More Questions Than Answers
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/825/1/More-Questions-Than-Answers/More-Questions-Than-Answers.html
Anthony Lopez
Anthony Lopez currently works in sports and entertainment television as a production assistant. He is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he saw the Scarlet Knights never achieve the glory they now claim to have. He is an aspiring actor, model, and humanitarian. His sole dreams in life are to witness a Jets Superbowl victory, date the Peruvian girl in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift and put out a rap album produced by Dr. Dre.
By Anthony Lopez
Published on 05/7/2007
Billed as the fight that would save boxing, Mayweather-De La Hoya had more than just a title belt riding on it. But while Atomic Sports columnist Anthony Lopez can't fault what was clearly a good fight, it hardly lived up to the hype -- and the sport is surrounded by just as many questions now as it was last week.
Billed as the fight that would save boxing, Mayweather-De La Hoya had more than just a title belt riding on it. But while Atomic Sports columnist Anthony Lopez can't fault what was clearly a good fight, it hardly lived up to the hype -- and the sport is surrounded by just as many questions now as it was last week.
More Questions Than Answers
The fight billed as the most anticipated match-up to grace a boxing ring in years finally took place Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Equipped with a bankable leading man loved and embraced by the boxing faithful in Oscar De La Hoya, and a haughty unbeaten protagonist in his prime played by the brash and effusive Floyd Mayweather Jr., Saturday night at the MGM Grand was supposed to be one of the sport’s defining moments. After all the HBO 24/7’s, the comparisons of intrigue likened to that of Hagler-Leonard, and the standard five months of mano-a-mano ice grills, the fight of the decade ended the same way Mayweather’s past 37 bouts did – with his hands raised high in the air and another belt resting over his shoulder.
Rooting interests aside, no matter what happened Saturday night, all I wished for was a fight that could resurrect the magic of a classic bout, a vicious late rounder that ended with someone stumbling across the ring for balance and eventually down on his knees for the count. Instead, all I received in return was a good 12-rounder and a Larry Merchant one-on-one with the Predator (sorry Floyd Sr.).
Don’t get me wrong, De La Hoya and Mayweather fought an entertaining and close fight. Exemplified by tight rounds that could have gone to either fighter and staunch defense displayed by both champions, there were few dull moments and a pleasantly solid amount of cutaways of De La Hoya’s wife – Puerto Rican pop star Millie Corretjer. With a majority of the crowd chanting De La Hoya’s name and the pulse of the sport begging for a dramatic Golden Boy left hook, the 34-year-old star showed he could still compete at a high level, but pressed too often early on to land that big punch.
In the end those unnecessary flurries eventually left Oscar worn down in the championship rounds of 10, 11, and 12 – the rounds where a fighter’s heart must be raised from the depths of fatigue, but more importantly, where closing the curtain in a dramatic way turns greats to legends, and legends to immortals. It was in these final stanzas that the elusiveness and the quickness that everyone associates with Mayweather proved to be notorious. Hate him or love him, there are moments when as viewer you just shake your head, dazzled by his sheer speed, and in the same respect realize how hard it must be to land a blow or block somebody that gifted.
The fight aside, there was a lot more riding on this match than just the super welterweight title. The boxing world needed a De La Hoya victory, not only for his career, which suffered another mega-fight defeat and a third defeat in his past five matches, but for the sport as a whole, which would’ve benefited from a shakeup of the world’s anointed pound-for-pound best.
It needed theater, it needed to be dramatic, and it needed a knockout. I know it is awfully hard to knock consistency, efficiency, and winning, but the sport needed Mayweather to deliver a more decisive victory in order to elevate his legacy, which to this point still lacks the certified blockbuster win that will propel him into the rarefied boxing echelon that he claims he is already perched high above. Showmanship in the ring is a big part of what endears fighters to fans, and Mayweather, if he follows on his promise to retire, will forever lack that big bout.
