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At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last night, Floyd Mayweather ended months of speculation by delivering on his pre-fight promises and handing Oscar De La Hoya the Golden Boy’s fifth career loss by way of split decision, 116-112, 115-113 and 113-115.
With the victory, Mayweather wins a world title in his fifth weight division by taking De La Hoya’s WBC Light Middleweight title and “Pretty Boy Floyd” solidifies his top pound for pound status.
Afterward, the 30 year old Las Vegas native kept to his pre-fight pledge and announced his retirement from the sport claiming he’d made enough money and had achieved all his goals in boxing, although there would be very little surprise should Mayweather fail to stick to this.
Already there is talk of a rematch and with many disagreeing as to the outcome of last night’s bout there would be more than ample interest to see Mayweather and De La Hoya go at it again.
The bout started off in tentative fashion with both men studying each other until Mayweather popped De La Hoya with a few short punches that clearly illustrated his edge in hand speed.
But in the second, De La Hoya followed trainer Freddie Roach’s advice and worked behind the jab. This put Mayweather on the defensive and on several occasions it looked as if De La Hoya’s combination of strength, ability and skill would be too much for the smaller man to handle as Mayweather was battered.
Despite his success in the second, De La Hoya would only sporadically employ the jab for the rest of the fight, much to his detriment. When De La Hoya threw out the jab it either hit Mayweather with damaging consequences or clearly disrupted the Michigan native’s focus and fight plan.
When De La Hoya gave up the jab it allowed Mayweather to pick his spots and fight at the slower pace that “Little Floyd” prefers, potshotting Oscar with trademark lead left hooks and right hands.
As the rounds went on De La Hoya committed the same mistake as Diego Corrales did against Mayweather six years ago; follow defensive master Floyd around the ring and try to time him with one big shot to end the fight.
When Oscar did get Mayweather to grips he was largely ineffective on the inside. After every short burst of offensive effort, De La Hoya appeared to tire, perhaps a measure of his inactivity of having only fought five times over the last four years and/or having to be on the highest physical alert against a highly skilled lightning quick opponent.
Oscar had a brief resurgence later in the bout but the last quarter of the fight belonged to Mayweather as Floyd stepped up his activity and was very accurate, even throwing in a few combinations at times.
In the last round De La Hoya fought with very little urgency and it wasn’t until the last ten seconds of the bout that the two went at each other with anything resembling true passion and fire.
