Did De La Hoya's Win Over Forbes Truly Inspire Interest In A Mayweather Rematch?

De La Hoya: Not According to Plan

By Travis Marks: The scores were 119-109 twice and 120-108 once as the “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya defeated Steve “2 Pounds” Forbes of “Contender” fame in a non title Jr. Middleweight bout last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Reading those scores and listening to Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Manny Steward you would think it was same old De La Hoya. Not the case, this fight showed more about how much Oscar De La Hoya has slipped as a fighter.

Did Oscar establish his jab? Yes. Did he have energy late? Yes. Did he fight taller? Yes. But Oscar wanted to dominate Steve Forbes in a way that he has done to so many as he ascended into prominence. He failed to do so. Oscar was only able to show that he was a class above Steve Forbes, we knew that already. A young Oscar De La Hoya would have blown Steve Forbes away in less than six rounds..

The troubling aspect about Oscar’s fight last night was that he was at his best, at least he was at his best at this stage in career. He trained hard, he fought hard, he threw the left jab, the vaunted left hook, the underestimated straight right and some well place and well timed left uppercuts. All that said Steve Forbes was never hurt. Forbes surprisingly was able to land some of the cleaner more effective power punches. The underdog caused a mouse under De La Hoya’s left eye, he puffed up the right eye, and bloodied both Oscar’s lip and nose. No one could have expected that.

Oscar has been working on convincing himself that can he avenge the loss he suffered to the pound for pound best fighter in the world, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather if they fought a rematch to their May 5, 2007 bout. Beating up on 2 Pounds would have gone a long way. Make no mistake about it, he wanted to beat up Forbes and then knock him out. Forbes has long been recognized for his granite chin and what a feather in the cap in would have been for Oscar to knock him out. No dice, Oscar could not deliver.

One month ago WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto fought another star from the “Contender” series, Alfonso Gomez. Gomez like Forbes had never been knocked out or down before. Unlike De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto was able to go in the ring and dominate his opponent. Cotto beat up on Gomez the way Oscar wanted to beat up Forbes by knocking him down three times and forcing him to quit on his stool after five rounds.

Somewhere out there Floyd Mayweather Jr. is smiling. Unlike what HBO’s expert broadcast team reported, Floyd saw the way Forbes handled De La Hoya’s power and how he was able to land big punches as well. Floyd also knows that he hurt Oscar a few times in their first bout and he sees the limitations in the Golden Boys’ game. Floyd confidence must be sky high for the return bout.

Psychologically De La Hoya can not be a great place. There must be doubts creeping into his head. In fact Oscar even stated to Larry Merchant in the post fight interview that he was disappointed. Even the pro De la Hoya crowd expressed their disappointed by booing in the latter moments of the bout. Throughout the bout Oscar pressed for the knock out but never could secure it. In fact since 2001 De La Hoya has knocked out only three opponents, Ramon “Yury Boy” Campos, Fernando Vargas, and Ricardo Mayorga. Those three men are three of the easiest men to hit in the sport.

Oscar De La Hoya has big plans to end his career. His goals are to fight Mayweather in the fall and Cotto in the winter. Those are very lofty goals and at this point of his career, they seem a little bit out of his reach. Oscar is surviving off the name and no can blame him. He has never really been beaten up in a match and he does manage to stay competitive in all of his fights. However last night’s bout points to Oscar having a pretty nasty send off from the square ring.

Does De La Hoya “deserve” another shot at Mayweather?

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.

De La Hoya Beats Forbes - But Should He Forget About Mayweather?

by James Slater: "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather was conspicuous in his absence last night at The Home Depot Centre in California. But as former "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya struggled with all his might to make a comeback statement by stopping the much smaller Steve "2-Pounds" Forbes, Mayweather must have been secretly smiling.

Last night's bout was supposed to be a showcase for De La Hoya, one in which he demonstrated that he alone is the most formidable opponent for "Money" Mayweather - the only man out there capable of taking away Floyd's unbeaten record. Well, the show at the Home Depot Centre did not deliver as advertised. For Oscar, all 35 years of him, looked anything but the answer to the reigning pound-for-pound king's dominance. Hit as much, if not more, than he's ever been in a genuine Hall of Fame career, De La Hoya's performance against Steve Forbes left a lot to be desired.

Don't get me wrong, Oscar won almost every round, was never in danger of losing and threw more punches in the later rounds of a fight than he has in many a year. So why is it that Oscar's chances of even holding his own in a potential welterweight rematch meeting with Mayweather now look like a veritable long shot? Maybe it's because of the way "The Golden Boy's" face looked after 12 rounds with the light-hitting former super-featherweight champion. Bruised, marked and swollen like rarely before in his glamorous career, Oscar's visage showed all too well how easy he is to hit nowadays. If Forbes had had more power all bets would now be off as to how De La Hoya would fare in a return with Floyd.

And Oscar tried his best to get the KO, let no "De La Hoya wanted rounds" stories convince you otherwise. But the six-time world champion couldn't get what he truly believed he would have got going in. There was no STATEMENT in this fight. Whether this was due to Forbes' toughness, desire and sheer grit is up to you. This writer feels - no disrespect to Forbes - that it was due to something else - De La Hoya’s inability to do what he would have been able to do a few years ago. In short, Oscar is not the talent, the puncher, or the great he once was. Therefore the question now presents itself - should De La Hoya forget all about his attempts to beat Floyd Mayweather in their planned September rematch? Should the fans accept this proposed fight as a genuine and value for money contest?

Sure, Oscar is still a capable fighter. But is he anywhere near in with a shot at beating the sublime Mayweather? Even with Floyd’s dad in his corner, who would give Oscar an even money shot after the way he was hit so repeatedly last night? Though the man he beat in Stevie Forbes reportedly told Larry Merchant that the way Oscar fought last night showed he did indeed have a chance at besting the current pound-for-pound king, this writer has to put that down to a combination of good feeling and adrenalin on the Part of Forbes.

In short, “Money” will be licking his chops at the thought of going in with Oscar for a second time. With Oscar easier to hit than ever before, older and having to come down to Mayweather’s more natural weight of 147 as opposed to the 154 they met at originally, Floyd will be planning to KO De La Hoya in any rematch. As such, being as he is a smart man indeed, the 35 year old former “Golden Boy” should forget all about allowing his adoring fans to pay out upwards of $50.00 dollars to see him fail in his quest.

If he’s as smart as he appears to be, Oscar De La Hoya will make some serious adjustments to the plans he has for his final year in pro boxing.