Where’d the Power Go??
By pmd on May 6, 2007 in Sports |
There were actually several similarities between tonight’s mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya and our last mega fight with Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis five years ago. Both matches were huge draws because a once top level fighter with legend status was digging deep to try to knock off a primed and better opponent.
When Lewis dominated Tyson, it was no surprise to anyone who was thinking with their head and not their heart. Tyson fans and experts alike spoke of the x-factor—power. To this day, the average sports fan still believes that one clean shot from Tyson could knock out anyone on Earth. And we’re right. Unfortunately for Mike, he hasn’t landed a clean shot since he knocked out Francois Botha 10 years ago.
While De La Hoya landed big shots against the likes of Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas in recent years, he has not shown power against top notch opponents in a very long time. As time went on, De La Hoya supporters pointed to his power constantly, but what they may have failed to realize is that Oscar really struggles to land his big shots these days. And at no point tonight did Mayweather appear to be particularly hurt by his power. Whenever De La Hoya tried to get aggressive, he appeared to be flailing and desperate. Mayweather was as poised and confident as promised. If anything, he was a bit too confident–never appearing eager to land some major power punches.
All said and done, Oscar fought well. He exceeded expectations and made the fight appear closer than it actually was. He moved forward and tried to take the fight to Floyd. He just wasn’t good enough. He was in shape. He had a good strategy. He just got outboxed by a better fighter. Oscar deserves more credit than mere bravery, though. He’s a marketing genius. This fight will prove to be the biggest in history–exceeding Tyson-Holyfield II’s 1.9 million buys in ‘97. It’s more impressive than numbers, though. In 1997, everyone CARED about Tyson-Holyfield. They cared because Tyson is the biggest draw in the history of the sport. They also cared because the first match between the two was a classic. I don’t believe that most casual fans cared nearly as much about this fight. They were victims of the incredible savy of Golden Boy Promotions. And for that, Oscar deserves at least as much credit as he does for his performance in the ring.
i think floyd intentionally held back on dismantling oscar…if oscar had gotten beaten badly, words such as “has been” and “retirement” would have been popping up. And since he is still a big draw, boxing needs him in a major way…AFTER THIS FIGHT, BOXING OWES HIM A FAVOR…lol
burton | May 7, 2007 | Reply
Hey “TARD” above me, I’m sure Floyd cares about OSCAR being called a has-been, he called him every name in the book prior to the fight, I’m sure has-been was something he didn’t want to call OSCAR. How about he would have killed OSCAR if he had the POWER, he doesn’t, he’s a boxer, he knows when to pick and choose his spots. You sir are an idiot. “held back,” dumbest comment ever! Floyd gets limited respect from fans and reporters, and that is how it is, that’s why he retired. I’m sure he gives a f*** about where boxing goes in the future.
King Luke | May 9, 2007 | Reply
king Luke you freaking homo, boxing is a business. And just like any business if a stock losses value it just won’t sell. Golden boy is an enterprise. If he were to be called a “has been” or “old”, people wouldn’t pay the top dollars to watch him box.
secondly, do you really think Floyd will retire? how many boxers have you heard retire then comeback a year later…. let me mention names Sugar Ray, Felix Trinidad, chavez, mancini, foreman, etc etc..so you sir are a freaking dumb ass.
burton | May 9, 2007 | Reply
DICK, no one pays top dollar to watch boxing anymore. It’s a dead sport, OSCAR IS a has-been. You make no sense saying floyd “held back.” why would he, he is a fighter? He is OLD, any boxing fan knows this, he fights once a year, lost 3 of 5, the only 2 he beat were not BOXERS, they were brawlers, thats the only reason OSCAR could beat them, VARGAS and MAYORGA. He can’t beat a BOXER anymore, a la MOSELY and MAYWEATHER. You clearly are not a real fan of the sport. Floyd has money with nothing to prove, and no one left to box. Mosely? that would be all, and it would take years to get the fight set up if that were to happen. Floyd is gonna focus on music. WATCH. get your facts straight, cause you are in a losing battle. NO WAY floyd held back, just remember that idiot, floyd fought a typical floyd fight, and OSCAR fell into it.
King Luke | May 9, 2007 | Reply
“Floyd is gonna focus on music. WATCH”
king luke a-hole, Floyd doing music is a joke in itself…How many athletes have actually transcended into music successfully?? ROY JONES FLOPPED, ALLEN IVERSON FLOPPED, SHAQ FLOPPED.EX PACERS UUMM FLOPPED do you see the trend there King Buttie buoy?
