Boxing Perspective: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar De La Hoya
Fight Of The Century?
Floyd Mayweather Jr and Oscar De La Hoya will climb through the ropes on May 5 for what could be the fight of the century. Whether or not this will be the case come May 6 remains to be seen.
We have the pound for pound king in Mayweather against the seasoned warrior De La Hoya in a super fight that has the world’s attention and looks set to break tv viewing figures of old with the fight available in 176 countries around the world.
The hype machine has been in full effect for months now with massive media coverage and HBO’s fantastic 24/7 four part series going behind the scenes in both camps, showing us the huge clash of styles and cultures.
Each man is worlds apart from the other with Mayweather’s brash, arrogant and loudmouthed personality jumping out the screen like a naughty school kid and Oscar’s cool persona oozing quiet confidence as he calmly states that he’s seen it all before.
On a personal level, I’m pretty much convinced that Floyd’s antics are down to nerves and that the realization and magnitude of May 5 is starting to dawn on him. Will he freeze on the night? Maybe.
Anyone who’s caught the HBO shows will agree that in training, both men look to be in incredible shape and will no doubt be in top physical shape come fight night.
So what about the fight and how will it pan out?
My own opinion is that Floyd’s ego may play a big part of the early rounds with him standing and trading with Oscar, who out muscles Mayweather and starts to back him up, which in my opinion will only make for a better fight as Mayweather fights superbly on the back foot and is dangerous with that style.
I feel that Floyd has nothing to offer that can hurt Oscar, so I expect him to figure that out pretty early too and start firing off massive quantities of super fast and accurate punches designed to bemuse Oscar with their sheer volume.
If Floyd can sustain this for seven or more rounds, than I feel that he’s clever enough to win the fight.
But it’s whether or not he can keep Oscar away for long enough to do so that is the question.
I feel that Oscar will go looking for Floyd pretty early on and try and impose his naturally bigger frame and superior power on the pound for pound king and literally, go through him.
I really do think that Oscar is going to pose Floyd more problems than Mayweather has ever faced before.
Oscar’s sparring with Shane Mosley should prove crucial in the fight as far as cutting off the ring and his reflexes go. I expect Oscar to start breaking Floyd down as early as round three or four and putting huge doubts and dents into Mayweather’s mind and body.
I see Oscar winning this by KO or TKO inside eight rounds and really do think we are in for an absolute classic.
I could be wrong and Floyd might try and dance his way to victory, but with all the verbals he has been spitting out of late, than surely he has to fight at some stage, right?
As much as I have tried to envisage a track meet, I just can’t see how Mayweather keeps Oscar at bay for 33 minutes.
If Oscar can hurt Floyd early, back him up and frustrate him, then as above, he wins by KO or TKO inside eight rounds.
Floyd’s been hurt before by Judah, Hernandez and Corley, who are smaller and less powerful fighters with argueably little more speed than De La Hoya.
The look in Oscar’s eyes when he’s hitting the pads is the same as I saw when he battered Fernando Vargas and it’s the look of a bona fide warrior with a killer instinct.
Summing up, I just feel that Oscar has too much class power and experience for Floyd and wins inside eight rounds.
We shall see soon enough, so buckle up and enjoy the ride…
OSCAR v. FLOYD…The world awaits!
Simon Shaw: djsishaw69@yahoo.co.uk