For Oscar, he will never be considered a tin man, but his pride and legacy is not bulletproof either. He has given a lot of fighter’s their biggest pay day by adding his name to their resume, but in the same token he has also obviously cashed in himself. Will he be remembered as the courageous warrior who took big fights or as the shrewd marketing genius who knew how to spin the wheel of fortune?
All in all, Mayweather-De La Hoya gave us hope for greatness, but left boxing fans with more questions about the vitality of their sport and about the futures of the fighters involved. Mega-fights shouldn’t leave us at the status quo. They deserve classic endings and a renewed interest in the sport, something that both fighters failed to manifest for boxing and for its avid die-hards.
Equipped with a bankable leading man loved and embraced by the boxing faithful in Oscar De La Hoya, and a haughty unbeaten protagonist in his prime played by the brash and effusive Floyd Mayweather Jr., Saturday night at the MGM Grand was supposed to be one of the sport’s defining moments. After all the HBO 24/7’s, the comparisons of intrigue likened to that of Hagler-Leonard, and the standard five months of mano-a-mano ice grills, the fight of the decade ended the same way Mayweather’s past 37 bouts did – with his hands raised high in the air and another belt resting over his shoulder.
Rooting interests aside, no matter what happened Saturday night, all I wished for was a fight that could resurrect the magic of a classic bout, a vicious late rounder that ended with someone stumbling across the ring for balance and eventually down on his knees for the count. Instead, all I received in return was a good 12-rounder and a Larry Merchant one-on-one with the Predator (sorry Floyd Sr.).
Don’t get me wrong, De La Hoya and Mayweather fought an entertaining and close fight. Exemplified by tight rounds that could have gone to either fighter and staunch defense displayed by both champions, there were few dull moments and a pleasantly solid amount of cutaways of De La Hoya’s wife – Puerto Rican pop star Millie Corretjer. With a majority of the crowd chanting De La Hoya’s name and the pulse of the sport begging for a dramatic Golden Boy left hook, the 34-year-old star showed he could still compete at a high level, but pressed too often early on to land that big punch.
In the end those unnecessary flurries eventually left Oscar worn down in the championship rounds of 10, 11, and 12 – the rounds where a fighter’s heart must be raised from the depths of fatigue, but more importantly, where closing the curtain in a dramatic way turns greats to legends, and legends to immortals. It was in these final stanzas that the elusiveness and the quickness that everyone associates with Mayweather proved to be notorious. Hate him or love him, there are moments when as viewer you just shake your head, dazzled by his sheer speed, and in the same respect realize how hard it must be to land a blow or block somebody that gifted.
The fight aside, there was a lot more riding on this match than just the super welterweight title. The boxing world needed a De La Hoya victory, not only for his career, which suffered another mega-fight defeat and a third defeat in his past five matches, but for the sport as a whole, which would’ve benefited from a shakeup of the world’s anointed pound-for-pound best.
It needed theater, it needed to be dramatic, and it needed a knockout. I know it is awfully hard to knock consistency, efficiency, and winning, but the sport needed Mayweather to deliver a more decisive victory in order to elevate his legacy, which to this point still lacks the certified blockbuster win that will propel him into the rarefied boxing echelon that he claims he is already perched high above. Showmanship in the ring is a big part of what endears fighters to fans, and Mayweather, if he follows on his promise to retire, will forever lack that big bout.
For Oscar, he will never be considered a tin man, but his pride and legacy is not bulletproof either. He has given a lot of fighter’s their biggest pay day by adding his name to their resume, but in the same token he has also obviously cashed in himself. Will he be remembered as the courageous warrior who took big fights or as the shrewd marketing genius who knew how to spin the wheel of fortune?
All in all, Mayweather-De La Hoya gave us hope for greatness, but left boxing fans with more questions about the vitality of their sport and about the futures of the fighters involved. Mega-fights shouldn’t leave us at the status quo. They deserve classic endings and a renewed interest in the sport, something that both fighters failed to manifest for boxing and for its avid die-hards.