Was Oscar De La Hoya merely a well marketed fighter??

[zhubin]

With so many fighters more concerned with protecting there records than fighting the best out there, Oscar really stands out. Maybe it was because he was so popular that he could afford to lose and still be a huge draw, but he was never afraid to take chances with his career. Almost every fighter loses, especially one who fights in a deep division/divisions, and Oscar's loses don't take anything away from what he accomplished in my book. At Oscar's best, he was superb fighter and on of the most complete, in not the most complete fighter, of our generation. He technique was perfect and great work ethic. He was athletic and quick, though not the most physically gifted, he made the most out of every bit of talent he had. If he had the physical gifts of a Mosley or a Roy Jones, he may never have lost.

Dude, what are you talking about? I will give credit to Oscar for taking a lot of chances in his career but the guy is NOWHERE NEAR the most complete fighter of our generation. Hahahaha. Where the hell did that come from? The guy didn't even develop his right hand until later in his career. He was a one handed fighter FOR YEARS!!! His work ethic has always been questioned as well. Let's not forget that he was completely out of shape for the Felix Sturm fight, and it wasn't due to the fact it was at 160. This is a guy who's always been rumored to not like training and not train hard many times. After the Quartey fight people were saying that he slacked ALL training camp. This guy in his early years would be out partying all night during training camps.

The guy was a slacker and a one handed fighter but was competitive and beat some of the very best fighters of his (or any) generation?! Even if that's true...it's a compliment to Oscars ability, since if he trained even harder imagine how good he would have been. And guess what...when you are one of the VERY FEW fighters who takes on the very best consistently...you most likely are going to have a few more losses on your record. Lets also not forget...Shane now admits he was drug enhanced in their first fight.

[WelshDevilRob]

Firtsly I think the PacMan defeat is irrelevant to his career - he was old and rich and got beaten by a Prime P4P fighter.

Same against Hopkins - Bernard was just too big and certainly not faded.

But Oscars career which is impressive even to me and I don't like De La Hoya.

It did seem that he beat fighters smaller even when at the same weight.


Is he an all-time Great - No interms of ability but history and multi weight wins will say Yes. But it is easier to win a World title these days than even in the 80's.

[Boom Boom]

He has one fight in his career that he is not competitive and it was at the very end of his career and now people question him? Almost all great fighters have a fight like Oscar on the tail end of his career. If they didnt they would all be retire at the top of their game. Most fighters dont. I would never judge a fighters career, expecially one as sucessful and colorful as Oscars, by most likely what is his last 8 rounds in the ring.

[Bookkeeper]

I am a massive Oscar hater, with that being said I still think that he is by far a first ballot HOF'er. The only problem I have with most of these post is people going on about Oscar fighting the best and how he never ducked anybody. Let me tell you one thing gents if I was averaging 15 million dollors a fight I would fight every great fighter around also, it's high risk but the reward is huge........ The real guy's like Hopkins, Wright, Mosley, etc were not even rewarded for their resume's yet they still took on the toughest opposition around, all that people are saying is that there were guy's just as good as Oscar or better that did not have 20% of the popularity that he had which is bogus.

[C-Lo]

I think Oscar is a great fighter and has had a career to be proud of! I just think he couldn't win the "superfights," that's all.

[rjj tszyu]

No matter how you dress it up he is a 6 weight world champ and that is an achievement only world class fighters can boast.

[Mark Scott]

I always thought he was over-rated. He made a big splash by beating a very over the hill J.C. Chavez. His record is not that of an all time great.

[SweetPea]

I have always felt that Oscar was a B+ fighter with A+ marketability. If Oscar was an ugly guy from a country other than the US, would his skills have been enough to carry him to the abolsute peak of the sport? I say no.

And I'm not hating on Oscar by saying that, because I will ALWAYS have respect for him, because he was willing to fight anyone. He could have made a ton of money even if he had fought stiffs, but he chose to consistently fight the best guys out there. He was great for the sport, but I don't consider him a great fighter. He was a very very good fighter with a great list of opponents. I thought he lost virtually every big fight he was ever involved in.

[Spicoli]

Never a fan but you can not deny a storybook career.Extremely well marketed,almost over marketed and early on a bit of a spoiled,arrogant sort.Every single fight has been televised and he has never faced a fighter with a losing record .Honestly,when he was just beginning I wanted and waited for someone to wipe that Sparkly Colgate smile off his face....Valenzuela & Campanella dropped him but he got up and brutalized both for their troubles.I remember his fight with Bredahl ,he came into the ring with a star struck distracted look....Bredahl ran circles around him until being tracked down late.He really has shown tenacity to go with the good looks,The Quartey fight late,The Chavez x 2,Campas fight and he nearly decapitated Ruelas....and I won 30 bucks.I thought he lost to Trinidad legit,You do not close the show & take things for granted like that....Gifted in a huge way vs. Sturm.All in all it's not DelaHypa the fighter that gets me irked.....it's the continual over saturation and 'hey look its me' factor.Just step aside already,its been a long ride,go onto promoting fulltime.....and I hope he stays true to The Ring publication,please do not turn it into a glam rag.

[TitoFan]

He had his good fights. Quartey and Ruelas were among them. Other fights he gets credited for were less impressive, IMO. There's been articles written about his wins over fighters like Vargas and Mayorga coincidentially came after both had been brutally KO'ed by Tito. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Then there's his victories over over-the-hill legends, such as JCC. That didn't get him much in terms of popularity among Mexicans.

But that is probably the ONLY public relations mistake Oscar and his marketing team have ever made. Aside from that, Oscar and his team have been very careful to construct a sparkling white image... and HBO has been only too happy to embrace and build him up. Someone else said Oscar was a B+ fighter with A+ marketability. I think you're selling short his marketing team. It's higher than that. Can "Oscar, the movie" be far behind?