By Ismael AbduSalaam
Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) proved too strong and busy
for a game Steve Forbes (33-6, 9 KOs), as the
Golden Boy outworked his smaller opponent for a lopsided but competitive
unanimous decision win. With a stiff jab and trademark flurries, De La Hoya was
able to keep Forbes at bay while piling up
points.
Through round five, Forbes’ head was repeatedly snapped
back by De La Hoya’s jab. At mid range, De La Hoya varied his combinations to
the head and body in hopes of wearing the former Contender star down.
Undeterred, Forbes connected with clean hooks of his own, in particular when he
went inside and punched with his larger opponent. Despite Oscar’s high punch
output, the more damaging and cleaner punches came early on from Forbes. A
mouse under the left eye and abrasions on De La Hoya’s nose reflected these
sporadic assaults.
Over the second half of the bout De La Hoya was able to
pull away due to his work rate although the majority of his combinations were
not landing clean. Forbes was forced to counter in isolated spurts which were
not enough to win rounds. But in rounds eight and eleven “Two Pound” was
able to land jarring uppercuts and kept Oscar aware he was in with a tough opponent.
Final scorecards read 119-109 twice, and 120-108 all in
favor of De La Hoya. In the post fight interview Oscar revealed that while the
rematch with Mayweather is not finalized, he prides himself on “fighting the
best” and that “I’m going to go after him because I know I can beat him.”
HBO’s team did their best shill job to convince the buying
public that De La Hoya has a chance against the Pretty Boy. Emmanuel Steward
spent his time gushing over Oscar’s jab while Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant
took every opportunity to remind us how De La Hoya’s stamina has improved. They
have to keep it up, as it’ll take more than one telecast to erase memories of a
faded De La Hoya getting easily out boxed down the stretch by Mayweather at a
weight the Pound for Pound king had no business being at (154 pounds).
Despite HBO’s
efforts, the same glaring weaknesses remain that’ll sink a 35 year old De La
Hoya against Money May. First, Oscar exhibited very limited head movement last
Saturday. When Forbes let his hands go, he had no problem finding Oscar’s face.
He was able to counter in the middle of Oscar’s combinations and also put in
good work to the body.
The results were a busted up Oscar as the fight
progressed. Second, De La Hoya’s balance and timing still leave a lot to be
desired. Oscar many times lost his balance as Forbes slipped his punches, which
will prove fatal against the faster Mayweather. Finally, De La Hoya’s stamina
has not magically improved, as his punch output (particularly the jab) became
sloppier down the stretch.
Unless Mayweather is severely affected by his layoff,
expect another clear win for Mayweather come September. Don’t let the impending
hype machine fool you regarding De La Hoya’s chances.
Dirrell Blasts Hanshaw in Redemption Bout
After turning into a track star last year against Cutis
Stevens, Andre Dirrell (15-0, 10 KOs) was
trashed by every boxing observer out there. Larry Merchant went as far on air
to proclaim that he’d never watch Dirrell again. Well, if the old man kept true
to his word he missed an impressive and dominant win this past Friday, as
Dirrell crushed Anthony Hanshaw (21-2-1, 14 KOs) in five mostly one-sided
rounds on Showtime.
Hanshaw started the fight well by crowding Dirrell against
the ropes and stunning him for a missed flash knockdown. However, an angry
Dirrell recovered and began bouncing sharp right and left leads off Hanshaw’s
skull, showing a huge speed disparity between the two fighters. The assault
continued in round three as Hanshaw was hurt by straight lefts and began
holding. By round five, a visibly gun-shy Hanshaw became cannon-fodder as
Direll ruined him with lightning-fast lead hooks to score an impressive stoppage.
With the win, the young prospect redeems his name value
after destroying a durable fighter who recently went the distance with Roy
Jones, Jr. Look for the TV dates to start rolling back in for the flashy
super-middleweight.
Calzaghe Tells Hopkins
to Stop Crying
Newly crowned light-heavyweight champ Joe Calzaghe told
the BBC he’s tired of Bernard Hopkins’ antics since their showdown two weeks
ago. The undefeated Welshman gave his thoughts on the matter:
“He should get over it. He should watch the tape and
accept that he lost. There were three American judges and he still lost. I
don’t need to find 100 excuses because I won. He’s a sore loser. I won the
fight. I was the aggressor. I landed more punches. End of story.
I don’t mind if I don’t see the guy again. To be honest,
I’ve never been a Bernard Hopkins fan and never will be. You ask me about Roy
Jones Jr and I’ll say I like him and love his style. I’ve got a lot of respect
for him and he is a legend but Hopkins
isn’t.”
Talks are expected
to begin for a proposed Calzaghe-Jones bout later this year.
Vazquez-Marquez IV in Talks
In a truly sadistic turn of events, talks have begun for a
proposed fourth installment between warriors Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez.
Marquez won the first bout after breaking Vazquez’s nose. Vazquez bounced back
to TKO Marquez in the rematch and squeak out a 1 point decision win in the
classic rubber match.
All three fights were thrilling but debilitating and
brutal. They’ve fought nearly 30 grueling rounds in the span of year and
deserve a break. But money talks and these two men won’t be able to generate
the kind of money elsewhere that they can by beating the primes out of each
other. After a fourth fight, I don’t think there will be much left for anyone
else to face.
First Fight