Is Oscar Delahoya a Legend ?

[Onix]

Oscar is a sure fire hall of famer and a great fighter.

But is he a legend ?

Will he be remembered the same as Hagler, Hearns, Duran and Leonard ?

I would say NO.

Oscar was a great fighter, but he missed becoming a legend.

In comparison I would say that Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones and James Toney are legends.

Oscar is a legend because he revitalized the sport, he has the biggest PPV draws for anyone not being a HW and to top it off he is running one of the top promotion companies in the sport.

I'd say he'll go down as a legend .

[armin]

You could argue both sides, but yes he probably should go down as a legend. He pretty much fought the best, granted people will say he lost some of his biggest fights and got some gifts in others, well 2 of his big losses, tito and second shane, easily could be wins with different judges...Like onixx said he revitalized the sport drew interest from people that otherwise have no interest in boxing, and was always almost competitive while in his good years and up to 154 lbs.

[generalbulldog]

Depends on what your definition of legend is. He's done a lot for boxing and kept it in the mainstream a little longer in the '00s especially his fights with the current 2 top fighters. However I disagree on the fact he revitalized the sport as others here have said. To revitalize something means that you're bringing back a sport that was dead. Boxing was never dead in the 90's when Oscar hit the scene, especially considering that decade produced the 2nd greatest HW era behind the '70s. And the state of boxing in the mainstream has always been determined by how healthy the HW division is.

Oscar is a great fighter and in my eyes he's a legend, but barely makes it.

[Onix]

Depends on what your definition of legend is. He's done a lot for boxing and kept it in the mainstream a little longer in the '00s especially his fights with the current 2 top fighters. However I disagree on the fact he revitalized the sport as others here have said. To revitalize something means that you're bringing back a sport that was dead. Boxing was never dead in the 90's when Oscar hit the scene, especially considering that decade produced the 2nd greatest HW era behind the '70s. And the state of boxing in the mainstream has always been determined by how healthy the HW division is.

Oscar is a great fighter and in my eyes he's a legend, but barely makes it.

Better said. A better description would be that he brough alot of attention to the lighter weight divisions.

[Drago]

in my opinion yes

he fought the best there was plus i also thought he beat mosley & trinidad

[Pavlik]

1st fighter in history to have 6 division world championships.
Highest earning fighter in history.
Probably best looking too.
Yes he is a LEGEND.

[The Fightfan]

1st fighter in history to have 6 division world championships.
Highest earning fighter in history.
Probably best looking too.
Yes he is a LEGEND.

Simple as that. I really can't believe that this would even be discussed. Oscar's resume is one of the very best in boxing. A champion in six divisions (whether they were legit belts or not).

[TitoFan]

1st fighter in history to have 6 division world championships.
Highest earning fighter in history.
Probably best looking too.
Yes he is a LEGEND.

Yes, well.... (ahem)... while these are (cough) certainly admirable qualities in a fighter, I would think they hardly qualify as "legend" material. Although yes... to the female fan base in general he probably IS a legend.

By the way... I hate... no, scratch that... i DESPISE how people constantly use money earnings as a measuring stick of a fighter's merit as a HOF'er, legend, cannonized saint... whatever. MANY things go into the money earning factor. And fighting ability, record, skill, and all the things that matter are only a relatively small piece of the pie when determining money-making ability. Press hype, personality, political powers within boxing organizations, promotional abilities, A COUNTRY'S HUNGER FOR A STAR OF ANY KIND AT A CERTAIN POINT IN TIME..... all these factors come into play also when money-making ability is being decided.

Oh wait... he's got a statue of himself somewhere in L.A. Scratch the above. The guy's a frigging LEGEND!!

[Jody Lane]

1st fighter in history to have 6 division world championships.
Highest earning fighter in history.
Probably best looking too.
Yes he is a LEGEND.

6 divisions. Ho-hum. Damn Alexis Arguello coulda beaten him to that record if there were so many titles floating around in the late 70s early 80s and he took on the least dominant of the bunch instead of that bastard Aaron Pryor who threw a 100 punches a round.

[ICB]

in my opinion yes

he fought the best there was plus i also thought he beat mosley & trinidad

Yes but theres also a flipside to that, i thought he lost to Ike Quartey, Felix Sturm. And just about scrapped a draw vs a past his prime Pernell Whitaker.

But then again there's no real shame in that. Well except obviously Felix Sturm because he isn't obviously on same level as other 2 names. But he's still pretty decent fighter and ODLH was in horrible shape for that fight, and he never belonged at Middleweight so we can excuse him that.

As for being a legend, yes of course he is a legend. He was one of the most recognized names in boxing in the 90's. He won an Olympic gold medal, aswell as winning titles in 6 different weightclasses, aswell as fighting the whos/who of boxing.

What else could he have done ?

[Drago]

in my opinion yes

he fought the best there was plus i also thought he beat mosley & trinidad

Yes but theres also a flipside to that, i thought he lost to Ike Quartey, Felix Sturm. And just about scrapped a draw vs a past his prime Pernell Whitaker.

But then again there's no real shame in that. Well except obviously Felix Sturm because he isn't obviously on same level as other 2 names. But he's still pretty decent fighter and ODLH was in horrible shape for that fight, and he never belonged at Middleweight so we can excuse him that.

As for being a legend, yes of course he is a legend. He was one of the most recognized names in boxing in the 90's. He won an Olympic gold medal, aswell as winning titles in 6 different weightclasses, aswell as fighting the whos/who of boxing.

What else could he have done ?

yeah he defo lost the sturm fight cant remember who i had winning the ike fight tho?

think he got the gift with sturm fight cos he had the big fight with hopkins coming up?

[rjj tszyu]

in my opinion yes

he fought the best there was plus i also thought he beat mosley & trinidad

Yes but theres also a flipside to that, i thought he lost to Ike Quartey, Felix Sturm. And just about scrapped a draw vs a past his prime Pernell Whitaker.

But then again there's no real shame in that. Well except obviously Felix Sturm because he isn't obviously on same level as other 2 names. But he's still pretty decent fighter and ODLH was in horrible shape for that fight, and he never belonged at Middleweight so we can excuse him that.

As for being a legend, yes of course he is a legend. He was one of the most recognized names in boxing in the 90's. He won an Olympic gold medal, aswell as winning titles in 6 different weightclasses, aswell as fighting the whos/who of boxing.

What else could he have done ?

Yeah just read Oscars book and he says he actually thought he lost the fight with Sturm and was in a way upset that he got the nod. Not many fighters will admit stuff like that so he gained some credit from at least me there anyway.

As for being a legend I'd say yes easily. Look at his record, I think he only ever fought one fighter with a losing record and was a world champ after I think it was 12 fights. He won world titles at 6 weights and has been involved in some of the biggest PPV fights in history.

I suppose it depends on how deep you want to go with legends though, if you only reserve the word legend for the likes of Ali, Louis and Robinson then maybe not but Oscar is the most popular fighter since Leonard outside the HW's and has never ducked anybody and 20 years from now I think you will struggle to find a fighter who has fought more fellow hall of famers.