power and is one of the most promising little guys on the scene.
The judges were once again unanimous for ?Boom Boom? by the scores of 116-108, and 115-109 (twice). RSR scored it 114-110 for the Filipino warrior.
