Worth the Wait?
Bleacher Talk
May 6, 2007
Worth the Wait?
When an event says that the world awaits it, then it’s got to be something really big. And so when “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and Oscar “Golden Boy” de la Hoya clash in the year’s biggest fight at around noon today, all of us boxing fans will finally get to watch what we’ve been waiting for ever since the fight was announced. At the end of the day, the big question that we’d like to ask is if it was all worth the wait.
May 6, 2007
Worth the Wait?
When an event says that the world awaits it, then it’s got to be something really big. And so when “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and Oscar “Golden Boy” de la Hoya clash in the year’s biggest fight at around noon today, all of us boxing fans will finally get to watch what we’ve been waiting for ever since the fight was announced. At the end of the day, the big question that we’d like to ask is if it was all worth the wait.
But before anything else, we ought to issue a warning. Just because the event is called “The World Awaits,” don’t expect the fight to be a top candidate for “fight of the year” or to become the most talked about fight in boxing history. Let’s discuss why.
For starters, the fight is not going to be a “bakbakan” or rumble that fight fans always look forward to when two giants clash on top of the ring in the same way that Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales slugged it out in three episodes. It’s not going to be like the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Marco Antonio Barrera fight that had us on our toes for most of the fight due to the non-stop action.
Don’t get me wrong. The fight is going to be a good one. Let me correct that. It’s going to be a good tactical fight. We’re going to see a clash between a boxer with excellent boxing skills (Mayweather) and an equally excellent counter-puncher / boxer / brawler (de la Hoya). This is where strategy and game plan will come in to play a big role in determining who is going to the fight.
There is no doubt that Mayweather will be the boxer of the two. He’s going to dig deep into his bag of tricks to frustrate de la Hoya all night long. He’ll use his left jab to dictate the tempo of the fight then add his hand speed, quickness and lateral movement to keep de la Hoya at bay. Expect Mayweather to land a lot jab-jab-straight combinations then pull away from a brawl that de la Hoya is looking for. When the opportunity is there, Mayweather will rely on his hand speed to land a series of blows to follow up his jab-straight leads, but one thing he won’t do is engage de la Hoya in a telephone booth brawl. He’ll clinch when the Golden Boy gets close and then opt to fight from long distance for most, if not all of the fight.
This is why some of you might not appreciate Mayweather’s style, but if he wants to win the fight, it’s the only way to go. It’s pretty simple. He’ll take advantage of his quickness and hand speed to offset the strength, power and size of de la Hoya. Expect Mayweather to use the entire ring as his playground and have de la Hoya do the chasing. He’ll hit, run, hit again, then run again and make sure he looks good picking up points with a basic stick-and-run strategy. We have to remember that Mayweather is smaller than de la Hoya and is not a “natural” super welterweight (154 pounds). In fact, he weighed around 150 pounds a week ago while de la Hoya weighed 157 pounds. If you were in his shoes, you’d most likely do the same.
This is why some of you might not appreciate Mayweather’s style, but if he wants to win the fight, it’s the only way to go. It’s pretty simple. He’ll take advantage of his quickness and hand speed to offset the strength, power and size of de la Hoya. Expect Mayweather to use the entire ring as his playground and have de la Hoya do the chasing. He’ll hit, run, hit again, then run again and make sure he looks good picking up points with a basic stick-and-run strategy. We have to remember that Mayweather is smaller than de la Hoya and is not a “natural” super welterweight (154 pounds). In fact, he weighed around 150 pounds a week ago while de la Hoya weighed 157 pounds. If you were in his shoes, you’d most likely do the same.
For a reference, I'm sure Mayweather has viewed for over a hundred times the two fights of de la Hoya against Sugar Shane Mosley which Mosley both won. Mosley was the boxer between the two, and although he had power in his punches, he didn’t necessarily get into a brawl with de la Hoya. He picked his spots, jabbed when he had to, brawled when he had the edge and went mobile, using the full size of the ring. Isn’t it an irony how Mosley is now de la Hoya’s business partner at Golden Boy Promotions?
