Oscar De la Hoya vs Thomas Hearns at 147lbs

Knee Jerk reaction to this is that Hearns dominates Oscar and possibly stops him. At the very least Hearns would be expected to outclass him.

To this I say, wait a minute...

De La Hoya was no scrub. He had fast hands, good boxing skills, decent chin, good heart, and had power...even at 147lbs.

People aren't going to like me saying this but Oscar hit harder than Ray Leonard. His left hook was a harder punch than any Leonard punch, even at 147lbs.

So, what transpires?

Hearns outboxes Oscar and drops him. Oscar catches Hearns with a left hook late and finishes him off, trailing badly on the cards.

 

:: i'd have to disagree with that

Hearns 11-4 with Oscar reduced to absolute survival mode through the second half of the fight

 

I can see this also. I just don't think it's guaranteed.

 

:giggle::giggle::giggle::giggle:

 

I can't see it. The moment De La Hoya tastes a full fledged cross from Hearns he will go into a full tactical retreat. He would fight Hearns the way he fought Tito and he would lose a decision.

If he tries to go after Hearns he would get overpowered and stopped mid to late rounds.

 

The Golden fag has no shot at beating Hearns. None.

 

I expected worse!

 

Truthfully, this topic was in jest.

I was expecting Xplosive to have an e-coronary!

 

Hearns vs Victor Ortiz... :: ::

I would absolutely RELISH that match up.

 

I dont think it'd be a total mismatch or anything; Oscar's pretty resourceful/versatile, has a great left hand, has the speed to get to Hearns at times, an exceptional chin blah blah. I can see him making it competitive over the first half of the fight, maybe even landing a really good left hook and having a 'moment' or two. Hearns would win though....just about every time i think. The fact hearns tended to fade late too is what makes me think Oscar would go the distance. Leonard would probably force the stoppage late.

 

Much like Castillo, delahoya wouldn't let Hearns off the hook when he had him hurt as leonard did

 

Oscar couldn't stop Trinidad, Quartey, Mosley, and Whitaker at 147.

Hard to see him stopping Hearns.

 

I can't see Leonard stopping either of those guys either to be honest with you. Hearns is more vulnerable than any of those guys....including Trinidad.

 

Leonard would have absolutely stopped Quartey, and Trinidad. Probably old Whitaker as well. Mosley goes the distance with Leonard, but takes a beating.

Leonard was SEVERAL levels above Oscar.

 

I think he stops Quartey, Trinidad, and De La Hoya, especially in 15 rounders.

Mosley goes the distance because he'll play nice and hold on the inside, and Whitaker is crafty enough to go the distance, even a 99 Whitaker.

 

De La Hoya was good enough to hold his own against Tommy. At least for a little while. Problem is he doesn't really have any advantage other than chin and superior left hook neither of which probably come into play. As the rounds go by it would only get worse and worse.

Only chance Oscar has is a Barkley like moment.

 

Nah. I grew up following Ray Leonard....he and Tyson were the guys that got me into boxing. I know his strengths and also his limitations. Leonard would not have stopped Quartey or Trinidad. not even close. Like I said before, Leonard's power has gone up one percentage point every year since he retired. Leonard wasn't known as a big puncher in the 80s.

Leonard was better than Oscar, but didn't hit as hard. Several levels above Oscar? No. Oscar was a great fighter too.

 

I don't see how Leonard stops those guys, especially De La Hoya. No way.

 

Leonard would attack De La Hoya with those brutal body shots that I don't see Oscar surviving for 15 rounds. In a 12 rounder he can go the full distance. But in 15 I think Ray stops him for sure. I'd say Leonard TKO 13.

 

Prime Oscar would be among the best fighters Hearns ever beat (perhaps only second to Benitez), he had a very good chin, speed, skill and punch and thus there is no way this is a mismatch.

 

It would also be the best welterweight he'd have beat and second best he fought.

 

Styles wise, I just see this as the worst possible matchup for Oscar. He won't be able to outbox Hearns, and I don't see him having the power or strength to hang inside with Hearns. I'm not even sure he'd have a punchers chance due to his power at welterweight not being on the level he'd need to threaten Hearns.

 

That can be said for virtually every fighter in history without a big punch when it comes to Tommy though. (especially at 147)

 

True.

And it's not that Oscar doesn't have a big punch. But I'm not sure he punches hard enough to do damage to Hearns.

Trinidad would have a puncher's chance, but Tommy's too good overall for Tito, which there's no shame in that of course.

Oscar would have a better chance against Leonard but he still would lose.

 

Prime De la Hoya outboxed Trinidad for 3/4 of their fight and for whatever reason, back-peddled the last 1/4 (lack of stamina, punch-resistance, whatever).
Hearn's jab/straight-right is faster punch-combo than Trinidad's jab/left-hook and would expect DLH to taste it earlier...

Then again, Hearns' punch-resistance generally has to be questioned (Leonard I, Barkley, Hagler - although last two were at 160lb)

Good matchup though - hard to pick.

 

Hearns' punch resistance was indeed iffy and this must be taken into consideration against a fighter like De La Hoya who not only punched hard, but was also fast, rangy and smart. Not out of the question to see Hearns' badly hurt in this one. Of Course Hearns has a speed, height/reach and power edge on Oscar, so you'd have to favour him.

 

Hearns' left-hook (although I can't remember when used) v De la Hoya's straight-right (hardly used): which is weaker?

 

The straight right of Oscar was weaker.

 

This is true. Trinidad would have to get inside and force exchanges like Pablo Baez tried but he wasn't able to do any damage. It's hard to do.

As for Oscar, I don't think he has the MENTALITY to go after Hearns the way he would need to. Oscar had success against Tito, but he had tasted enough from him to keep him cautious to the point where he basically stopped fighting, giving rounds away.

The moment he tastes Hearns power, I do not see him going after him, like he would NEED to if he was to have a chance to win. That's just me.

 

What you say makes sense, if you only look at it from one angle. Yes, Oscar seemed to want to just survive Tito after a while, and that could have had something to do with teh threat of Tito's power after tasting a little of it.

However, having the willingness to engage with a guy isn't just about that opponent's power, in fact power....is actually secondary in that equation, believe it or not.

For example:

Leonard wasn't willing to engage with Duran after their first fight and was never willing to go after Hagler in their fight. However, in BOTH Hearns fights he tried to stop him. Hearns hit significantly harder than both Duran and Hagler, so why did Ray feel more comfortable trying to KO Hearns than he did the other two guys?

Reason:

Hearns was more vulnerable. Leonard got a sense of Hearns' vulnerability as early as the 5th round of their first fight. The vulnerability of your opponent TRUMPS the power of your opponent when it comes to the issue of willing engagement, particularly if you're trailing on points. Eubank was more willing to attempt to KO Benn than he was with many other opponents even though Benn was the hardest puncher he faced. Similar reason here too.

Therefore, if Oscar were able to shake Hearns with a punch early in the fight, even if Hearns were to nail him hard with a right hand and even drop him, Oscar...given his desire to win may gamble to try to catch hearns late if he knows he needs a KO. Oscar's unwillingness to engage Tito may have been more to do with the fact that he doubted his ability to stop Tito than it was to do with Tito's power.