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JUNE 2000
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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PRESSURE COOKER
Oscar De La Hoya has had mixed fortunes in his welterweight superfights. First he got past Quartey, but things went badly wrong against Trinidad and the Golden Boy lost his lustre. He badly needs a resounding win in his third big showdown, but Sugar Shane Mosley is as excellent as he is dangerous and could derail De La Hoya in a big way. But can the ex-lightweight cut it on the big stage? GRAHAM HOUSTON sets the scene. (For extensive preview coverage of this fight, including interviews with fighters, trainers and trade insiders, see the June issue) |
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LETHAL WEAPON: De La Hoya's left punch the like of which Mosley has yet to experience is his pro career
- Get Big Pic For Oscar De La Hoya, the money rolls in, the adulation of the young female
Hispanic community burns as brightly as it ever did and he is without question
the biggest non-heavyweight attraction in the fight game, his star power matched
only by that of Mike Tyson. Yet ever since the late-rounds retreat that led to his disputed loss on
points to Felix Trinidad last September, there has been a dark cloud on De La
Hoya’s seemingly limitless horizon. It is the feeling, voiced in certain sections of the Mexican-American
community, hinted at by others, that De La Hoya has let down his constituency,
that his warrior spirit has been lost in the sea of dollars. This seems a strange thing to suggest about an Olympic gold medallist who has
won world titles at four weights, from 9st 4lbs (130lbs) to 10st 7lbs (147lbs). But in April we had the light-middle champ, Fernando Vargas, making a
not-so-thinly veiled reference to De La Hoya having disgraced his Mexican
heritage by avoiding combat in the Trinidad fight. Don King, Trinidad’s promoter, comes up with his "Running Coyote"
jibe at every opportunity. De La Hoya grins it off, as well he might given his celebrity superstar
status. But one senses that, deep down, the Golden Boy might believe he has
something to prove. His post-Trinidad comments indicate that this is the case. "No more decisions," he has told us. "No more Mr. Nice Guy. It’s
knockouts from now on." In February, he took his first step in the new direction, or, as he might put
it, returned to the style he has always preferred - that of a steadily
pressing-in puncher - when he blew out a tentative Derrell Coley in seven rounds
at Madison Square Garden. But that was no test at all. It proved nothing other than what we always
knew, that De La Hoya is always going to overwhelm the lower-level type of
opponent. No, the real opposition will come on 17 June at the swank new Staples
Center in Los Angeles, when a packed 20,000 crowd and worldwide TV viewing
audience will see De La Hoya defend his welterweight title against a fighter
with the skill, the speed and perhaps the power to threaten him seriously - the
undefeated former lightweight champion, Sugar Shane Mosley. Like De La Hoya, Mosley is from the Los Angeles area. He boxed with the
Golden Boy in the gym when they were amateurs and he defeated him in an amateur
bout, although that was a long time ago, when Mosley was aged about 12, De La
Hoya a year younger. This is a genuinely high-risk fight for De La Hoya, the biggest welterweight
match that could be made in which he faces the fighter perceived to be his
toughest opponent at 147lbs, although the unbeaten but relatively unpublicised
Vernon Forrest would no doubt argue that last point (see sidebar). Even the Oscar-baiting New York writer Michael Katz has had to admit that De
La Hoya proved he is no chicken in taking this fight. But, how will De La Hoya perform? Will he choose to be Oscar the boxer, or,
in his own choice of word, a brawler? There is more than the welterweight championship at stake here (the World
Boxing Council awarded De La Hoya its belt when Trinidad moved up to
light-middle, and the International Boxing Association points out that its
version is on the line, too). In a very real sense, this is the fight that will define De La Hoya. His
manhood has been challenged and under the bright lights it is time to answer
back. It is a no retreat, no surrender situation. He will, he says, be coming to
do damage, not steal a decision. This could see him become involved in a
physical, fierce-exchanging type of fight with a rival who has vowed he will be
"bringing heat" to the proceedings. But De La Hoya has talked the talk
about knocking people out. Now he has to walk the walk. He says he will do just that, that the loss to Trinidad (in a fight he and
many others believes he won) was the best thing that could have happened because
it will bring out the best in him. But we didn’t see the best of De La Hoya against Coley. There were boos
