Was Mayweather-DeLaHoya really that close?

[ThatOne]

Judge Jerry Roth scored the last round for Mayweather, the only judge to do so. Had he scored the twelfth for De La Hoya, the fight would have been a draw.

[p4p1]

I haven't seen it since I got it on PPV but I remember thinking that Mayweather won with a few rounds in the bag and I was really surprised that it was a split decision.

[dempseyfire]

When I first saw it I thought Oscar won by a point. I re-watched it around a year ago and gave it to Floyd close. Floyd's connect percentage was far better but in many rounds Oscar outworked Floyd and landed the harder shots. Floyd in many rounds overly focused on defense, I think partially because he was facing someone with very good hand-speed and a good left jab.

[ThatOne]

I haven't seen it since I got it on PPV but I remember thinking that Mayweather won with a few rounds in the bag and I was really surprised that it was a split decision.

I thought that was the general consensus, that the fight wasn't as close as the cards indicate.

[ThatOne]

When I first saw it I thought Oscar won by a point. I re-watched it around a year ago and gave it to Floyd close. Floyd's connect percentage was far better but in many rounds Oscar outworked Floyd and landed the harder shots. Floyd in many rounds overly focused on defense, I think partially because he was facing someone with very good hand-speed and a good left jab.

DLH threw more punches but at a lower percentage.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I didn't think it was very close. 9-3 Floyd, can't see anything closer than 8-4. Rounds 7-11 were all clear Floyd rounds. Even in the 12th, Oscar missed every punch of his big flurry.

[Adamj1987]

not rewatched for a few years but i remember at college watching it with a mate and scoring it a draw

[gilgamesh]

I had it either 116-112 Floyd or 117-111 Floyd. I forget which, and like others I haven't watched it since the PPV.

Floyd definitely won. It was not close enough to justify a draw or split decision in my view.

[Esquire]

I'm no fan of DLH and but had he the courage and the stamina to keep pumping that left jab into Floyd's face, rather than take him to the ropes and try bully him along the ropes he could have won that fight.

Floyd's style is tailor made for the bigger man who could keep him at the end of his jab and make him reach and make him pay. DLH looked like sh1t in that fight but if he had the guts to go for broke he could have won that fight.

A tall fighter with an excellent jab and a quick right hand counter would give even the very best FMJ fits. DLH had his chance, and I thought he could have pulled off the win if he wasn't so unsure of his stamina and his willingness to take the counter punches that FMJ would and did launch, DLH might have won that fight. As it stood, I thought it was close as the judges ultimately saw the fight.

Had that fight occured sooner rather than later in DLH career he might have won comfortably. FMJ just can't deal with a bigger man who pumps a stiff jab in his face and makes him reach without getting plugged by counter right hands.

It's all moot because DLH faded terribly and quit fighting late in the fight due to his getting belted in the chops by the superior, younger and quicker counter puncher with better stamina. The DLH that outboxed Trinidad would have been the prototypical example of what it takes to beat FMJ.

Sadly, there aren't any fighters short of true blown middleweights that are capable of doing this to a prime, but older, FMJ. Floyd will run the table against the best available competition these days because there isn't a six foot tall welterweight with the skill set to win rounds with a superior jab and a counter right hand that exploits a reaching FMJ. The time has past in my opinion. There isn't a fighter on the horizon that can do the things that it will take to beat FMJ, and that is sad. If there were such a fighter alive today that could make a match with FMJ he would lose his zero at the end of his record. Just my opinion. But I'm sure of it.

[gilgamesh]

I don't believe any version of De La Hoya beats Floyd Mayweather, the version that fought Tito would make more of a fight of it and come real close, but he wouldn't win.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Oscar's jab wasn't effective in that fight, as the rounds progressed he was countered more and more. There was nothing he could have done to legitimately win that fight. A better version of Oscar would have gotten more of Floyd's attention. Much better fight, same result.

[Nile4000]

Younger version of Oscar would've beaten Floyd, no doubt, but he waited too late.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

No version of Oscar had a ring IQ to match wits with Floyd. The younger he is the closer to prime Floyd is as well.

[Nile4000]

But with the right trainer, Oscar could have dealt with the petulant Floyd, in and out of ring as well.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

[p4p1]

When Oscar was younger it was possible a fair bit longer than Floyd and a good jab however I wouldn't bet on it.

[knurak]

No, it was not that close. Basically, Oscar would flurry and the crowd would get excited - even though he'd throw ten punches and land two. The judges awarded his aggressiveness, but he was never able to actually apply it.

Compubox numbers don't always tell the whole story, but in this case, they provide an accurate description of the fight, in my opinion. Oscar landed 122 of 587 total punches (21%), and 82 of 341 power punches (24%). Mayweather landed 207 of 481 total punches (43%), and 138 of 241 power punches (57%).