DID OSCAR ACHIEVE WHAT HE WANTED?

By Michael Swann

I’m somewhat torn on this issue. On one hand Oscar De La Hoya did much of what he set out to do by winning a convincing decision over undersized, overmatched Steve Forbes at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California before 27,000 in his “Homecoming” fight. The scores of 119-109 (twice) and 120-108 for Oscar were an accurate accounting, although the fight itself was more competitive than the scores might indicate. Forbes had a few moments in there but overall Oscar pounded out a solid, though hardly sensational victory.

If Oscar was simply looking for a good tune-up to shake the cobwebs of a year’s inactivity prior to his September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., he likely achieved that goal. But a late eye-popping knockout might have been more to his liking in the general scheme of things.

De La Hoya, 39-5 (30), looked good offensively, aside from missing some shots, and he improved as the fight progressed. He utilized a sharp jab, hand speed on his combinations, and best of all he maintained his stamina down the stretch. Oscar was the aggressor throughout the bout, bouncing on his toes, snapping the jab, and working the body effectively. There were many positives in this regard.

Forbes, 33-6 (9), suffered a cut eye from an uppercut in round six, and by the end of the fight his face was as lumpy as last Thursday’s mashed potatoes.

Now on the other hand Forbes is by no means a Floyd Mayweather Jr., yet he managed to give Oscar two puffy eyes and a small cut on the bridge of the nose. The offensive minded Oscar proved to be quite hittable, something to think about for September.

The light hitting Forbes, who would be better served at 140, moved up to a catch weight of 150 and still laid on a few flush shots. Meanwhile he maintained his career record of never having been knocked out, or even floored.

With only nine career knockouts and moving up in weight there was little chance that Forbes could actually hurt Oscar, which of course is one of the reasons why he got the assignment in the first place. This leads me to believe that De La Hoya’s sustained, relaxed aggression could have had as much to do with his opponent than any late career change in style.

Further, one is left with the impression that late in the game Forbes preferred to go the 12 rounds without being floored rather than let it all hang out and work for a victory, which made it easier for Oscar to maintain his stamina.

It seemed as if every time Forbes came forward he was whacked by a counter shot. And though he blocked some of Oscar’s combinations, he was tagged enough to feel it and fought the final rounds as a survivor, placing the focus on De La Hoya’s onrushing aggression.

According to Compubox, Oscar landed 253 of 810 total shots, and 127 of 406 jabs. Forbes landed 152 of 776 overall, but a mere 69 of 470 jabs.

Nobody, but no-body expected Forbes to win this contest, so in many respects he did himself a considerable amount of good in defeat. I’ve seen worse fights on HBO World Championship Boxing. You can’t get much more recognition than by fighting Oscar De La Hoya on HBO. And, the fact that he went 12 rounds with an icon and got in a few licks of his own can be promoted in his favor in the future.

For Oscar, the Forbes fight was simply step one of his three part plan to retire from the game in glory. Mayweather is step two in the September rematch and if I was a betting man I would say that step three was to give Mayweather a rematch after beating him in step two.

But I believe that Mayweather, with his naturally gifted athleticism, reflexes and blinding hand speed can pick De La Hoya apart in a way that Forbes was simply not capable. If Oscar had a tough time landing clean shots on “2 Pounds,” he’ll really have a fit (again) trying to land solidly against Mayweather.

If the Forbes fight was primarily designed to ready Oscar for Floyd, and at the same time create interest in the September rematch, it may have actually failed to succeed on both levels. As previously mentioned, the work was unquestionably good for Oscar, but it’s hard to believe that his rather vanilla performance, in of itself, will have folks lining up to buy tickets.

In their first fight Mayweather and De La Hoya set records in PPV sales and in total revenue. Under the best of conditions that would be a difficult act to follow. But the problem is that while the fight was a great event, it was just a couple of steps above snoozer on the excitement scale. While it ended as a split decision, few experts felt that a rematch would change the outcome.

I actually scored the first fight a draw and still saw no need to do it again. Oscar would be older, and Floyd would be better. I will say this --Oscar made the fight and if he didn’t there wouldn’t have been one.

So, it was De La Hoya who had to convince the public that a rematch was worthy of their PPV dollars.

My thinking is that, as an infomercial, the Forbes fight was less than a success. All that did was show that the more offensive Oscar is, the more vulnerable he is to return fire. And that won’t work against Floyd, who now also has a blueprint of what to expect.

Oscar is 35, and he may not even be as physically capable today as when he lost to Floyd last May. The Forbes fight didn’t convince me otherwise. He’s still a very good fighter, mind you, but I strongly question whether he can beat the best in the game, meaning Floyd.

I was dubious before; the Forbes fight just solidified my thinking.

But by the time the promotional spin masters go to work cynics like myself will be grossly outnumbered or climb on board.

So get ready for an onslaught of stories about the Roger and Floyd Sr. matchup, their feud, and the ongoing family drama. Be prepared for article after article about the circumstances that would have a father teach another man how to knock his son silly. (Don’t expect anyone to say that just because you know how doesn’t necessarily mean that you can do it.) And HBO will wheel out another, updated 24/7, with the family feud a central point of focus.

The spin masters will devise a story line to go with Oscar’s “It’s personal” comments, making us believe that it’s the Hatfields and the McCoys. They’ll emphasize the closeness of the scoring in the first fight, when the difference of a round would have made it a draw.

And when all is said and done, the rematch revenues will rival the record setting first fight.

They’ll probably even have us thinking that the second fight will be the masterpiece that the first one was not.