I think it would have been more action packed. Tito peaked at 154 IMO and for my money, he never looked faster or sharper. Even his balance and footwork were better than they were at 147 lbs. Oscar was a little slower, more hittable, and more flat footed by the time he got to 154 lbs. I’m gonna go with Trinidad on a late stoppage for this one. I think Oscar in his attempt to erase the loss and the whole Chicken De La Hoya thing from that fight, would fight more aggressively, and that means he’s going to take more shots in return. I think he gets off to a good start again, and by the mid rounds Tito finds range and forces more exchanges which leads to De La Hoya fading late and taking a beating which makes the ref wave it off. Trinidad KO 11.
I don't see a way of Oscar winning at 154. He had the best performance of his career at 147 against a weight drained Tito, and still faded and choked late.
Trinidad seems stronger had 154, but he always struggled with movement and a good jab. It really depends on dlh mindset. If he try to "redeem" himself and tries to ko tito, he probably get koed himself. If he opts for the same strategy than in the first fight, i think he has a slight chance
Yeah, bit what is by design or because he couldn't do so? It's hard to tell I seems to recall him being pretty mobile in the rematch against mosley, but i haven't watched it since it happened, so i might be mistaken
He moved in spots against Mosley. He definitely wasn’t up on his toes for 12 rounds. Mosley just didn’t let his hands go until the latter rounds against Oscar. And when he did, he had little trouble landing on him. Even hurt him in the 9th round.
If Oscar thought he could have beaten Tito at 154, he would have tried. Tito wanted the rematch. Oscar didn't. That tells you everything. Oscar knew he couldn't win.
TRINIDAD-DE LA HOYA II? NOT SOON Man I still remember these articles. Lol But yeah this proves it here. Oscar didn’t want the rematch. Arum didn’t either. They thought Mosley would be easy picking since he had just come up from 135 pounds and thus they took that fight.
I think 154 favours Trinidad but styles still potentially favour Oscar. To be honest I think De La Hoya's physical prime came at 140 and he fought tight and very one-handed at the higher weights, which badly affected his stamina and cutting edge. But even running on fumes and making a horrendous tactical error in those last three rounds I still can't see a way to score that Trinidad fight against him. Trinidad's best win was against Vargas but even the middle rounds of that fight showed he could be outboxed and made to look a bit cumbersome against the more skilled, patient guys. Credit to Trinidad, he turned the tide back in his favour and didn't allow Vargas to keep it that kind of boxing match, but given the different stages of their respective careers in 2000 I think Vargas was a lot more wet behind the ears and naïve than De La Hoya would have been. I think it goes the distance and it's probably another controversial decision for Trinidad, but with less fallout than the first fight. De La Hoya was a poor clincher of winning positions in really big fights and as others have said, I'm not sure he'd have backed himself to take enough chances against Trinidad at 154 to put it beyond doubt.
Always thought had the 2 rematch that Tito would be able to find a way to beat Oscar more convincingly this time around. Tito was more eager for another fight but Oscar wasn't too keen on it. Although I don't think we've ever seen Tito doing rematches before so it's hard to know how well he adjusts to change of tactics.
Another thing here is that while Tito often gets called one-dimensional, Oscar too wasn’t always that versatile. I didn’t see him make any real tactical adjustments in a lot of his fights, particularly against Whitaker and Quartey. He fared no better against Hopkins that Trinidad did, and he was clearly outboxed by Felix Sturm, despite what the scores were. Oscar was sort of a one mode fighter too. The only thing he could change agaisnt Trinidad was to be more aggressive but his stamina was never going to improve.
odh's versatility only appeared from one fight to the next. he didn't seem to adapt mid-fight very well.
Trinidad seemed to have Oscar figured out by the end. Oscar fought his best, and it wasn't enough. I dont see what Oscar could have done differently in the rematch.
