[atari 2600]

Oscar De La Hoya, the most acclaimed boxer of his era, has a loving family and a budding business empire. He needs one more victory to gild his Hall of Fame career--and wants one more whopping payday.

38-4-0 (30 victories by knockout)
age: 34
height: 5'10"
weighing in at: 154 lbs.

vs.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the best pound-for-pound fighter on earth, has a chaotic family, an impish sense of humor and a willingness to play the bad guy. What he craves now is the world's recognition.
37-0-0 (24 victories by knockout)
age: 30
height: 5'8''
weighing in at: 150 lbs.

WBC Light Middleweight Title - May 5th, 2007 (11:00pm)
@ MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Odds
Mayweather Jr.-180
Oscar de la Hoya+150

[atari 2600]

De La Hoya will take home 25 million irregardless, and Mayweather's win-or-lose purse is 10 million.

http://www.centredaily.com/305/story/87643.html
Though De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs) seems more likely to really hit Mayweather (37-0, 24 KOs) than most of his previous opponents, can the Golden Boy do enough damage to hurt one of the quickest and most gifted fighters in recent times?
And will Mayweather risk trading punches with De La Hoya, or will he take the safe way out and try to box his way to a decision in what could be a lackluster fight?
Most oddsmakers and prognosticators favor Mayweather in a decision, but the odds have steadily dropped in De La Hoya's favor during fight week.

[krastian]

Mayweather's going to beat that ass....De La Hoya is too past his prime to beat a hungry Mayweather. De La Hoya could have beaten him when he was in his prime though.

Best fight in a long ass time (not buying it on PPV though). I'm so sick of boring Klitschko fights.....yawn. We need a new Heavyweight to come out and take over!!! As crazy as he was, Mike Tyson was the man.

[atari 2600]

That was my initial feeling as well; when I first heard of this upcoming fight, I thought it was a bit mismatched. But I have been swayed by watching the 24/7 HBO reality series. De La Hoya is going to win. The oddsmakers are starting to agree as well. At first, Mayweather was highly favored, now he's only favored if the fight goes the distance. This fight is not, repeat not, going the distance.

Mayweather is fast and powerful and De La Hoya, no question, is past his prime, that is, until, he started training for this bout. He is equally as hungry. He has put himself into this position to indelibly mark his legacy in this fashion.
Mayweather, for all his unbeaten record, and convincing displays of endurance & athleticism, still seems scared to me. At the second press conference, one could see it in his eyes. Floyd was completely, (almost suspiciously) well at-ease before the actual meeting, but then he tensed-up noticeably. Oscar has always given off a begrudging vibe about the whole thing, but at the second press conference, he really exuded understated confidence.

Hard to believe, I know, but that's what I came around to...of course, it's also likely I'm horribly wrong. This was by no means an easy pick for me.

[krastian]

I'd rather see De La Hoya win and go out on top though.

[atari 2600]

Maybe I'm playing into that with my well-wishing, yeah.

[atari 2600]

On the television, Homer sees an advertisement for `The Bout to Knock
the Other Guy Out'.

It's Watson-Tatum 2. This time... it's for money!
-- `The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out',
``Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment''

How can one little insulated wire bring so much happiness?!
-- Homer on the wonders of cable TV, ``Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment''

[Tokolosh]

I've got a gut feeling that Oscar De La Hoya will come out on top with a KO in the sixth round.
Mind you, if I'm not mistaken, Hopkins nailed him in the 12th in 2004.

[atari 2600]

It should be a good one. Overall, or course, it's kind of difficult to call with any real certaintude.

I just caught Real Time with Bill Maher today and guest Garry Shandling made remarks about what a friend had advised him concerning the fight, and it was remarkably similar to what I wrote before to the effect of "Mayweather is shooting off his mouth a little too much and it shows he's scared."

On the other hand, De La Hoya certainly won't be in a good position if he starts to lose too many rounds and has to count on a knockout; a round six-or-so victory would be just what he sort of needs to happen.

Mayweather is so fast that he inevitably starts to work the mid-section to systematically dehabilitate his opponent. De La Hoya has shown he's tough though. I think Oscar realizes that, for this fight, the best defense is a good offense.

[Pookie]

I see it going like this:

weigh in, corner, clinch, bout, belt, hook, jab, parry, round, combination, infighting, throw in the towel, saved by the bell, technical knock out, cauliflower ears.

[atari 2600]

I see it as maybe De La Hoya knocks him out in the ninth or tenth...sixth would be great though...maybe Oscar scores the first knock-down against Mayweather in the sixth.

The Golden Boy had been out of boxing for a couple of years when he took the challenge of countryman Fernando Vargas that had ran his mouth about how Oscar was a "pretty boy" and not a "true Mexican fighter." At that time, back in 2002, De La Hoya returned to the ring for huge box office and was also met with incredulousness. But he proved himself and withstood persistent punishment in the process. It's now five years later. Oscar himself has made this whole event happen. He's ready (again).

[LifeDistortion]

I don't really know if I have an opinon on who will win, but I've really gotten into boxing in the past year. I love watching those "Boxing after Dark" fights on HBO. I've been watching the 24/7 program as well. Mayweather is the more entertaining boxer, and De Hoya doesn't really have anything more to prove, he's made his legacy, if he wins this fight it will just be another win for him, but if Mayweather wins, he'll make a name for himself.

[atari 2600]

Yes, that's valid as well.

My guess is that by the sixth, Mayweather will meet a left hook as he tries to come in on De La Hoya and that he'll suffer a knockdown, and then he'll be TKO'ed in the tenth.

As the undercard matches are nearing their close...

There's a party goin' on right here...
a celebration to last thoughout the years...

///

fitty and floyd

oscar...gonna fly now

[atari 2600]

Well, I was off. This did go the distance. De La Hoya takes the final round, but for last half of the fight, Oscar was landing fewer and fewer punches, although he threw more.

[atari 2600]

Looks like Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is now officially Oscar De La Hoya's successor, and not just in terms of the title.

split decision

115-113 De La Hoya
116-112 Mayweather
115-113 Mayweather

[krastian]

Would a rematch be worth watching??

[atari 2600]

Yeah, it would. This thing, as you know, did go the distance, wheras I just didn't think it would. Well, Mayweather didn't whup his ass, but he did win and you were right about that, krastian.

What interests me though is the other two judges' scorecards compared to the judge that saw the fight for De La Hoya. Then again, they may have been scoring that way so that there would be a rematch.

I'm no boxing judge, but if De La Hoya lost, he only lost by a point or so.

De La Hoya threw the most punches, but they weren't all clean hits and didn't phase Mayweather all that much.
Mayweather threw far less punches, but more connected and nailed Oscar, but those didn't add up to hurt Oscar really. Oscar was mose of the aggressor. Oscar lasted, and Oscar is the champion. It seems to me that means that it would take a convincing Mayweather victory to unseat him and the victory was not convincing. Oh well, my sour grapes.

[Tokolosh]

Didn't see the fight. Hope they at least show the highlights on Eurosport this week.

[atari 2600]

HBO will air the fight tonight at 10 p.m. EST.

tagline: Relive the historic fight, and score it for yourself.