What is your enduring memory of De La Hoya?

For a boxing all fime great, DelaHoya definitely got a lot of embarrassing moments, in and out of the ring. Might me a bit unfair to him but as far as memories goes, it's reallly hard to beat fishnet

 

Btw, never saw (or my memory blocked it ) the ''ass up face down'' picture haha. That must have been some good cocaine

 

Though he was a very good fighter, I hated Oscar. I feel like they tried to market him as a Latino Leonard. The fake smile, the obviously SCRIPTED answers to media questions, and the biased commentary during his fights just made me want to see him lose so badly.

When I heard the decision go against him vs Trinidad, the sheer joy I felt went beyond being Puerto Rican and obviously rooting for Trinidad. It was just nice seeing his wings clipped and brought down to earth since he had very suspect verdicts go his way against Whitaker and Quartey, and all the media hoopla on top of it.

And the way he lost that fight even though it wasn’t clear or satisfying, in the long run seeing Oscar literally RUN in the championship rounds proved once and for all that he was no Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard closed the show against the biggest puncher in welterweight history. De La Hoya, on the other hand, being faced with the biggest puncher of his era, ran away far away from the smoke, probably because he knew DEEP DOWN that he would have been potentially stopped had he not.

For me, one of the most satisfying moments of my youth.

 

Do you think Oscar ranks higher or lower in terms of greatness? Wait did you say Oscar is just a very good fighter as in not GREAT? I'd love to know your reasons.

 

Being real, I’d say he was great. Not an all time great.

But for a great fighter, Oscar sure had a lot of controversial decisions go his way. Fights that you could really argue that he legitimately LOST, went his way. So while I do believe he is a great fighter and deserving of his hall of fame induction, he wasn’t quite as great as his groupies made it out to be.


As for head to head vs Trinidad, I think Tito is greater hands down. Controversial or not, the record reads as a win over Oscar for Tito, and Trinidad looked BETTER in beating their common opponents. He was more consistent. He also was more willing to take on guys when they were undefeated and at their best whereas Oscar would often seek more favorable matchups.

 

I agree Oscar is a great fighter. And obviously you have guys that are atg like Ali, Leonard, Pacquio, Chavez, Mayweather ect. In terms of head to head I do agree Tito was slightly better than Dela Hoya and not by much. But Tito did have more clear cut victories and that's why for me Trinidad has the edge.

 

"USSR baby!"

 

I tend to think USSR fighters get underrated on the whole - even on this forum - but there's a really weird kind of fanboy who cannot even begin to think rationally when it comes to them. It's like they have a fetish or something. ESB is full of them.

 

Totally heterosexual.

 

"Not much is a lot for De La Hoya"

 

If ESB is anything like it was 15-20 years ago, I am sure a lot of it comes down to skin color.

 

Early 00s was the peak of ESB racism as the N-word was thrown around daily with impunity. Mostly at Jones, by DM groupies.

Racism isn't the problem with the current ESB - stupidity is.

 

Back in the day i had a few friends and coworkers who actually watched and talked about boxing. One of them moved away but we kept in touch sporadically. For Christmas one year somebody bought him that CD.

(yes, they did it as a gag gift)

 

"Run to Me"

I think that's what Tito was singing to him rounds 9-12.

 

Overrated, and would have been destroyed in a variety of other different eras.

If he'd been fighting guys like Ernie Lopez, Ortega etc day in day out he'd have retired with a. 500 record.

45-27-5 with 29 stoppages ODLH, former contender.

 

I will never know how people paid for that shit, and shit like it. The amount of plastic we've forced into the food chain just so fat fucks could throw sloppy jabs in their sitting room..... SMFH.

 

Oscar was a legit talent, and damn good over his prime. I hate him, but I'll give him that.

He's only overrated if you put him in Leonard/Duran/Hearns class. Fortunately, no real fans put him on that level.

He's in the same tier as Mosley - which is no shame, they were excellent fighters who had excellent careers.

He just isn't in that elite of elite levels.

 

my enduring memory of him will always be his left hook. its power just seemed unnatural.

 

If Oscar was fighting every 6 weeks vs tough hombres, we'd barely have heard of him.. Oscar is one of these guys who had that most important of ingredients in life:- timing.

 

But that would mean Ike had an unnatural chin.

 

Might be a bit harsh.

Oscar could hang in every era.

But would I pick him over Robinson, Gavilan, Basilio, Rodriguez, Griffith, Napoles, Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Benitez?

No.

I wouldn't take him over Curry either, but at least there's a debate to be had there.

 

Oscar and Ike were Gods if compared to the last 6-7 years, where average ass guys like Thurman and Porter were ruling the division.

 

The highlight of Oscar's career for me was his win over Vargas. Vargas was a shell of himself obviously after that almost career ending beating he took from Trinidad but still had enough in the Tank to give DLH his toughest and biggest legit win of his career. My memory is a bit foggy but there was rumors Vargas was on the juice and his normally pudgy Mexican body showed it. He was shredded and even had abs. Again it wasn't an easy victory by any means. Vargas took the early rounds but De La Hoya withered the storm and somewhere in the 7th or 8th Round he caught Vargas with his trademark left hook that hurt and wobbled Vargas. I knew it was just a matter of time. Considering build up for the fight, the long term rivalry and legitimate bad blood between them this was imo Oscar's most memorable win.

 

De La Hoya had the talent and charm to wind up as a high level, popular fighter in any era but he'd pretty much always be playing second best to somebody. Throw him back to the sixties and let him assimilate properly, and he'd do just fine IMO. Say what you want about him, but he was tough and gutsy with real power. He'd never be a Florentino Fernandez type.

 

It was more than rumors. He tested positive for stanazol and suspended after the fight.

 

The first Mosley fight definitely had the biggest impact on me. First year following boxing closely and to a young, impressionable hut the whole occasion seemed to have a sheen of glamour & class that I hadnt previously associated with the sport. I was really impressed with both guys.