that night at the Garden, and in the brief spell when Coley actually punched
back, De La Hoya looked decidedly rattled. But De La Hoya was able quickly to
regroup and unleash the heavy blows that had Coley scuttling for cover again. That was against Coley, though. Mosley is something else. Mosley will not go into some kind of shell if De La Hoya unloads. He will be
right there, ready to retaliate vigorously. Part of the strategy in Mosley’s
camp is not to let De La Hoya dictate the fight, to answer back so forcefully
that any advantage De La Hoya might gain will be of a purely temporary nature. Unlike Coley and some other opponents of De La Hoya, you can be sure that
Mosley will not be in awe. He says that not only will he win but that he is
going to stop De La Hoya. Coley said the same thing but it was just so much hot
air. But when Mosley says it, you can be sure he means it. There is a quiet assurance about Mosley that is impressive. Talking over the phone he did not say anything disrespectful about De La
Hoya, but at the same time left the distinct impression that he is extremely
confident. What impression did he have of De La Hoya based on their sparring sessions in
the amateurs, I wondered? "He’s very sharp and he was a great fighter and
we worked very well," he said. "I didn’t really compete, I was just
working out, and I think he was doing basically the same thing. We weren’t
really going all out. But that was back then. Now, my mentality’s a lot
different. I’m hungry and I’m strong. "I’m definitely going to take it right to him and I look to throw a
lot of big shots. Hopefully he does the same. "I’m very hungry, very ready, for this fight. I’m sharp and I’m
fast and I’m hitting very hard." He has only had two fights as a welterweight and the first was a struggle
last September against the Puerto Rican, Wilfredo Rivera, whom he stopped in the
10th and final round, although Mosley seemed to have settled into the
welterweight division much more when he stopped Willy Wise in three rounds in
January. "The difference now is that I’m probably two or three times stronger
than when I fought Rivera, and I believe I’m a lot quicker and moving a lot
more, as you saw in the Willy Wise fight," he said. "With Rivera, the
movement wasn’t there, I kinda stayed there toe-to-toe with him. My power was
much stronger when I fought Willy Wise. The first right hand I hit him with, he
wobbled. Even from that fight, I’m stronger. I’m constantly getting stronger
and stronger. I feel that it’s going to be a big surprise for a lot of people,
including De La Hoya. If he stays in front of me I don’t think he’s going to
be able to take a lot of my shots, head or body." As for the possibility of De La Hoya’s big left hook taking him out of the
fight, he said: "Well, we’ll have to get in there and see. I’ve been
hit with a left hook before, his left hook. I’ve been hit with a right hand. I’ve
been hit with good shots. I’ve established I have a great chin. If they want
to see if I have a great chin at welterweight, well, we shall see. "It’s going to be a very fast-paced fight. That’s the way I train,
all the time. I start off quick and I try to end quick, with a lot of power. I
don’t think it will go the distance, but if it does, it’s going to be a
great fight." But what about the big-occasion factor? De La Hoya has been in the megafights
before, Mosley has not. Is there any chance that the sheer magnitude of the
event could unsettle Mosley? No way, he says. "I’ve been fighting for 20
years now," he said, "I’ve watched Oscar come up and I came up, too.
I’ve been in big arenas. It’s not going to matter to me. This is a
history-making fight and it’s something I have to take care of - I have to
take care of business. I’m hungry and I want it. It doesn’t matter who is
out there, who’s cheering for him, who’s cheering for me, this fight is
mine, and that’s the attitude I’m taking." De La Hoya, though, has the assurance of a fighter who has accomplished great
things and who in his own mind believes he has never lost a professional fight. The dancing in the last few rounds against Trinidad, he maintains, was simply
a strategic thing. He felt he was too far in front on points to lose a decision.
He has learned his lesson. De La Hoya is convinced that he is the natural welterweight, bigger and more
powerful, than Mosley. The challenger is thicker in the torso but De La Hoya, at
5ft 11ins, stands about three inches taller than Mosley and has the longer arms.
De La Hoya feels that it will be difficult for Mosley to jump up two weight
divisions. The inference is that Mosley, who skipped the light-welter division
and went straight to welterweight, does not have the physical requirements.
"Sugar Shane Mosley will be stepping up against an opposition he has never
seen before in his life," De La Hoya said when the fight was announced.
