Oscar-Forbes : Real fight or Tune Up?

No matter which way Oscar De La Hoya spins his May 3 fight with Steve Forbes, there are going to be plenty of experts who denounce it because Forbes was only briefly a world champion in 2001 and because he fought at as low as 130 pounds just 3 1/2
years ago.

De La Hoya, on the other hand, has won world championships in a record six weight classes. And while it’s true he once fought at 130 pounds, the last time he did that was May 2004 – nearly 14 years ago. Forbes really has no business being in the ring with De La Hoya, many will say. In one way, that’s true. On paper he certainly does not measure up in career accomplishments.

But De La Hoya has fought just about every tough fighter of his era in a variety of weight classes. And it would seem like with all the big money and notoriety he has generated for the sport, it’s not going to kill us to sit back and let the man have what appears to be a tune-up fight on his way to a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.

The fight is on regular HBO, not its pay-per-view arm. Ticket prices will begin at $25 and nearly 20,000 of the 31,000 available seats are priced at $75 or less. There are going to be Latin musicians performing between fights. It’s going to be a festive atmosphere that will take place outdoors at Home Depot Center in Carson, just a hoop and a holler from De La Hoya’s East Los Angeles roots. (De La Hoya has not fought in or near his hometown since 2000).

On a lesser note, Forbes said he will be afforded his biggest payday. And quite frankly, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. Or need we remind you of the ridiculous decision of which he was a victim in his fight against Demetrius Hopkins last March in Las Vegas?
Forbes schooled Hopkins, beat him to the punch all night. There wasn’t a soul on press row who had Hopkins winning. But judges Robert Hoyle, Glenn Trowbridge and Dalby Shirley had Hopkins winning by eight, eight and seven points, respectively.

Now, when you consider that Forbes easily won that fight by at least four points, that goes down as one of the worst decisions this reporter has seen in 14 years on the beat.
The other egregious decision that is perhaps its equal during that period was the August 1995 lightweight title fight between champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Lamar Murhpy. It was also in Las Vegas. Murphy beat the daylights out of Gonzalez, often snapping back his head.

Murhpy appeared to have easily taken Gonzalez’s belt. Judges Shirley and Omar Minton had Gonzalez winning by respective scores of 114-112 and 117-109. Daniel Van de Wiele had it even 114-114. Really unbelievable.

“When I fought Hopkins, the judges called the wrong name,” Forbes said after Tuesday’s news conference at Home Depot Center formally announcing the fight.

Asked if getting this fight is justice for being ripped off against Hopkins, Forbes smiled.
“I kind of figured something good would happen,” said Forbes, 31. “This is like the biggest present, (for) Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever, that I’ll ever get.”

For what happened against Hopkins alone, Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs) deserved a good turn. And De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) is giving him one, whether on accident or on purpose.
“He deserves it, he really does,” said De La Hoya, who sat down with reporters after Tuesday’s proceedings. “Steve Forbes. they say he fought at 130. Well, I fought at 130. He beat a guy in Panchito Bojado in his last fight where, I thought he had no chance whatsoever.

“Because I was sparring with Panchito in getting ready for Mayweather (last May). And I was having trouble with Panchito.”

De La Hoya said another reason he chose Forbes is because Forbes fights like Mayweather, who beat De La Hoya via split decision.

“He has that roll (of his shoulders), that similar style,” De La Hoya said. “The difference with Steve Forbes is that he stays and fights. He’ll throw combinations and take the punch.”
Mayweather took the safety first approach with De La Hoya, turning their fight into something less than spectacular.

But let’s face it. Forbes may have a style that resembles Mayweather’s, but that’s as far as any comparison between them goes. Indeed, this is a tune-up fight. Nothing more. De La Hoya won’t admit that, but he is the lead promoter for this fight and he can’t really say exactly what he thinks or he might not sell out the Home Depot Center.

“I’m not falling for that trap,” De La Hoya said. “There are no tune-up fights whatsoever. There is no such thing as a tune-up fight. We all know what happened in my last tune-up fight. This is the most important and most serious fight that I’ll be in because of the fact that everybody is already counting him out.

“I’ve already planted in my head that it is the biggest fight of my life.”

The “tune-up” fight De La Hoya spoke of was against Felix Sturm in June 2004 in Las Vegas. De La Hoya won the middleweight title via three scores of 115-113. Most experts thought De La Hoya would have an easy time with Sturm, but some of them had
Sturm winning the fight after 12 rounds.

De La Hoya has reunited with trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., and De La Hoya confirmed that Mayweather will be in his corner the rest of his career. That would include this fight with Forbes, the rematch with Mayweather Jr. and a farewell third fight
.
De La Hoya, 35, also said that he will be going back to his old stomping grounds in Big Bear Lake, Calif., to train. Until recently he had trained there most of his professional career. He sold his training camp there, but he is about to seal a deal to train at the new gym owned by trainer Abel Sanchez.

As for fighting at home for the first time in eight years, De La Hoya intimated he is looking forward to providing his followers some local love.

“… I want to give back to the sport of boxing,” he said. “I love the fact that we’re fighting here at the Home Depot Center, where we’ll be having more than 30,000 cheering on myself and cheering on the sport of boxing.”

De La Hoya said it was he who wanted to have nearly 20,000 tickets on sale for $75 or less.
“This is truly something that I needed, that I wanted,” De La Hoya said. “Because again, the fans deserve it and the sport deserves it.”