Golden Boy fans, however, are confident that de la Hoya is going to be too big and too strong for Mayweather. While they’ll acknowledge that de la Hoya might not be able to match Mayweather’s speed and quickness, it will only be a matter of time before the Golden Boy will catch Mayweather with a big punch, slow him down and force him to fight in a brawl. He’ll be following, chasing Mayweather all night long. He’ll cut corners, bend the rules on holding and try to get inside as much as possible. He’ll go to the body early to slow Mayweather down, and when the Pretty Boy won’t have any more legs in him from all the body blows he’ll receive, de la Hoya is going to have a fiesta pummeling his opponent with power punches.
For obvious reasons, De la Hoya can't afford to be a “waiting” counter-puncher. He has to move in, initiate the action and not mind getting hit with the goal of getting Mayweather to duke it out in a brawl. Expect de la Hoya to go to the Mayweather’s “bodega” as often as possible, soften him up with power blows, and then finish him off when he eventually slows down (that’s if he slows down). If de la Hoya doesn’t succeed in knocking him out, he would’ve at least stopped Mayweather’s stick-and-run strategy, giving himself the opportunity to land more punches via inside punching.
On the side, the whole country is also “awaiting” to see if Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista is for real. His fight against the undefeated Argentine Sergio Medina will be his litmus test to see if he’s ready for a fight against WBO champion Daniel Ponce de Leon. I see Boom Boom winning by KO in the middle rounds after wearing down Medina with vicious body blows, and topping him off with a classic jab-straight-hook to end the fight.
I’m also rooting for AJ “Bazooka” Banal in his U.S. debut up against dangerous Mexican veteran in Juan Alberto Rosas. Although only 18 years old, Bazooka is as mature as boxers much older than him, and a confidence-building win is what we’re looking for today as he embarks on his international career.
Yes, we’re all waiting, awaiting……definitely worth the wait!
**
Time-out: Happy birthday to Ed “B” Malatag & Ma’am Rachel Barcelon! >> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
Golden Boy fans, however, are confident that de la Hoya is going to be too big and too strong for Mayweather. While they’ll acknowledge that de la Hoya might not be able to match Mayweather’s speed and quickness, it will only be a matter of time before the Golden Boy will catch Mayweather with a big punch, slow him down and force him to fight in a brawl. He’ll be following, chasing Mayweather all night long. He’ll cut corners, bend the rules on holding and try to get inside as much as possible. He’ll go to the body early to slow Mayweather down, and when the Pretty Boy won’t have any more legs in him from all the body blows he’ll receive, de la Hoya is going to have a fiesta pummeling his opponent with power punches.
For obvious reasons, De la Hoya can't afford to be a “waiting” counter-puncher. He has to move in, initiate the action and not mind getting hit with the goal of getting Mayweather to duke it out in a brawl. Expect de la Hoya to go to the Mayweather’s “bodega” as often as possible, soften him up with power blows, and then finish him off when he eventually slows down (that’s if he slows down). If de la Hoya doesn’t succeed in knocking him out, he would’ve at least stopped Mayweather’s stick-and-run strategy, giving himself the opportunity to land more punches via inside punching.
On the side, the whole country is also “awaiting” to see if Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista is for real. His fight against the undefeated Argentine Sergio Medina will be his litmus test to see if he’s ready for a fight against WBO champion Daniel Ponce de Leon. I see Boom Boom winning by KO in the middle rounds after wearing down Medina with vicious body blows, and topping him off with a classic jab-straight-hook to end the fight.
I’m also rooting for AJ “Bazooka” Banal in his U.S. debut up against dangerous Mexican veteran in Juan Alberto Rosas. Although only 18 years old, Bazooka is as mature as boxers much older than him, and a confidence-building win is what we’re looking for today as he embarks on his international career.
Yes, we’re all waiting, awaiting……definitely worth the wait!
**
Time-out: Happy birthday to Ed “B” Malatag & Ma’am Rachel Barcelon! >> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
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