"I’m going to stick to my game plan, just keep going straight ahead. I’m
going in to get him out of there." There are sceptics, though. A veteran Los Angeles-area boxing columnist named
Doug Krikorian wrote: "I’ve heard it all before, and you can be sure that
when the fight starts against Mosley that ol’ Oscar will do what he does best
- stick, move, attack once in a while and keep himself at a safe distance to
avoid as much as he can getting hit." But if De La Hoya does indeed do what he says and goes in to fight, this
could be one of the classic matches in recent boxing history. Even if the Golden
Boy chooses to box on the outside, either from the outset or as a strategic
shift during the fight, this should still be an outstanding bout due in large
measure to the level of intensity and determination that Mosley brings to the
event. Mosley, 28, says he is not envious of De La Hoya, 27, that the Golden Boy,
with his looks and personality as well as his ability, deserves all the fame,
all the money, that he has received. Mosley had to take a different road, he
said. A harder road. As he told the Los Angeles Times: "He was on the fast
train, I was on the slow train." But now, finally, after 34 consecutive victories (32 knockouts) Mosley has
arrived at his destination. The fight’s billing of "Destiny" will be
particularly appropriate if Mosley, after years in comparitive obscurity,
triumphs in the biggest, richest by far, fight of his life. But he faces a huge task, going against a bigger, possibly stronger and
harder punching fighter who is well-established as a welterweight. De La Hoya, winner of 32 of his 33 professional fights, with 26 opponents
stopped, will be having his 11th world title fight in the welterweight division. The criticism of his late-rounds flight against Trinidad is well-deserved,
but on the credit side, De La Hoya had outboxed one of the world’s most
dangerous fighters for the better part of nine rounds and I have to agree with
the majority that the Golden Boy did not deserve to lose the decision. A draw,
maybe, not a defeat, It has been said that De La Hoya does not seem to be hitting quite as hard as
a welterweight as when he was a dominating lightweight. But he has stopped five
of his last seven opponents. He knocked out Oba Carr with a single left hook in
the 11th, and he dropped and almost stopped Ike Quartey in the final round. De La Hoya can hit, no doubt about that. Form lines? The only opponents the two men have in common are the Puerto
Ricans, Rivera and John John Molina. De La Hoya outpointed Molina in a difficult fight, but it was early in his
career. A mature Mosley dominated Molina in an eight rounds battering. As for the other common opponent, De La Hoya outclassed Rivera in December
1997, scoring a knockdown - but when the fight was stopped, in the eighth round,
it was because the Puerto Rican had suffered a cut over the eye. Mosley had a much closer, tougher fight with Rivera but blasted his opponent
to the floor in the 10th, the referee waving the finish without bothering to
count. So, Mosley was a more emphatic winner than De La Hoya was over Rivera.
But Mosley got hit a lot more, too. And Mosley cannot afford to get hit too much by De La Hoya. For all of Mosley’s
desire, conditioning, talent and the ability to throw fast, hard punches, we
simply do not know if he will be able to take the sort of punches that De La
Hoya can deliver - those thudding hooks and absolutely jarring uppercuts from
the left hand. But, as Shane himself puts it, we shall see. A lot of people in the game say they would have liked to have seen Mosley in
another one or two fights as a welterweight before going for the big fight with
De La Hoya. But Shane’s father and trainer, Jack Mosley, says: "Shane’s
a natural welterweight. He walks around at 160lbs [11st 6lbs]. People forget
that as an amateur he was a junior welter." The Mosley camp says that for years Sugar Shane was draining himself to make
the lightweight limit of 135lbs (9st 9lbs), having made eight defences of the
International Boxing Federation title. On 17 June, father and son assert, Mosley
will be the best he has ever been. He will have to be. Mosley will be facing not just an outstanding fighter but a marketing
phenomenon. The pressure will be on a level he has never encountered. But he
seems the type who can handle pressure. A strong point in Mosley’s favour is that he is 100% focused on fighting.
De La Hoya has other interests that range from golf to his burgeoning singing
career that targets the Hispanic market. De La Hoya says that his singing is not
a distraction and in fact helps him by giving him something else to think about
other than boxing. When it is time to go into training camp, he says, boxing
gets his undivided attention. This may well be so, but, of the two men, Mosley
comes across as more of the pure professional. These intangibles can make a
crucial difference. Yet, even though a strong case can be made for Mosley winning this fight, the
fact is that he has never come up against anyone like De La Hoya: not as big, as
dangerous or as talented. Mosley has given some brilliant, powerful performances but has never had what
you could call a big-time victory. On 17 June, in fact, Mosley goes where he has never been before. It all might
be a little bit too much for him. De La Hoya has pride, and you can be sure his pride has been hurt by the
fallout from the Felix Trinidad performance. Now, in front of a huge crowd in
his own home town, it is time for De La Hoya to deliver the sort of performance
that will restore, from the purely boxing perspective, his lost lustre. His trainer, Robert Alcazar, promises that De La Hoya will be taking the
fight to Mosley, seeking to push him back, looking for the knockout. He concedes
that Mosley may have the superior speed but asserts that De La Hoya’s power
will be the key. As amateurs, he says, when they sparred together, Mosley always
did well until De La Hoya started to land hard shots. Then, he says, Mosley’s
attitude changed and he became less aggressive. Alcazar does not believe, when
it comes down to it, that things have changed substantially over the years. Certainly, those big left hooks of De La Hoya’s are something that Mosley
has never been hit with before in his pro career. "If Mosley stays in
there, toe-to-toe, this fight cannot possibly go more than nine rounds,"
Alcazar says. "Mosley cannot take Oscar’s punches for 12 rounds. Don’t
get me wrong, it’s a very good fight, but Oscar is too much for Shane
Mosley." I, too, think De La Hoya will be too much. He may not be able to stop Mosley,
but he can hurt him enough in the exchanges to take command of the fight. I
visualise a back-and-forth type of fight until the left-hand cannon-blasts of De
La Hoya have slowed Mosley down. Whereas De La Hoya disappointed in the late
stages against Trinidad, in this fight I expect him to be the one dictating down
the home stretch. De La Hoya, by decision, then, is the selection here. Mosley is dangerous
but, as Alcazar puts it, not too dangerous. For most welterweights, yes. But not
when he is up against De La Hoya. |
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