“Floyd has money with nothing to prove, and no one left to box”
Michael jordan won a bunch of championship and has all the money in the world but still came back to play for a couple seasons. Like Mike said upon his return” he had a itch that needed to be scratched” so he came back for another try. Maybe you sir are not an athlete and don’t understand…Sir Lukass all your arguments are weak and flawed
Peter
Do you think Floyd has retired for good?
burton | May 10, 2007 | Reply
no chance floyd has retired for good..hes 30…
Peter Rosenberg | May 10, 2007 | Reply
BUTTrton, you steaming pile of FAG, listen to your arguement. It doesn’t matter if Floyd doesn’t make it in music, he has FU money, so what? Yeah if he does decide to come back, great! that is stupid because BOXING is DEAD! Who cares if Mike came back. The third time was a JOKE. He came back to put asses in the seats on the lackluster team he had ownership in. Just like every other boxer that comes back, the fight till they lose. Floyd has more pride in himself than that. Will he comeback? Probably. Down the road. And the main point BUTTron, Floyd doesn’t make one red cent off of “GOLDEN GIRL,” BOXING, so finally answer my question as to why he would “HOLD BACK” on OSCAR to save boxing? His ego is far to BIG to let someone linger around for 12 rounds douche. Considering the the whole time on 24/7, he said he was going to “ICE” Oscar early. You BUTTron, only read the headlines of issues, you don’t have any substance to your arguements. You bring up pointless facts, JORDAN, AI, ARTEST, oh and
PS SHAQ, never really FLOPPED, love it or hate it, he made dough, off of music. I’m suprised you weren’t cookie-cutter enough not to bring up KOBE.
let me ask you PETE. Do you think Mayweather “held-back,” to save boxing, like Burton thinks?
King Luke | May 12, 2007 | Reply
Shaq made money off his rapping? If so it wasn’t much, and it’s not like he needed the extra pocket change.
Smike Schmidt | May 15, 2007 | Reply
It wasn’t pocket change to him back then. He was a rookie when his first CD came out. Remember, Shaq has admitted to never spending a dime of his NBA salary, so his other ventures are how he pays the bills. Now, as little or as much as he made, a record company would not let him release two more albums if the first one flopped, especially if the second one flopped. Ask Kobe, his was so bad Columbia dropped him, and the record before it came out.
King Luke | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Queen Luke You Idiot!!…I don’t know if your broke ass has HBO but check what Maywheather says when asked about retiring…slight recap of the interview:
lampley: will your retire now that you won the fight?
Floyd: i don’t know…i wouldn’t mind a mayweather-dela hoya 2 if oscar wants. my camp will talk with Oscar’s camp to see if we can have a rematch.
Now would they be any talk of a rematch if Mayweather had beaten Dela Hoya real badly? NO….That fight was a win win situation for both camps. Mayweather may have won the fight but Oscar still maintains his boxing credibility and popularity…BOXING IS A BUSINESS DUMBASS…F U Queen Luke you d-ass idiot….do me a favor and go dig a hole and bury youself coward. lol at you…Biatch,don’t bother answering because YOU MADAME are becoming a joke with you lame ass arguments.
Peter, i hope to hear you on the radio soon bra.
burton | May 16, 2007 | Reply
Dumbass. It would have been better for boxings popularity if there would have been a knockout. Why do you think UFC is so big? No real boxing fan wants to see a rematch, Merchant said that himself. Floyd will say whatever he wants, cause he knows he would win the exact same way he won last time, and he knows Oscar won’t take the fight. Oscar knows that too, thats why he didn’t say he would fight him again, he knows he won’t cause it would take another year to set it up, he’ll be another year older, and slower.Of course boxing is a business moron. But, how is it win-win because no one was knocked out? Does that mean all boxers, in the ring, for that matter are thinking rematch, and that’s why nobody wants to knock the other fighter out? Hell no! Like I said, Floyd doesn’t have knockout power at 154, and Oscar who does, isn’t fast enough to catch him. That’s why there wasn’t a knockout, not hey let’s run around the ring for 12 rounds so we can get paid in a rematch , that less people will want to watch. The one’s who saw the fight live, realized how boring it truely was, I would only want to see a rematch if there was blood shed and knockdowns. Why do you think Gotti-Ward fights were so good, the fought toe-to-toe. Stop trying to support your wack arguement. “lol” what are you ten? “Hear you soon “BRA”". What a geek.
King Luke | May 17, 2007 | Reply